MEDecision Achieves URAC Accreditation for Alineo Utilization Management

WAYNE, PA--(Marketwire - Jul 11, 2011) - MEDecision, Inc., the leading provider of collaborative health management solutions, today announced that its Alineo® health management platform has been awarded accreditation for health utilization management from URAC, a national accrediting organization that establishes quality standards for the healthcare industry. MEDecision also recently received URAC accreditation for its Disease Management, Vendor Case Management and Health Content Provider solutions.

MEDecision's utilization management tools support the alignment of health plans and healthcare providers in the clinical decision making process by automating cumbersome processes like referrals, inpatient admissions, outpatient procedures and appeals. An innovative module captures all health plan care manager, provider and member interactions, making it easier for health plans to drive quality by tracking member issues, resolutions and turnaround times. A core component of a health plan's successful care management strategy, MEDecision's utilization management solutions strengthen administrative efficiencies, validate medical necessity of care and increase provider satisfaction to drive cost savings and improve health outcomes.

"MEDecision should be commended for its commitment to measuring the quality of its products and services against rigorous, independent accreditation standards," said Alan P. Spielman, URAC president and CEO. "The URAC standards development process is driven by voluntary collaboration of hundreds of industry experts to validate the appropriate benchmarks for care -- and MEDecision meets those standards for utilization management."

Progressive health plans have trusted MEDecision to support the health management of their members -- more than 46 million lives -- for over 22 years. MEDecision's collaborative health management platform is designed to support the flow of actionable patient clinical information between payers, providers and patients to ensure the best quality care possible. Alineo, as the foundation of this platform, provides health plans with integrated case, disease, utilization and behavioral health management tools.

"URAC accreditation of Alineo's utilization management component validates our long-standing commitment to give health plans the tools they need to maintain administrative efficiencies and ensure medical necessity of member care," said Deborah M. Gage, president and chief executive officer for MEDecision. "Our UM package now serves as an industry benchmark for our customers, helping them streamline business processes and improve the health outcomes of their member populations."

"Healthcare payers need flexible, user-friendly, integrated care management systems -- including utilization management workflow capabilities -- to assure the appropriateness, medical need and efficiency of healthcare services," said Joanne Galimi, research vice president, Gartner, Inc. "By adopting URAC accredited programs, payers improve their ability to differentiate within the post health reform market by how well they manage the quality of member care."

For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

About URAC

URAC, an independent, nonprofit organization, is a leader in promoting health care quality through accreditation and certification programs. URAC's standards keep pace with the rapid changes in the health care system, and provide a mark of distinction for health care organizations to demonstrate their commitment to quality and accountability. Through its broad-based governance structure and an inclusive standards development process, URAC ensures that all stakeholders are represented in setting meaningful standards for the health care industry. For more information, visit www.urac.org.

About MEDecision

MEDecision's contribution to the healthcare industry is a powerful platform that delivers meaningful data to inform the most important healthcare transaction: patient care. We start with a philosophy that patients, providers and payers are all driving towards better health outcomes and that this common interest dictates the need for collaborative working environments. Then, we apply more than 22 years of experience, $85+ million in research and development and the strongest clinical knowledge to deliver the MEDecision collaborative health management platform, which includes Nexalign®, a health decision support service that applies analytics to information gathered from multiple sources to foster better business and clinical decisions on a patient's behalf, Alineo®, a health management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease, utilization and behavioral health management, and InFrame™, a set of tools to facilitate the health and performance management processes for physicians and accountable care organizations. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

MEDecision is a trademark of MEDecision, Inc. The MEDecision logo and product names are also trademarks or registered trademarks of MEDecision, Inc. Other product and brand names are trademarks of their respective owners.