Press Release

Silverlink’s Personalization, Ease of Use and Real-Time Reporting Enables Companies to Reach and Respond to More Members Effectively and Efficiently

Burlington, Massachusetts - Silverlink, the leading provider of automated call services for healthcare, today announced a new suite of solutions and services supporting Health and Disease Management program outreach. The Silverlink HIPAA-compliant, interactive phone calls will reach patients with chronic illnesses and are designed to increase the efficiency of care managers, help drive better member health behavior, improve data collection and lower costs. Designed to address Population Health - plan members at any risk level - Silverlink's Health and Disease Management call solutions support diabetes condition management with future plans to address other major chronic illnesses.

More than 90 million Americans live with chronic diseases that account for 70 percent of all deaths and represent more than 75 percent of health care expenses. Indirect and direct costs of diabetes represent nearly $132 billion a year with nearly 21 million Americans affected in 2005. Nurse care managers have enormous case loads, constraining regularity of member contact for medication reminders, data collection of disease-specific clinical indicators, and health information to drive better self-care behavior.

Available immediately, Silverlink's Health and Disease Management solutions are highly flexible call programs that can easily be tailored and personalized for multiple market segments served by Health Plans and Disease Management companies. Through Silverlink's partnership with Healthwise, the leading source of consumer health content, the suite of call programs will leverage condition-specific, evidence-based information. Silverlink’s Software as a Service (SaaS) model captures and reports real-time results through the Web to track member clinical data. Call programs can be designed to trigger alerts via live transfers or email should immediate care manager attention be necessary. Customizable reporting tools support process and outcome measures across risk groups enabling better business decision making.

"We're enthusiastic about how automated calls can extend information therapy to people with chronic conditions," said Steven Schneider, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Healthwise. “We’re pleased that Healthwise content is part of the Silverlink program to help people better manage their health."

Health Plans and Disease Management organizations can easily and continuously evolve their Disease Management and Population Health offerings from program engagement through regular assessments for clinical and functional status and call program series supporting self-care and lifestyle management, medication compliance, and HEDIS® (Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set) reminders.

Silverlink also today announced Care Management Advisory Services to provide product management and clinical leaders with guidance on optimizing the positive impact of automated calls, providing campaign design support and helping with integration of health and disease management workflows.

"Health and Disease Management affords opportunities to change lifestyle behaviors and improve health outcomes through regular monitoring, education and reminders," said Stan Nowak, Silverlink’s CEO and President. "Silverlink plays a key role in helping to drive the information interactively, while lowering costs, extending a Disease Management program’s reach and increasing productivity of clinical staff. Silverlink’s proven methodologies continue to positively influence behaviors and our partnership with Healthwise enables us to deliver a highly scalable solution to help our customers address this pressing disease management health issue."

Opportunities to Extend Member Reach

Disease Management is designed to prevent hospitalizations and emergency room visits, support the physician's plan of care, and empower patient self-care through prevention, behavior modification and compliance programs.

Silverlink’s Health and Disease Management automated call solutions are designed to fit in with a patient’s life. The "automated assistant" can begin by supporting member engagement in a Disease Management program, giving the member the choice of best time to call. Depending on the patient's risk level, he or she may receive a single call or a series of calls over time.

Leveraging Silverlink’s personalized approach and SaaS model to capture and track information, the call programs for diabetes can address:

• Health Risks Assessment to ID targets for disease management
• Disease management engagement
• Evidence-based condition assessment (via inbound or outbound programs) – periodic surveys that track diabetes assessment indicators such as blood glucose levels, cholesterol and blood pressure levels, medication compliance and exercise regime
• HEDIS reminders for Comprehensive Diabetes Care – HbA1c, diabetic eye exam, cholesterol screening, microalbumin testing and blood pressure control

• Self-care and lifestyle management education focusing on diet/nutrition, cholesterol management, daily monitoring of blood glucose, exercise, smoking and foot care
• Medication adherence and education on insulin and insulin pumps, oral agents, statins and ACE inhibitors
• Appointment reminders
• Disease Management surveys to measure member satisfaction

Silverlink’s personalization capabilities, natural voice/tone/pace, real-time reporting, alerts and data integration, combined with care management advisory services, make the company’s automated call programs the most flexible solution to support innovation and Health and Disease Management program effectiveness.

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