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MedAssets Launches Groundbreaking Bundled Payment Solution

^{Published on 2011-06-21 07:11:01 - Market Wire}
 

ATLANTA--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--MedAssets (NASDAQ: MDAS) today announced the introduction of the MedAssets Bundled Payment Solutiona"a groundbreaking addition to its broad portfolio of technology products in health information solution and services. The Bundled Payment Solution delivers to market the first reimbursement system specifically designed to manage and transact episode of care payments. Featuring a unique capability to bundle services adjusted for risk/severity at the patient level, the Web-based technology intakes the usera™s current fee-for-service claims data and groups it into a abundlea based on industry-standard quality benchmarks. The solution then calculates compensation based on care a patient should receive per episode and transacts those episodic equivalent payments. In addition to adjudication capability, users gain the ability to track data at the patient, physician and/or facility level to support more informed contracting and budgeting based upon calculated opportunity for shared savings or potential penalties. The MedAssets Bundled Payment Solution is built upon the companya™s 18 years of expertise in reimbursement and calculating pricing for 72 million claims per year.

"With MedAssets Bundled Payment Solution, we are providing our customers with a mission-critical system to preserve solid financial performance and sound business decisions under a new reimbursement model that adjusts payment based on patient outcomes and cost effectiveness"

aWith MedAssets Bundled Payment Solution, we are providing our customers with a mission-critical system to preserve solid financial performance and sound business decisions under a new reimbursement model that adjusts payment based on patient outcomes and cost effectiveness,a said Neil Hunn, president of Revenue Cycle Technology, MedAssets. "MedAssets take pride in leveraging our customer feedback and market diligence to focus on the right things. That is why we applied a ground-up design approach for a very sophisticated business intelligence and reimbursement tool that will enable users to build a rational and sustainable blueprint to model future financial impacts and trends.a

MedAssets Bundled Payment Solution runs concurrent to existing reimbursement systems to enable users to start addressing financial exposure without disruption to current operations. The company will showcase its Bundled Payment Solution at the 2011 HFMA ANI show, to be held at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Orlando, Fla., June 27-28, 2011 (Booth #1003).

Transact Bundles Today; Gain Knowledge for the Future

Providence Health & Services, based in Oregon, is among the first MedAssets customers to deploy the episode of care (EOC) solution and is scheduled to begin monthly reporting on an EOC budget to actual experience in July 2011.

aMedAssets has been a very cooperative partner in adapting its products to the specific requirements of our health plan and delivery system,a said Eddie Bell, director of Risk and Reimbursement, Providence Health Plan. aOur health system is moving towards a conception of its products as care packages. From our pilot in Providencea™s Oregon Region using the MedAssets production engine for Prometheus EOC logic we expect to learn the ins and outs of establishing risk adjusted episode of care budgets that can inform both product pricing and process improvement.a

Support for Prospective Payments; Operational in Any Setting

The MedAssets Bundled Payment Solution delivers actionable real-time data on projected fees at multiple levelsa"from dashboard views to claims level drill-down. Because the system is offered over the Internet, users have access to budget versus cost reconciliation 24/7 at a patient and provider level with claims detail. If the budget has been exceeded, the system will compute the penalty, or if the cost is below the budget, it will provide the shared saving opportunity. It also is operational in any settinga" no need for financial, administrative or legal integration. The solution also can support organizations in developing prospective payments, and supports multiple reimbursement calculations for instances of services that fit outside of a bundled claims.

Readiness Assessment as a First Step

To receive optimal benefits from the Bundled Payment Solution, MedAssets also offers customers an advanced retrospective analysis. The PAC Readiness Assessment delivers insight into potential financial risk and costs by review of historical claim service and fees against three variables based upon standard industry measures for quality and safety. This benchmarking includes sophisticated modeling around:

• Potentially Avoidable Complications (PACs)* a" drawn from the CMS-defined Hospital Acquired Conditions, readmissions post-discharge and the AHRQ-defined Patient Safety Indicators.
• Medical Management a" the correlation between PACs costs and patient severity
• Network Management a"the correlation between PACs costs and provider or facility

Hunn added that MedAssets has a significant advantage in market innovation since the company helps organizations automate and streamline claims and billing reimbursement by integrating its proprietary revenue cycle management solutions with other HIT systems. aWhata™s important to note is that we have a remarkable footprint inside the health care delivery system, and have exposure to nearly every reimbursement system in the marketplace. Wea™ve leveraged that insight to stake a leadership position in support for bundled payments. We have a growing list of engaged customers, more than 20 care bundles in inventory and available to translate into episodic claims, along with a differentiated functionality to calculate compensation that is risk and severity adjusted. No other company is offering that today.a

About Providence Health & Services

Providence Health & Servicesis anot-for-profit health system committed to providing a comprehensive array of services to meet the needs of communities across five states, including Alaska, Washington, Montana, Oregon and California.Providence Health & Services includes 27 hospitals, more than 35 non-acute facilities, physician clinics, a health plan, a liberal arts university, a high school, approximately 49,000 employees and numerous other health, housing and educational services. The system office is located in Renton. Washington.

About MedAssets

MedAssets (NASDAQ: MDAS) partners with healthcare providers to improve their financial strength by implementing revenue cycle, spend and clinical resource management solutions that help capture revenue, control cost, improve margins and cash flow, increase regulatory compliance, and optimize operational efficiency. MedAssets serves more than 180 health systems, 4,000 hospitals and 90,000 non-acute healthcare providers. The company currently manages $45 billion in supply spend and touches over $316 billion in total patient revenue annually through its revenue cycle solutions. For more information, go to [ www.medassets.com ].

*About PACs

The Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute TM, Inc. (HCI3a") is a not-for-profit multi-stakeholder organization resulting from the merger of Bridges To Excellence®, Inc. and PROMETHEUS Payment®, Inc. The mission of the organization is to create significant improvements in the quality and affordability of health care by developing and implementing programs that recognize and reward physicians, hospitals and other health care providers that deliver safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable and patient-centered care. Through its PROMETHEUS Payment model and Bridges to Excellence Recognitions, HCI3 offers a comprehensive package of solutions to employers, health plans and coalitions to improve the flawed incentives that currently permeate the U.S. health care system. HCI3®, Bridges To Excellence®, PROMETHEUS Payment®, Care Links®, ECRs®, are all registered trademarks of Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute, Inc. For more information, go to [ www.HCI3.org ].

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