TRUMBULL, Conn., March 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Oxford Health Plans,
Inc. (NYSE: OHP) announced that its three-tier drug formulary now can be
downloaded by physicians and members onto handheld personal digital assistants
(PDAs) through a multi-year agreement with ePocrates, a leading provider of
clinical information at the point of care. Oxford is offering this service to
its network of providers and members, as well as other Oxford constituents.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001212/OXHPLOGO )
"Streamlining healthcare delivery is a key objective at Oxford. By
providing our complete formulary to physicians and members, we enable doctors
and their patients to make drug choices at the point of care, not at the
pharmacy," said Alan M. Muney, M.D., executive vice president and chief
medical officer at Oxford. "Additionally, complete information on drugs,
including dosing and drug interactions, can promote safer prescribing
practices."
Oxford's formulary will be available through ePocrates Rx(TM), a clinical
drug reference, which includes information about dosing, contraindications,
drug interactions and adverse reactions. Information, including formulary
status, tier and lists of therapeutic alternatives, is displayed on PDA
screens and shows users whether drugs require prior authorization or have
quantity limits. To date, it has been downloaded by almost 90,000 individuals,
including more than 39,000 physicians, in New York, New Jersey and
Connecticut.
Oxford has increased its efforts recently to increase generic drug
utilization among its members. "As our members become more engaged in making
financial decisions about their healthcare, including using generic
prescription drugs, we must provide them the information and tools to make
educated choices, particularly at the point of care," said Burton I. Orland,
vice president of pharmacy at Oxford. "ePocrates has shown the ability to
assist providers in improving the number of generics prescribed, therefore
saving their patients money."
Physicians, members, brokers and benefits administrators can download
Oxford's formulary onto their PDAs by accessing ePocrates Rx from their
personal "My Account" home page on Oxford's web site (http://www.oxfordhealth.com) or
through the ePocrates web site (http://www.ePocrates.com). ePocrates' list of more
than 2,700 drugs is updated continuously and the formulary information will be
updated quarterly by Oxford. Users are encouraged to update their PDAs
frequently so they are reviewing the most current information.
"We are excited to be integrating the Oxford drug formulary into ePocrates
Rx," said Richard Fiedotin, M.D., ePocrates' vice president of clinical
products, "since it allows doctors to check formulary information while they
are looking up clinical information. Oxford is one of several prominent
health plans that is partnering with ePocrates as a result of demand by their
providers, who have turned ePocrates Rx into the leading handheld drug
reference guide."
ePocrates Inc. is the largest handheld clinician network, with more than
700,000 registered healthcare professionals. In addition to ePocrates Rx(TM),
ePocrates offers a clinical suite of products, ePocrates Rx Pro(TM), which
includes an herbal database and an infectious disease application. It also
offers formulary hosting, messaging, market research and clinical trial
recruitment capabilities via its proprietary network. ePocrates
(http://www.epocrates.com) is headquartered in San Mateo, Calif.
Founded in 1984, Oxford Health Plans, Inc. provides health plans to
employers and individuals in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, through its
direct sales force, independent insurance agents and brokers. In the year
2002, the company received an Excellent Accreditation from the National
Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), an independent, non-profit
organization dedicated to improving managed care quality and service.
Oxford's services include traditional health maintenance organizations (HMOs),
point-of-service (POS) plans, preferred provider organization (PPO) plans,
third-party administration of employer-funded benefits and Medicare plans.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain comments that are considered forward-looking
statements within the meaning of applicable federal securities laws and are
based upon Oxford's current expectations and assumptions, which are subject to
a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to
materially differ from those anticipated. A discussion of those risks and
uncertainties is included in the discussion under "Business - Cautionary
Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in the Oxford annual report on
Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2002, and the quarterly
reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, June 20 and September
30, 2002.
SOURCE Oxford Health Plans, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.oxfordhealth.com
Photo Notes:http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001212/OXHPLOGO
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/104612.html
CONTACT:
Maria Gordon Shydlo, Oxford Health Plans,
Inc., +1-203-459-7674, mshydlo@oxfordhealth.com; Lydia Green, RPh
of ePocrates, Inc., +1-650-227-1703, lgreen@epocrates.com
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