APS Healthcare Selected by State of Vermont to Administer its Medicaid Chronic Care Management Program.

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- APS Healthcare, one of the country's leading specialty healthcare companies, announced today that it has been selected by the Office of Vermont Health Access (OVHA) to administer the state's Chronic Care Management Program (CCMP) for Medicaid participants. The contract took effect on July 1, 2007.

The CCMP is an enhanced primary care case management and health information technology program that incorporates the principles of disease management, care coordination and case management to serve patients identified through a health risk assessment and disease stratification model. The program was developed in collaboration with the Vermont Blueprint for Health initiative that is working to advance innovative solutions and providing support to help healthcare providers and patients effectively manage chronic disease and to help slow the grow of healthcare costs.

"The OVHA CCMP will give us the unique opportunity to focus on a model intended to improve health outcomes and measure and evaluate its ability to reduce costs over time," said Gov. Jim Douglas.

"APS has a proven track record with Medicaid case and disease management programs and we look forward to working with them to ensure our members improve their health status," said Joshua Slen, Vermont's Medicaid director.

To enhance engagement and medical homes for Vermont Medicaid participants, APS will deploy its community-based integration model, placing health coaches, nurse care managers and lay health workers in provider locations throughout the state. Community providers and beneficiaries will be supported with access to a secure, state-of-the-art Internet-based electronic health records system, APS CareConnection[R].

"We are excited to partner with the state of Vermont to assist Medicaid members in achieving better health outcomes and better quality of life," said David Hunsaker, president, APS' Public Programs division. "By reinforcing the partnership between Medicaid beneficiaries, providers and community resources through leading technologies and population management services, APS will help the state better manage its overall healthcare resources."

APS Public Programs, a division of APS Healthcare, is one of the country's leaders in providing services to Medicaid programs and currently serves clients representing more than 40 percent of the nation's Medicaid population. In addition to population management programs, APS provides Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)-designated quality improvement organization (QIO) services, external quality review organization (EQRO) services, behavioral health and other community-based government programs in more than 20 states.

About APS

APS Healthcare, headquartered in Silver Spring, Md., is a leading provider of specialty healthcare solutions that cover more than 20 million members in the United States. APS offers customized, integrated healthcare solutions across two major healthcare product lines - care management and behavioral health services. APS operates under the belief that managing healthcare for the mind and body improves overall health and reduces total healthcare spending. For more information, visit www.apshealthcare.com.