Eli Lilly and Company logo. (PRNewsFoto) INDIANAPOLIS, IN UNITED STATES
		CNS logo. (PRNewsFoto/Eli Lilly and Company) INDIANAPOLIS, IN UNITED STATES

 Behavioral Health Pharmacy Management Program improves patient care while
                          saving Medicaid dollars

    INDIANAPOLIS, April 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- URAC announced the
winners of its inaugural Best Practices in Consumer Empowerment and
Protection Awards competition, naming the Missouri Department of Mental
Health, Missouri HealthNet, Comprehensive NeuroScience, Inc. and Eli Lilly
and Company as Silver Award winners in the Health Information Technology
category for the Behavioral Health Pharmacy Management (BPM) program. The
program also received an Honorable Mention Award in the Integrated Care
Coordination category.

    The awards were presented at a black tie gala during URAC's Best
Practices in Consumer Empowerment and Protection Conference in Orlando,
Fla. During the conference, award finalists presented their model programs
to attendees so these best practices can be duplicated in communities
across the country. Details on the BPM program are available online at
http://www.lillyforbetterhealth.com.

    "A Best Practices Award is a strong signal to the market that an
organization places a premium on consumer protection and empowerment," said
Alan P. Spielman, URAC's president and CEO. "We are excited about this
opportunity to recognize these trailblazers and draw attention to programs
that are models for the industry."

    How the Program Works

    The BPM program evaluates pharmacy claims for all mental health
medications to identify prescribing patterns that are inconsistent with
evidence-based best practices in standards of care, including research
published in medical journals. The program then alerts and educates doctors
whose data is inconsistent with these best practices

    The program may be tailored to identify several types of care
improvement opportunities such as:



    -- Duplicative prescribing of medication by different doctors for the same
       patient
    -- Premature, rapid switching from one medication to another
    -- Prescribing above or below recommended dosing levels
    -- Patients' failure to refill their medications in a timely manner

    Missouri's BPM program has produced positive results. Program studies
have shown a 43 percent decrease in hospital admissions for program
participants and an overall savings of $7.7 million in Medicaid costs that
the state would have incurred in fiscal year 2004.

    The program has run in half of states nationwide, resulting in more
than 2 million Medicaid patient care improvement interventions.

    "Not only do the patients do better, but the doctors are able to
provide care more effectively and efficiently," said Joe Parks, M.D.,
medical director for the Missouri Department of Mental Health. "The
partnership is a model for reducing hospitalizations, containing pharmacy
costs, improving prescribing practices and maintaining open access to
psychiatric medications."

    States and CNS work together to identify prescription patterns. Lilly
provides financial support for the initiative, and the operation and
implementation of the program is done solely by the states and CNS. If a
state decides to share data with Lilly, the data is blinded aggregate data
that does not contain information about individual patients. In addition,
Lilly has received approval and support from the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services for these initiatives.

    "Just like cancer or diabetes, mental illness is a devastating disease
that impacts millions. We believe that funding programs which leverage
information, technology and education to improve patient care and
efficiencies in the health care system will have a huge beneficial impact
on our society," said Jack Bailey, vice president, Lilly.

    "At CNS, we work to provide treating physicians with comprehensive
information about their patients' treatment histories and the most
applicable evidence-based best practice insights from the literature. Armed
with the right information, physicians can make better treatment
decisions," said John Docherty, M.D., founder and chairman at Comprehensive
NeuroScience, Inc. "The Behavioral Health Pharmacy Management program
demonstrates how state Medicaid programs can improve patient care while
freeing scarce Medicaid dollars for other pressing healthcare needs."

    In all, URAC honored 22 winners for excellence among entries from
health care management, health information technology, health plan and
pharmacy benefit management organizations. Entries were judged by a
distinguished panel of industry experts in three categories: consumer
decision support, consumer/patient safety and integrated care coordination.
Programs were selected as winners for their ability to measurably
demonstrate an impact on consumer empowerment and/or protection, as well as
their potential for widespread implementation of the program by other
organizations.

    A complete list of winners of the Best Practices in Consumer
Empowerment and Protection Awards may be found at http://www.urac.org.

    About Comprehensive NeuroScience, Inc.

    Comprehensive NeuroScience, Inc. (CNS) is a national privately-held
clinical research company based in White Plains NY. CNS specializes in
products and services that enhance the efficiencies of clinical development
and use of therapeutic pharmaceuticals for persons with serious mental
illnesses. The Care Management Technologies division of CNS, leverages the
expertise and scientific breakthroughs for which CNS is known in order to
deliver innovative and effective integrated care management solutions
focusing on improving quality of care while reducing pharmacy and health
care costs for people, payors and the larger community.

    About Eli Lilly and Company

    Lilly, a leading innovation-driven corporation, is developing a growing
portfolio of first-in-class and best-in-class pharmaceutical products by
applying the latest research from its own worldwide laboratories and from
collaborations with eminent scientific organizations. Headquartered in
Indianapolis, Ind., Lilly provides answers -- through medicines and
information -- for some of the world's most urgent medical needs.
Additional information about Lilly is available at http://www.lilly.com.

    About URAC

    URAC, an independent, nonprofit organization, is well-known as a leader
in promoting health care quality through its accreditation and education
programs. URAC offers a wide range of quality benchmarking programs and
services that keep pace with the rapid changes in the health care system
and provide a symbol of excellence for organizations to validate their
commitment to quality and accountability. Through its broad-based
governance structure and an inclusive standards development process, URAC
ensures that all stakeholders are represented in establishing meaningful
quality measures for the entire health care industry. For more information,
visit http://www.urac.org.

    P-LLY

    (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20031219/LLYLOGO )

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