Innovatix, LLC Partners with Healthcare Quality Strategies, Inc. of New Jersey, to Improve Medication Management as Part of CMS Quality Improvement Program.

NEW YORK -- Innovatix, LLC, the nation's largest independent group purchasing organization (GPO) serving the alternate care provider market, has partnered with Healthcare Quality Strategies, Inc., (HQSI) to launch a project in New Jersey for Medication Therapy Management Services (MTMS) for Medicare recipients living in skilled nursing facilities under the newly implemented Medicare Part D. HQSI recently received a notice of project approval from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

For over twenty years, CMS has charged Quality Improvement Organizations in each state, including HQSI, to establish statewide projects that measure and improve the quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries. Last year, CMS emphasized the need for studies designed to measure and improve care under its new Medicare Part D model. As the nation's largest GPO serving the alternate care market, Innovatix, LLC and its partner, HQSI, have developed a project to improve medication therapy management in skilled nursing facilities that are currently serviced by Innovatix member pharmacies in New Jersey.

The MTMS initiative, spearheaded by Sylvia Thomas, Pharm. D., BCPS, Innovatix Director of Clinical Pharmacy Services and Patricia McCann, RN, MPA, CMAC, CPHQ, HQSI Project Manager for this task area, will focus on MTMS for Diabetics with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), Hypertension, or Hyperlipidemia in skilled nursing facilities.

"This collaboration is based on our ability to aggregate information and data from our existing membership base in New Jersey. We will provide the educational tools necessary to identify specific disease state indicators, and use that information to ultimately improve the quality and efficiency of treatment provided to Medicare beneficiaries within the skilled nursing facilities," said Thomas. "HQSI's project approval from CMS is a clear recognition of our established relationships in the long-term care marketplace and our ability to provide clinical pharmacy services, which our long-term care pharmacy members require to stay successful in a changing marketplace."

Based on preliminary projections, the MTMS program will impact roughly 845 diabetics with hypertension and 1,200 with hyperlipidemia. "Therapeutic management of Medicare patients with diabetes and congestive heart failure, hypertension, or hyperlipidemia is essential for their health and well-being," McCann emphasized. "Our MTMS initiative with Innovatix will provide a way to improve the quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries in skilled nursing facilities."

The program is scheduled to launch immediately and be completed by October of 2007. To learn more about the MTMS for Diabetics with CHF, Hypertension or Hyperlipidemia in Skilled Nursing Facilities program, please contact Sylvia Thomas at 212.901.1357 or e-mail [e-mail], or Patricia McCann at 732.238.5570, ext. 2066, or e-mail [e-mail].

Innovatix, LLC is a full-service group purchasing organization (GPO) serving over 8,000 alternate care facilities throughout the United States. Innovatix is a joint venture between a subsidiary of the Greater New York Hospital Association and a subsidiary of Premier, Inc.

Healthcare Quality Strategies, Inc., (HQSI), is the nonprofit Medicare-designated quality improvement organization for New Jersey. HQSI is committed to accelerating improvement in healthcare quality through a collaborative and interactive process with the healthcare community.