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MDdatacor and BlueCross BlueShield of North Dakota Announce Contract to Help Build the Country's First State-Wide Patient-Centered Medical Home Initiative

ATLANTA, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- MDdatacor, Inc., a leader in health care quality management solutions for health plans and providers, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota (BCBSND), North Dakota's largest provider of health care coverage, today announced the MediQHome program, the country's first state-wide patient-centered medical home initiative.

A patient-centered medical home model provides patient care through a personal physician trained to provide continuous and comprehensive care. The hallmarks of the patient-centered medical home model include improved quality, safety, and more coordinated care. BCBSND, which serves more than 475,000 members, seeks to serve as an industry leader in implementing this care delivery model.

The goal of the MediQHome program, which launches in January 2009 and is voluntary for physicians, is to have all 4,241 providers within the state participating. Of those, 1,433 are primary care physicians and 2,808 are specialists. The initial focus of the initiative will be diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, childhood asthma and chronic lung disease, immunizations and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The MediQHome program promotes a patient-centered medical home approach to the delivery of care to all North Dakota citizens, not just BCBSND members.

"The patient-centered medical home model provides patients with open access to see the doctor of their preference - no referral or permission is required," said Dr. Jon Rice, senior vice president of Medical Management and chief medical officer. "This personal physician of choice, who has comprehensive knowledge of the patient's medical conditions, facilitates and coordinates with other doctors who collectively manage the ongoing care of the patient. In addition, the patient-centered medical home model puts emphasis on rewarding quality care."

"BCBSND is proud to be the first plan to implement a statewide initiative that seeks to provide comprehensive health care for all patients -- from acute care to chronic care to preventive services to end-of-life care. The key to building a patient-centered home program is accurate, timely data to help guide doctors to deliver desired outcomes, as well as data sharing between caregivers," said BCBSND President and CEO Mike Unhjem.

BCBSND's MediQHome program will use MDdatacor's patented and interoperable CareInformatix(TM) technology to automate the collection of clinical data from physician practices' existing electronic medical record, practice management, lab and registry systems. The MDdatacor system is also able to extract clinical data from physicians' transcribed notes, allowing providers without electronic systems to participate in the program. In addition, the MediQHome program will offer MDdatacor's personal health record (PHR) solution, where patients can access their medical history and contribute self-reported data.

The MDdatacor system provides physicians with real-time web-based reports that identify patients whose current treatment does not meet clinical guidelines, enabling physicians to provide appropriate, evidence-based medical care to patients in a cost-effective manner. Physicians will have access to data on all of their patients, regardless of health insurer.

"MDdatacor is the only company able to aggregate clinical data directly from physicians' own patient records, resulting in information that is more comprehensive, accurate, timely and, ultimately, valuable," said Tim Roche, co-founder, president and chief executive officer of MDdatacor. "MDdatacor and BCBSND are truly revolutionizing health care by putting disease management in the hands of physicians to promote quality health care and increased efficiency."

A recent study estimated that if every American had a medical home, health care costs would likely decrease by 5.6 percent, resulting in national savings of $67 billion dollars per year, with an improvement in the quality of the health care provided. In fact, the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 provides funds for a Medicare Medical Home Demonstration Project, to be launched in 2010.

About MDdatacor

Established in 2001 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, MDdatacor enhances healthcare quality through the development of innovative technology solutions. MDdatacor solutions are used to support quality improvement, health information exchange and Patient-Centered Medical Home initiatives. MDdatacor currently serves more than 7,000 physicians representing more than seven million patients. For more information, visit www.mddatacor.com.

About Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota

Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota, a not-for-profit mutual company, serves more than 53 percent of the state's population, providing health coverage and related benefits to more than 449,000 members. BCBSND is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

SOURCE MDdatacor, Inc.