INSPIRIS Chief Is Finalist for Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Award

INSPIRIS Chairman and CEO Mike Tudeen recognized in regional competition

BRENTWOOD, Tenn., June 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Mike Tudeen, chairman and chief executive officer of INSPIRIS, has been named a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® award in Alabama/Georgia/Tennessee. The award recognizes leaders in businesses that create jobs and encourage business growth, development and innovation to enhance local economies.

Tudeen is among 20 finalists selected by an independent judging panel who will be honored June 24 by Ernst & Young LLP at an event held at the InterContinental Hotel in Atlanta. Awards are given to entrepreneurs who demonstrate extraordinary success in the areas of innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.

"Mike has the vision, drive and patience to identify new and better health care practices and make the case for change in how care is provided to the elderly and chronically ill," said Ralph Sabin, principal at Pacific Venture Group and a member of INSPIRIS' board of directors. "Mike significantly modified and expanded our business model to allow health plans to enhance their focus on medically complex, chronically ill patients who are often underserved by the current health care system. In the face of a tough health care economy, he expanded the company's vision to encompass programs that offer greater continuity of care, implementing them with accountability to demonstrate the company's success. That requires vision, tenacity and leadership."

INSPIRIS is a solutions-driven care and care management company focused on improving the quality of life for the medically complex, chronically ill, frail and elderly. The company's award-winning CarePlus program uses physician and nurse practitioner-led teams to provide care and care management tailored to the needs of patients at high risk for hospitalizations. Care is managed where the patient resides--at home, or in a variety of congregated living settings such as nursing facilities, assisted living facilities and group homes. Across multiple markets, CarePlus has proven to reduce acute care hospitalizations by 40 to 60 percent, while demonstrably improving quality of care and patient satisfaction.

Under Tudeen's leadership, INSPIRIS added its Transitions Program to improve the continuity of care for patients during the critical 30 days after a hospital stay in an effort to reduce hospital re-admissions. On average, 21 percent of seniors and 10 percent of Medicaid recipients are re-hospitalized within this period. Through intensive follow-up care and targeted intervention, INSPIRIS has substantially reduced the average rate of readmission.

Expanding service offerings and enhancing care is a top priority for Tudeen. Recent expansions include INSPIRIS' Assessment Program and INSPIRED Living Program. The Assessment program is designed to identify gaps in care, enhance care planning and to enable a health plan to accurately report patient acuity to Medicare and Medicaid. Inspired Living focuses on the needs of patients and families dealing with advanced illness and advance directive planning.

The driving principles behind all INSPIRIS offerings are improved care and quality of life for the patients served, as well as reducing unproductive, unnecessary health care expenditures.

"These are proactive, high-touch programs with demonstrated value. The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services recognizes the need for programs that provide high quality, safe care coordination for patients who move from the hospital to other care settings, and INSPIRIS has delivered improved outcomes, better patient satisfaction and lower costs," Sabin said. "Entrepreneurial leadership is tested in difficult economic times. Over the past year, Mike and his robust management team have led INSPIRIS to expand its offerings based on the needs of the market. As a result, the number of health plans served by INSPIRIS grew by about 30 percent in 2009, and growth in 2010 is expected to exceed 30 percent."

INSPIRIS offers a win-win solution to America's public health crisis, offering a proven solution to effectively manage the top 5 percent of the member population that is driving the majority of medical expenses in the U.S.

About INSPIRIS

INSPIRIS is a unique provider-driven complex care and care management company focusing on improving the quality of life for the medically complex, chronically ill, frail, and elderly. Through its proactive, high touch programs, INSPIRIS offers proven solutions that improve the quality of member care while lowering cost for health plans. Founded in 1998, INSPIRIS, Inc. is headquartered Nashville, Tennessee and has over 375 employees nationwide, over half of which are clinicians. INSPIRIS partners with health plans covering millions of Medicaid and Medicare members. For more information about INSPIRIS, visit www.inspiris.com.

SOURCE INSPIRIS