- Quest Diagnostics and The IPA Association of America to Jointly Promote
eMaxx to 300,000 IPA-Affiliated Doctors -
TETERBORO, N.J. and OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX), the nation's leading provider of
diagnostic testing, information and services, announced it will begin to offer
a suite of new services for its eMaxx Internet-based portal to help physicians
participate in government-sponsored and private health plans' pay-for-
performance programs and move their practices toward clinical integration.
At the same time, Quest Diagnostics and The IPA Association of America
(TIPAAA), the leading trade association serving Independent/Integrated
Physician Associations (IPAs), announced that they have entered into an
agreement regarding the promotion of eMaxx to IPA members. TIPAAA's 900
independent physician associations, consisting of 300,000 physicians
nationwide, will be able to purchase eMaxx services on a monthly subscription
basis. Quest Diagnostics and TIPAAA will promote the benefits of eMaxx to
TIPAAA-affiliated IPAs through educational seminars and literature. Terms of
the agreement were not disclosed.
The new eMaxx services will include analytical tools, which will enable
IPAs and health plans to comb through the clinical information contained in
the eMaxx data repository in order to identify individual patients who are at
risk for diseases and who can benefit from specific regimens of care. eMaxx
will have the ability to update patients' risk profiles periodically, enabling
physicians to quickly identify patients who may have shifted to higher-risk
categories. In addition, eMaxx will be able to capture clinical guidelines
and evaluate physician compliance against those guidelines on a periodic
basis. Analytical tools will be available for prevalent disease states
including diabetes, congestive heart failure, asthma, coronary artery disease
and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Physicians participating in IPAs will be able to use the new services to
qualify for pay-for-performance programs, an emerging practice among health
plans to reward physicians who deliver quality healthcare to patients. Through
detailed informatics reports that capture available clinical and
administrative information including lab results, medication histories,
patient demographic and payer claims data from acute care and ambulatory
settings, physicians can demonstrate adherence to payers' pay-for-performance
criteria.
Currently, eMaxx enables IPAs to work toward clinical integration, which
refers to a linked network of primary care and specialty physicians working as
a single team to coordinate care for patients. In a clinically integrated
healthcare environment, physicians share clinical information; coordinate
treatment; develop practice protocols; and monitor the compliance of
individuals in the group(1). Benefits of clinical integration are to improve
the quality of care to patients, control healthcare costs, and improve an
IPA's competitive advantage. eMaxx's information-sharing features and ability
to capture data from multiple sources are aligned with the goals of the
national health information technology plan, which was recently unveiled at
the Health and Human Services-sponsored Secretarial Summit on Health
Information Technology. With eMaxx, IPAs can share confidential patient
information with medical colleagues in their associations in a manner that is
consistent with HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
privacy and security requirements. eMaxx also enables physicians to order
diagnostic tests and review laboratory results online, prescribe medication
electronically, file documents received electronically or in hard copy into a
patient-centric health record and verify patients' demographic information.
"There is no question that eMaxx's pay-for-performance capabilities will
have the potential to improve the practices of physicians and IPAs as they
begin to demonstrate compliance with health plans' performance criteria and
deliver better patient care," said Albert Holloway, President and CEO of
TIPAAA. "In addition, IPAs and other physician organizations will find eMaxx
to be a valuable technology solution that can help them work toward clinical
integration across their organizations."
"Our relationship with TIPAAA will make the eMaxx solution available to a
significant number of physician organizations," said Richard A. Mahoney, Vice
President, Healthcare Information Solutions at Quest Diagnostics. "We look
forward to offering physicians analytical services that will help them to
assess patient risks, develop treatment programs and ultimately deliver better
patient care."
About Quest Diagnostics
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated is the nation's leading provider of
diagnostic testing, information and services, providing insights that enable
healthcare professionals to make decisions that improve health. The company
offers the broadest access to diagnostic testing services through its national
network of laboratories and patient service centers, and provides interpretive
consultation through its extensive medical and scientific staff. Quest
Diagnostics is the leading provider of esoteric testing, including gene-based
medical testing, and provides advanced information technology solutions to
improve patient care. Quest Diagnostics' healthcare information technology
subsidiary, MedPlus, is a leading developer and integrator of clinical
connectivity and data management solutions for healthcare organizations and
clinicians. Additional company information is available at:
http://www.questdiagnostics.com
The statements in this press release which are not historical facts or
information may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and
outcomes to be materially different. Certain of these risks and uncertainties
may include, but are not limited to, competitive environment, changes in
government regulations, changing relationships with customers, payers,
suppliers and strategic partners and other factors described in the Quest
Diagnostics Incorporated 2003 Form 10-K and subsequent filings.
About TIPAAA:
The IPA Association of America is the leading trade association serving
Independent/Integrated Physician Associations (IPAs). Founded in 1994 by
Albert Holloway, the current President and CEO, TIPAAA provides a wide range
of products, services, and educational programs designed to help IPAs operate
effectively and successfully in managed care. The association has nearly 900
organization members, chapters in 39 states (with more in development), and
represents more than 300,000 U.S. physicians affiliated with IPAs.
(1) Source: Thomas B. Leary, "The Anti-Trust Implications of 'Clinical
Integration': An Analysis of FTC Staff's Advisory Opinion to
MedSouth," http://www.ftc.gov/speeches/leary/eicreview.pdf, p.5.,
April 12, 2002.
SOURCE Quest Diagnostics Incorporated
-0- 08/23/2004
/CONTACT: Investors: Laure Park, +1-201-393-5030, Media: Jennifer Somers,
+1-201-393-5700, both of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated; or Albert Holloway,
President and CEO of The IPA Association of America (TIPAAA), +1-510-569-6561/
/Web site: http://www.questdiagnostics.com /
(DGX)