SHELTON, Conn., Aug. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Enhanced Care Initiatives (ECI - HC Innovations, Inc., OTC Bulletin Board: HCNV) today announced that it has signed a two year contract with HIP Health Plans of New York to support the transformation of primary care practices into Medical Homes. The contract is part of the EmblemHealth Medical Home Project, which seeks to promote improved care for health plan members by developing a high performance network of physicians using electronic health records and office-based care management. Project evaluation is supported by a $460,000 grant from The Commonwealth Fund to the Ethel Donaghue Center for Translating Research into Practice and Policy (TRIPP) at the University of Connecticut.

In the Medical Home model, the physician office delivers patient-centered primary care and coordinates care with other providers for patients with chronic medical problems. Patients have enhanced access through advanced appointment systems and telephone and email communication, clinical decision support tools guide evidence-based practice, and patients receive support for self-care.

Under the contract, ECI will help participating physician offices transform into medical homes by providing consultative assistance for redesign around electronic health records and by embedding RN care managers into the office to assist the physician in population management, care planning, and patient self-management.

The TRIPP Center will compare the progress that practices make in becoming medical homes, and performance on quality, efficiency, and patient experience measures with similar parameters in a comparison group of practices. Practices have been randomly assigned to one of two groups: a Supported Group that receives the supplementary payment and ECI support and a Comparison Group that receives a stipend for participating in the project but does not get additional payment or ECI support. TRIPP will use the Physician Practice Connections-Patient-Centered Medical Home, a tool developed by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to measuring the quality of America's health care, to assess the extent to which medical practices adopt the principles of the medical home. "As a Center focused on moving evidence into community practice, we are excited to take the lead on this important randomized trial of a medical home model, as there are few, if any, randomized trials in this area," said Judith Fifield, PhD, Director of the TRIPP Center. At the end of the two-year study period, the TRIPP Center will independently compile, analyze, and publish project results.

"Care management must be integrated with the physician office. This groundbreaking program will redefine primary care. ECI will leverage our community based care management infrastructure to assist physicians in managing patients," said CEO David Chess, MD. ECI currently provides high touch relationship based care management for patients at home or in nursing homes.

ECI's methodology for providing support for Medical Home transformation was developed by William Rollow MD. Until recently Dr. Rollow was Director of the Quality Improvement Group at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) where he had responsibility for the development of the DOQ-IT program through which Medicare's Quality Improvement Organizations offered assistance to physicians in EHR adoption and process improvement. "ECI's approach enables physicians to make changes rapidly and effectively, while payers and patients get the immediate benefit of a nurse with expertise in care management," said Dr. Rollow.

"Physicians in our networks are important partners in the care that is provided to our members," said Dr. Aran Ron, GHI President. "In this project we are committing to helping groups of physicians transform their practices according to the patient-centered medical home concept that has been developed and endorsed by the primary care specialty societies."

About EmblemHealth

In 2006, HIP Health Plan of New York (HIP) and Group Health Incorporated (GHI) merged under a common parent, EmblemHealth, Inc. HIP and GHI serve more than four million members and provide access to nearly 92,000 physicians and other providers in 142,000 locations. For additional information about HIP visit www.hipusa.com. For additional information about GHI, visit www.ghi.com.

About HC Innovations, Inc.

HC Innovations, Inc. is the corporate entity operating Enhanced Care Initiatives (ECI). ECI creates value and cost savings for HMOs, nursing homes, and insurance companies (government and private) by identifying niche markets with high medical costs and implementing proprietary solutions. HC Innovations combines proprietary information systems with highly trained nurses and nurse practitioners to improve health conditions with hands-on care. The results are improved patient outcomes. ECI currently provides services for Medicare, Medicaid, sub-acute care and specialty-needs programs in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Alabama Tennessee, Texas, Florida, Illinois and Massachusetts. ECI has contracts with HIP/GHI, HealthSpring, Amerigroup, Aetna, Senior Whole Health, Alere/Tufts . For more information, visit www.hcinnovationsinc.com.

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SOURCE HC Innovations, Inc.