CSI Advantage Delivers The First Integrated Software System For Managed Care Organizations To Prepare For NCQA Accreditation Review.

Business Editors and Health/Medical Writers

VANCOUVER, Wash.--(BW HealthWire)--Feb. 22, 2000

Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon Reduces Expenses

By 50% With The Accreditation Information Management System (AIMS)

Now Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) can prepare for a National Committee for Quality Assurance(R) (NCQA) Accreditation review and be more effective at allocating the resources required to prepare without having to participate in multiple status meetings or experience time-consuming searches for documents and information.

CSI Advantage, the first software manufacturing company to produce an integrated, comprehensive tool for NCQA review preparation, today announced the Accreditation Information Management System (AIMS) product suite designed to help prepare for NCQA Accreditation review.

AIMS is a proprietary application that provides MCO administrators with a complete electronic tool to automate the processes and procedures leading to NCQA Accreditation review while reducing expenses. The application suite manages the preparation, reporting, and collaboration of NCQA Standards response items, serves as a repository to document the goals and objectives of quality improvement in the Quality Improvement Workplan and includes applications to manage the policies and procedures and committee management processes. By using this suite of applications, MCO administrators and staff members responsible for the NCQA process can monitor the progress of the corporate Quality Improvement goals and the standard response items through an easy-to-use, collaborative, integrated suite.

Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon, Regence BlueShield in Washington And Regence BlueShield of Idaho Work Closely With AIMS

The AIMS product suite was originally developed at Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon. The accreditation staff of this MCO designed this collaborative tool to automate the intensive information collecting process required for their NCQA Accreditation review. Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon's success with this product spawned a great deal of interest in their industry with other MCOs. In 1999, CSI Advantage initiated the preparation, distribution, and support of the product.

The application suite is currently in use by Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon, Regence BlueShield in Washington, and Regence BlueShield of Idaho. Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon has used the process to successfully prepare for the Accreditation review.

"By using the AIMS suite, the cost savings was substantial for our organization -- we experienced a reduction in staff time by 50%. It allows us to be more effective at allocating staff resources," said Don Warner, NCQA Accreditation Coordinator, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon. "I was amazed how this tool was able to eliminate a multitude of meetings, frustrated employees, continuous phone calls for clarification of project tasks, and inquiries about document location. We have benefited tremendously from this application suite."

Pricing, Availability and System Requirements 

The AIMS Product Suite will be available in early March. The AIMS server licenses are priced at $25,000. Each user workstation seat is priced at $695. The AIMS product suite requires a Lotus Notes Domino server with Windows 3.0 operating system.

For additional information, contact CSI Advantage at 877-CSI-4319, at [e-mail], or visit CSI Advantage's web site at www.csiadvantage.com.

CSI Advantage is a customer service driven software product manufacturer with expertise in development, sales and support in groupware workflow processes. The Company is the first software manufacturing company to produce an integrated, comprehensive tool for NCQA review preparation. CSI Advantage was founded in 1999 and markets its products nationwide from its corporate offices in Vancouver, Washington.

The Regence Group is a regional affiliation of Blue Cross and/or Blue Shield Plans in four western states; Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Utah. Together, they serve more than three million subscribers, with annual premium of more than four billion dollars. As community-based, non-profit companies, each Plan has deep roots in the local community, while providing the advantage of a strong regional company serving local and multi-state employers.

NCQA is widely recognized as the leader in the effort to assess, measure and report on the quality of care provided by the nation's managed care organizations. More than three quarters of Americans enrolled in HMO's are in plans that have been reviewed by NCQA. NCQA also manages the evolution of HEIDIS(R), the performance measurement tool used by more than 90 percent of the nation's health plans. NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality.

CSI Advantage, AIMS, Action Tracker and Committee Manager are registered trademarks of CSI Advantage, LLC. Lotus and Lotus Notes are registered trademarks and Notes and Domino are trademarks of Lotus Development Corporation. NCQA and HEDIS are registered trademarks of the National Committee for Quality Assurance. All other product or service names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.