Vree Health Signs Choice Agreement to Provide Care Transition Management Services to Amerinet

ANNANDALE, N.J., Oct. 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Vree Health, a company that combines technology with direct personal patient engagement to influence positive behavioral change and help improve outcomes, has a new, choice agreement to provide care transition management services to Amerinet, a leading healthcare solutions organization.

Under the agreement, Amerinet members, which include acute and non-acute care hospitals, surgery centers, long-term care facilities, clinics and doctors' offices, will receive access to TransitionAdvantage™ from Vree Health. The solution is a scalable, post-discharge care coordination service that integrates technology and personal interaction to help improve performance and quality scores related to 30-day readmission rates, enhance patient satisfaction and reduce potential Medicare reimbursement penalties. Amerinet selected Vree Health as an approved vendor within its Population Health Management initiative.

"Vree Health and Amerinet share a common strategy focused on population health management, which includes patient flow management, patient engagement, care coordination, and population health analytics," said Kyle Dolbow, president, Vree Health. "The goal is to help healthcare organizations improve connections between providers and patients, and ultimately deliver better outcomes and enhanced patient care."

TransitionAdvantage addresses four primary causes of preventable hospital readmissions – incomplete handoff and visibility, lack of follow-up, medication management, and lack of care coordination.  Vree Health is also offering a limited number of pilot opportunities to Amerinet members, thus adding significant benefits to the contract, which runs through May 31, 2017.

About Vree Health

Vree Health™ LLC, a subsidiary of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., is dedicated to helping healthcare organizations influence positive behavioral change and improve patient outcomes with technology-enabled services designed to improve the reach, cost-efficiency and efficacy of healthcare.  Our innovative EngageAdvantage™ technology platform and high-touch services are designed to help coordinate care across providers; aggregate, analyze, and effectively utilize disparate data sources; and engage patients and their families in actively managing patient care. To learn more, visit www.vreehealth.com or www.vreehealth.com/amerinet.

About Merck

Today's Merck is a global healthcare leader working to help the world be well. Merck is known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. Through our prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and consumer care and animal health products, we work with customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to healthcare through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships.  For more information, visit www.merck.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

About Amerinet

As a leading national healthcare solutions organization, Amerinet collaborates with acute and non-acute care providers to create and deliver unique solutions through performance improvement resources, guidance and ongoing support. With better product standardization and utilization, new financial tools beyond contracting and alliances that help lower costs, raise revenue and champion quality, Amerinet enriches healthcare delivery for its members and the communities they serve. To learn more about how Amerinet can help you successfully navigate the future of healthcare reform, visit www.amerinet-gpo.com.

Forward-Looking Statement

This news release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of Merck's management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general industry conditions and competition; general economic factors, including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation in the United States and internationally; global trends toward health care cost containment; technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approval; Merck's ability to accurately predict future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial instability of international economies and sovereign risk; dependence on the effectiveness of Merck's patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions.

Merck undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in Merck's 2013 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SEC's Internet site (www.sec.gov).

SOURCE Vree Health