ATLANTA, Dec. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- MDdatacor(R), Inc. and Wellmark(R) Blue Cross and Blue Shield today released the first set of results of a quality improvement program of more than 9,000 Wellmark members living with diabetes. The dramatic results showed a significant improvement in both process and patient outcome measures.
Wellmark and MDdatacor Collaboration
The results are part of Wellmark's Collaboration on Quality(R) Incent and Reward Best Practices primary care initiative, a collaboration between Wellmark and network physicians to promote the improved quality and efficiency of health care. Wellmark contracted with MDdatacor to provide a technology platform that helps doctors identify gaps in patient care, as well as opportunities to enhance treatment for their patients, through access to clinical data.
"Providing physicians with actionable data at the point-of-care creates opportunities to enhance patient care," said Tim Roche, co-founder, president and CEO of MDdatacor. "MDdatacor has the unique ability to capture clinically-relevant information right from the physician's own patient records. Physicians find the data to be more credible because it is based on clinical data and not solely on claims data."
MDdatacor's patented and interoperable CareInformatix(TM) platform provides the most comprehensive patient information through collecting and analyzing data from all available sources in a physician practice, including electronic medical records, lab, registry and practice management systems, dictated transcriptions and claims.
Study Results Demonstrate Significant Improvement in Patient Outcomes
Using evidence-based guidelines, Wellmark's quality improvement program measured the percentage increase in diabetic patients receiving an annual HgA1C, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and blood pressure tests, as well as improved clinical outcomes as measured by lowered test scores for each of those measures.
Prior to the implementation of Wellmark's Collaboration on Quality program, only 46 percent of the 9,012 members living with diabetes were receiving an annual HgA1C test. That number increased to 90 percent at the end of the program period. This can be attributed to the fact that physicians had access to critical data about their patients, showing that they were in need of the tests.
Patient outcomes also improved notably, with the percentage of patients with an HgA1C level less than 8 rising from 37 percent to 75 percent. Controlling blood glucose levels lowers the chance of a diabetic patient having diabetes-related health problems, such as heart attack, stroke blindness, kidney failure and life-threatening infections.
About MDdatacor
Established in 2001 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, MDdatacor enhances health care quality through the development of innovative technology solutions. MDdatacor's patented 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, and supports programs for payers such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.mddatacor.com.
About Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Wellmark, Inc. does business as Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa. Wellmark and its subsidiaries and affiliated companies, insure or pay health benefit claims for more than two million members in Iowa and South Dakota. Wellmark Inc. is a mutual insurance company owned by its policyholders.
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Dakota, and Wellmark Health Plan of Iowa, Inc. are independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA). As a BCBSA member, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield is part of a national network of 39 plans that insures nearly 100 million people or nearly one in three Americans in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.