ActiveHealth Identifies Close to 10,000 Patients Taking Pergolide (Permax) or Tegaserod (Zelnorm); Notifies Patients and Their Physicians.ActiveHealth's CareEngine([R]) System Communicates Timely Clinical Drug Alerts While Identifying Other Opportunities for Improved Care NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of -- Within days of two important Food and Drug Administration (FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. ) announcements, ActiveHealth Management, Inc. (ActiveHealth([R])), a clinically-based, technology-driven health management services company, sent notifications to affected members and their physicians related to the withdrawal of pergolide (Permax[R]), used to treat Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease or Parkinsonism, degenerative brain disorder first described by the English surgeon James Parkinson in 1817. When there is no known cause, the disease usually appears after age 40 and is referred to as Parkinson's disease. , and the withdrawal of tegaserod (Zelnorm[R]), used for short-term treatment of constipation constipation, infrequent or difficult passage of feces. Constipation may be caused by the lack of adequate roughage or fluid in the diet, prolonged physical inactivity, certain drugs, or emotional disturbance. in irritable bowel syndrome irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), condition characterized by frequently alternating constipation and diarrhea in the absence of any disease process. It is usually accompanied by abdominal pain, especially in the lower left quadrant, bloating, and flatulence. . ActiveHealth used its patented CareEngine([R]) System to communicate patient-specific clinical alerts to members and their physicians. CareEngine, a clinical decision support technology, analyzed medical data for more than 14.5 million members to identify individuals taking either of the two drugs. Clinical alerts were communicated to approximately 10,000 patients and over 7000 individual physicians. CareEngine applies a comprehensive set of evidence-based clinical rules to aggregated medical, laboratory and pharmacy data. It then generates patient-specific clinical alerts, called Care Considerations, which are communicated to physicians and members to help prevent clinical complications and hospitalizations, and to lower medical costs. In this particular case, physicians and members were notified about the withdrawal of pergolide due to the risk of heart valve damage and the withdrawal of tegaserod due to the risk of cardiovascular adverse events (e.g., heart attack, stroke). "Our dedicated clinical team of 18 full-time physicians, two pharmacists This is a list of notable pharmacists.
n.pl a set of standards, criteria, or specifications to be used or followed in the performance of certain tasks. to identify opportunities to translate clinical evidence into technology-driven clinical rules. When the two FDA alerts came in March 29th and 30th, within two business days, we built rules to identify the appropriate members and physicians, tested the rules, prepared the communications and delivered the Care Considerations," said Greg Steinberg, MD, Chief Medical Officer at ActiveHealth. "Although the physicians might be aware of the advisories, our prompt communication and patient-specific messaging enabled them to immediately reach out to the right patients, rather than spending valuable resources examining patient files." While the FDA drug withdrawal issues are important, even more significant is the opportunity to impact patients who are at risk for other health conditions. For example, ActiveHealth issued more than 165,000 Care Considerations in 2006 for high risk patients who are not taking a type of drug called a statin stat·in n. Any of a class of drugs that inhibit a key enzyme involved in the synthesis of cholesterol and promote receptor binding of LDL cholesterol, resulting in decreased levels of serum cholesterol. that has been shown to lower the risk of cardiovascular complications like heart attack and stroke. For these patients, the medical literature states that there is a 25% absolute risk of adverse cardiac events cardiac event Coronary event Cardiology Any severe or acute cardiovascular condition including acute MI, unstable angina, or cardiac mortality for patients not on appropriate therapy.1 This compares to a 0.1% absolute risk of adverse cardiac events in patients taking tegaserod (13 out of 11,614 patients analyzed in 29 clinical studies).2 The significance here is that high-risk patients who are not being treated with a statin are more than 200 times more likely to have an adverse cardiac event than those taking tegaserod. "What's especially compelling is that when you look at the data for the pergolide and tegaserod advisories and the number of avoidable adverse cardiac events, we find that there are many situations that pose a far greater risk to a greater number of patients than these do. Far more people are at risk every day from medical errors and gaps in care that go largely unnoticed by the media and the general public," stated Dr. Steinberg. About ActiveHealth Management ActiveHealth Management is a clinically-based, technology-driven health management services company. Health plans, employers and government payors rely on ActiveHealth's Clinical Decision Support, Disease Management, Health Management and Data Analytics solutions to improve care for those most in need, prevent medical errors, reduce hospitalizations and lower medical costs. Over 14.5 million people nationwide have benefited from programs powered by ActiveHealth's patented CareEngine([R]) System. Founded in 1998, ActiveHealth is headquartered in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. with offices in Chantilly, VA, Chicago, IL, Rolling Meadows Rolling Meadows, city (1990 pop. 22,591), Cook co., NE Ill., a suburb of Chicago; inc. 1955. There is research and development and the manufacture of office supplies and electronic components. , IL, and Beachwood, OH. For more information, please visit www.activehealth.net. References 1. Heart Protection Study. The Lancet lancet /lan·cet/ (lan´set) a small, pointed, two-edged surgical knife. lan·cet n. 2002;360:7-22 2. FDA Public Health Advisory 2007 - Tegaserod (Zelnorm) ActiveHealth([R]) and CareEngine([R]) are registered marks of Active Health Management, Inc. Zelnorm([R]) is a registered trademark of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Permax([R]) is a registered trademark of Eli Lilly and Company Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) is a global pharmaceutical company and one of the world's largest corporations. Eli Lilly's global headquarters is located in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the United States. . |
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