Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts Licenses MCAP Clinical Criteria and Software.

Business/Technology Editors & Health/Medical Writers

WELLESLEY, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 27, 2001

The Oak Group announced it has been awarded a contract to license its MCAP Clinical Criteria to Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. This multi-year license encompasses MCAP Medical/Surgical Criteria and the MCAP Software System.

Mercy Medical Center will use MCAP Criteria to help ensure patients receive services at the most appropriate level of care. This means care that is provided in the setting best able to meet the patient's individual needs in the safest and most cost-effective manner.

In addition, reviewers will use MCAP Criteria and Software in their case management activities, which will result in the collection of consistent and detailed data about the care processes taking place. Mercy Medical Center will analyze these data with the reporting capabilities of MCAP to uncover opportunities to provide better, more cost-effective care.

"I have used MCAP in my work at other facilities and am confident it will help Mercy Medical Center improve the quality of care and effectively manage costs." said Maureen O'Hare, Director of Case Management at Mercy Medical Center.

According to Dr. David Maltz, President and CEO of The Oak Group, "MCAP is designed to approximate a medical director's approach in reviewing a level of care decision. Rather than focusing down onto one or two quantifiable metrics, MCAP guides an evaluation of the overall clinical and treatment needs of the patient. Therefore, MCAP provides as good or better care management while resulting in far fewer overrides than produced by other systems." MCAP Criteria are tight and clinically relevant, and accommodate co-morbid conditions as the criteria parallel the decision-making process of an expert medical reviewer. Fast and easy to use, the MCAP System also captures data needed to guide process improvement initiatives. Importantly and distinctively, MCAP does not second-guess treatment decisions and does not prescribe "cookbook" medicine. The Oak Group offers clinical Criteria and software that meet today's critical care management needs for providers, insurers, and hospitals. MCAP Criteria are used by case managers, utilization managers and physician advisors serving over 25 million covered lives across the U.S. and Canada.

Mercy Medical Center is a member of the Sisters of Providence Health System. SPHS member organizations provide hospital and ambulatory care, rehabilitation, behavioral health services, nursing home care, retirement living, employee health services, home care and more. SPHS is a founding member of Catholic Health East, one of the largest healthcare systems in the nation. Catholic Health East facilities serve communities in the eastern U.S. from Maine to Florida.