XLHealth Joins Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease to Present Technologies That Improve Health Outcomes

BALTIMORE, Md., Nov. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- XLHealth, the nation's leading provider of health plan solutions for Medicare beneficiaries with special needs, is joining with U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease at a congressional briefing to be held today highlighting the importance of health technology innovations for the care of those with chronic illnesses.  XLHealth is part of a select group of organizations participating in "Health Information Technology: An Invaluable Tool for Managing Chronic Illness," a briefing focused on how health information technology can work to facilitate care coordination, improve outcomes, and reduce costs for chronically ill patients.

Improving care for Medicare beneficiaries with chronic illnesses is a key strategy in current efforts to reduce Medicare spending, and the application of health information technology is seen as a valuable tool to make new approaches possible. XLHealth's innovative model of care includes a variety of interventions enabled by health information technology to address the clinical, pharmacy, and psychosocial needs of its Medicare membership.

"Our technology-enhanced interventions directly support our ability to improve care coordination among our members," said Laurie Russell, M.S., R.N., C.C.M., G.C.M, XLHealth's vice president of quality strategy and outcomes. "Through health information technology, we can efficiently gather critical patient information and integrate it into our ongoing care management efforts, allowing multiple clinicians to view the data and consult electronically."

Examples of technology enabled chronic care interventions to be discussed at today's briefing include:

• Data Integration: XLCare™, XLHealth's proprietary integrated healthcare information workflow system, facilitating a "virtual team" in support of member care needs
• Clinical Assessments: XLHealth has created a digital assessment system using tablet technology that offers an efficient and secure way for health practitioners to assess the needs of plan members while in their homes
• Pharmacy Management: Leveraging clinical data and claims records to address pharmacotherapy gaps with members and providers
• Health Monitoring: XLHealth uses advanced home monitoring tools to gauge members' health status on a daily basis

"Our goal with these technologies is to maintain a constant and precise awareness of our members' health so that we're able to identify gaps in care or any other issues that might result in hospitalization," said Russell.  

The use of health information technology strategies has allowed XLHealth to effectively improve quality and reduce costs among its more than 97,000 chronically ill Medicare members - keeping members' medical costs below national average trends.

About XLHealth Corporation
XLHealth Corporation (http://www.xlhealth.com) is the owner and operator of Care Improvement Plus (http://www.careimprovementplus.com), a Medicare Advantage health plan committed to delivering quality health care benefits and serving the underserved. Focused on improving patient outcomes and reducing health care spending, Care Improvement Plus provides comprehensive Medicare coverage and a Part D prescription drug benefit, plus additional services such as dental and vision coverage, and care management support.

SOURCE XLHealth Corporation