HealthSpring and PharmMD Partner for Medication Therapy Management

<p>NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Medication therapy management (MTM) provider PharmMD has signed a letter of agreement with leading managed care organization HealthSpring to provide MTM services to more than 265,000 of the company's plan members.</p> <p>MTM refers to the process of helping prevent medication error, misuse, underuse and abuse by ensuring that individual patients receive the most appropriate drugs possible. By ferreting out duplicate medications and preventing harmful drug interactions, MTM helps improve patient health, reduce the hard cost of unnecessary medications and prevent expensive medical care required to treat the effects of a drug interaction.</p> <p>HealthSpring is one of the nation's largest coordinated care programs whose specific focus is the Medicare Advantage market. PharmMD will provide its MTM services to HealthSpring members enrolled in its Medicare prescription drug plan (PDP).</p> <p>PharmMD will leverage its proprietary technology platform to monitor the pharmacy utilization records of all participants. Licensed pharmacists at the company will be able to better watch for potential drug interactions and opportunities to optimize a patient's drug regimens. If either is identified, PharmMD will coordinate pharmacist-to-physician or pharmacist-to-patient intervention to ensure appropriate action is taken.</p> <p>"The MTM services provided by PharmMD will help HealthSpring improve health and safety for members of its prescription drug plan," said Bo Bartholomew, co-founder and CEO of PharmMD. "As a result, our MTM services will also help HealthSpring reduce the cost of providing drug benefits."</p> <p>As HealthSpring and PharmMD prepare to launch the program, HealthSpring Director of Clinical Pharmacy Services Tim Sawyers and PharmMD Vice President of Business Development Denise Kehoe will deliver a co-presentation entitled "Health Care System Collaboration: Building the Patient-Centric Model of Care" at the 2008 Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) Educational Conference.</p> <p>The presentation will cover how health plans can engage MTM to create patient-centric healthcare that enhances safety, improves individual patient health and reduces unnecessary costs. Sawyers and Kehoe are scheduled to speak at 8:30 a.m. on Friday October 17, 2008, at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Mo.</p> <p>About PharmMD</p> <p>PharmMD is an MTM provider based in Brentwood, Tenn., that works with health plans, employers and other payers to help ensure that beneficiaries are receiving the most appropriate medications. Founded in 2006, PharmMD improves coordination and communication among physicians, pharmacists, payers and patients by analyzing pharmacy and medical claims information and clinical decision making. Because PharmMD focuses exclusively on MTM, the company is able to analyze both aggregate and patient-specific data to identify trends and conflicts to positively impact patient health and contain costs. More information at: <a href="http://www.pharmmd.com">www.pharmmd.com</a>.</p> <p>About HealthSpring</p> <p>HealthSpring is one of the country's largest coordinated care plans whose primary focus is the Medicare Advantage market. Based in Nashville, Tenn., HealthSpring currently owns and operates Medicare Advantage plans in Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas and also offers a national stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plan. For more information, visit <a href="http://www.healthspring.com">www.healthspring.com</a>.</p> <p>SOURCE PharmMD</p> <p>CONTACT: Nick Tazik, Lovell Communications, +1-615-297-7766, [email protected], for PharmMD; or Jolene Sharp, HealthSpring, Inc., +1-615-234-6710, [email protected]</p>