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LOUISVILLE, Ky., Feb. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Carewise Health announced today that it has earned re-accreditation for five of its programs from URAC, a Washington, DC-based healthcare accrediting organization that establishes quality standards for the healthcare industry. The five programs to receive URAC re-accreditation are: Case Management, Disease Management, Health Utilization Management, Comprehensive Wellness, and Health Call Center.

"Carewise Health is proud to receive re-accreditation from URAC for these programs," said Rishabh Mehrotra, president and CEO of Carewise Health. "It takes the hard work and commitment of many team members who are passionate about delivering high-quality health management services to our clients and their employees to make this happen."

Carewise Health specializes in employee health solutions. It helps organizations improve the personal health of employees and control healthcare costs through a full suite of health and wellness programs.

"By applying for and receiving URAC accreditation, Carewise Health has demonstrated a commitment to quality healthcare," said Alan P. Spielman, URAC president and CEO. "Quality healthcare is crucial to our nation's welfare and it is important to have organizations that are willing to measure themselves against national standards and undergo rigorous evaluation by an independent accrediting body."

URAC offers the largest array of accreditation programs in the United States assessing health plan operations, including but not limited to, network operations, healthcare practitioner credentialing systems, and medical management functions such as utilization management, case management, disease management, and health call center services.

In addition to the five programs listed above, Carewise Health is URAC-accredited in HIPAA Privacy, Consumer Education and Support, Workers' Compensation Utilization Management and Health Website.

About URAC
URAC, an independent, nonprofit organization, is well-known as a leader in promoting healthcare quality through accreditation and certification programs. URAC offers a wide range of quality benchmarking programs and services that keep pace with the rapid changes in the healthcare system, and provide a symbol of excellence for organizations to validate their commitment to quality and accountability. Through its broad-based governance structure and an inclusive standards development process, URAC strives to ensure that all stakeholders are represented in setting meaningful quality measures standards for the entire healthcare industry. For more information, visit www.urac.org.

About Carewise Health
Carewise Health helps organizations improve the personal health of employees and control healthcare costs. Our industry-leading health and wellness programs help members build the skills they need to achieve and sustain optimum health. Carewise Health has a total of nine URAC accreditations including: case management, disease management, utilization management, workers' compensation utilization management, health call center (nurse line), consumer education and support, HIPAA privacy, health website and comprehensive wellness. Visit www.carewisehealth.com for more information.

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Tuesday, February 14, 2012

UCSF's Director of Glide Health Services Receives State Recognition

UCSF's Patricia Dennehy, director of the nurse-managed Glide Health Services center, is among five Californians to receive the 2012 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Awards for applying proven, innovative approaches to some of the state's most difficult problems. Dennehy, a clinical professor in the UCSF School of Nursing, is being recognized for her extraordinary work developing Glide Health Services into a model nurse-managed health center that delivers high-quality, cost effective primary care to a low-income population.

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Wednesday, February 1, 2012

InTouch Health Receives $6 Million Investment from iRobot Corp.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- InTouch Technologies, Inc. (dba. InTouch Health), a leading provider of acute healthcare remote presence solutions, announced today that iRobot Corp., a leader in delivering robot technology-based solutions, has made a $6 million investment in the Company.

InTouch Health and iRobot have a joint development and licensing agreement, formalized in July 2011, to explore opportunities for healthcare applications of robotic technology by uniting complementary expertise and technologies across each company’s intellectual property portfolio. InTouch Health’s ten years of experience in robotic telemedicine solutions coupled with iRobot’s expertise in robot navigation, mobility and manipulation can prove to be a potent combination in developing purpose-built robots for the healthcare industry. This collaboration will allow InTouch Health to advance its healthcare-centric robotic platform to a new level of mobility and utility, which will allow for even greater ease of use by clinicians.

“As evident from the demonstrations of its Ava robotic platform, iRobot is the industry leader in robot navigation, mobility and manipulation,” said Yulun Wang, Chairman and CEO of InTouch Health. “Working together, InTouch Health and iRobot will pioneer superior remote presence in healthcare settings, providing anytime/anywhere patient care in hospital ED’s, ICU’s, patient wards, and operating and procedure rooms.”

“With over 400 hospitals in the U.S. and around the world utilizing its remote presence products, InTouch Health is in a very unique position in the healthcare field with its FDA-cleared telemedicine devices,” said Colin Angle, Chairman and CEO of iRobot. “iRobot’s investment in InTouch Health will further align these two leaders, creating a best of breed partnership that will develop robots for remote presence healthcare and assistive technologies for the elderly.”

About InTouch Health

InTouch Health provides comprehensive telemedicine solutions and expertise that enable physicians to perform real-time consults with patients. Through a single portal, physicians can access InTouch Health’s purpose-built, FDA-cleared remote presence (“RP”) devices to provide care anywhere across the healthcare continuum: EDs, ICUs, procedure rooms, patient wards, clinics, ambulances, and homes. The InTouch Health Remote Presence telemedicine network is powered through its SureCONNECT® cloud-based infrastructure providing unparalleled connection quality and reliability, interoperability, workflow imaging and documentation, and service and support. Wherever access to medical expertise is limited, InTouch Health's Remote Presence telemedicine solutions can effectively extend the physician's reach to manage patient care, thereby removing critical time and distance barriers.

The Company has more than 400 hospital locations on six continents enrolled in its Remote Presence network for the delivery of telemedicine services such as stroke, critical care, cardiology, trauma, pediatrics, neonatology, mental health, language translation, clinical education and surgical/procedure mentoring. For more information about InTouch Health, please visit www.intouchhealth.com.

About iRobot Corp.

iRobot designs and builds robots that make a difference. The company’s home robots help people find smarter ways to clean, and its government and industrial robots protect those in harm’s way. iRobot’s consumer and military robots feature iRobot Aware® robot intelligence systems, proprietary technology incorporating advanced concepts in navigation, mobility, manipulation and artificial intelligence. For more information about iRobot, please visit www.irobot.com.

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Health Net Receives Full URAC Accreditation for Health Utilization Management and Case Management

Thu, Jan 26, 2012, 5:49 PM EST - U.S. Markets closed

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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

American Health Receives URAC Health Utilization Management, Case Management and Disease Management Accreditation

WORTHINGTON, OH--(Marketwire -01/24/12)- American Health Holding, Inc. announced today that it has been awarded Health Utilization Management, Case Management and Disease Management accreditation from URAC, a Washington, DC-based health care accrediting organization that establishes quality standards for the health care industry.

"American Health is thrilled to receive URAC accreditation again," said Paul Lavin, President & CEO of American Health. "It is an honor to be recognized by URAC, an independent accrediting body that is well-respected in the industry. We will continue to uphold the rigorous standards of quality and efficiency in order to provide outstanding service to our clients."

American Health is a single-source provider of medical management services that support millions of members across the health care continuum. The organization, which received its first URAC accreditation in 1994, has been helping clients to maximize cost savings while ensuring the quality and appropriateness of care for more than 19 years. American Health's flexible, customized programs support integrated solutions for clients and assist in creating healthy outcomes for members.

American Health's Utilization Management, Case Management and Disease Management services are integrated through the company's proprietary system, iSuite, and are delivered by a team of highly qualified clinical staff with the training and tools to impact quality and cost.

The company's Utilization Management program uses evidence-based medical necessity criteria to certify treatments and direct providers towards the most cost-effective, quality treatment available. Utilization Management's robust triggers generate automatic referrals to American Health's Case Management program, through which the company's experienced Case Managers function as advocates, facilitators and educators. Case Managers are Registered Nurses or licensed social workers who ensure that members receive quality care and, when appropriate, make smooth transitions from inpatient settings to alternative care and home care.

American Health's Disease Management program covers eight prevalent chronic conditions and incorporates advanced predictive modeling to identify members with a disease. Members work one-to-one with dedicated Nurse Coaches, who educate and motivate participants to help reduce gaps in care and assist them in realizing better health.

"We applaud American Health on achieving Health Utilization Management, Case Management and Disease Management accreditation," said Alan P. Spielman, URAC president and CEO. "In today's health care market, URAC accreditation provides a mark of distinction for organizations to demonstrate their commitment to quality health care."

URAC, an independent, nonprofit organization, is a leader in promoting health care quality through accreditation and certification programs. URAC's standards keep pace with the rapid changes in the health care system, and provide a mark of distinction for health care organizations to demonstrate their commitment to quality and accountability. Through its broad-based governance structure and an inclusive standards development process, URAC ensures that all stakeholders are represented in setting meaningful standards for the health care industry. For more information, visit www.urac.org.

For more information contact American Health at (614) 818-3222 or visit www.AmericanHealthHolding.com.

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Healthways MeYou Health Subsidiary Receives MITX Interactive Award for Outstanding Achievement in Healthcare and ...

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MeYou Health, a wholly owned subsidiary of Healthways (NASDAQ: HWAY - News) has been recognized by the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX) as the winner in the Healthcare and Wellness category for the 16th Annual MITX Interactive Awards.

MeYou Health was recognized for Daily Challenge, an interactive web application that helps people improve their personal well-being through daily small actions. Utilizing behavior-driven design, social network connectedness research, and gaming mechanics, Daily Challenge is unique in its approach to driving simple but lasting behavior change in a user-friendly online application. It is a freemium offering, servicing both individual consumers and employers.

Held annually by the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange, the MITX Awards recognize excellence in the creation of web innovations designed, produced or developed in New England. The awards were presented last month in Boston.

“Being recognized by MITX among these innovative healthcare and wellness companies is an honor, and a genuine validation of the unique, behavior-centric design of Daily Challenge,” said Chris Cartter, MeYou Health’s General Manager. “While we have an active, engaged user base that provides us feedback on a regular basis, it’s a real tribute to the team’s efforts to receive this level of endorsement from our peers in the regional innovation and tech community.”

Launched in 2010, Daily Challenge has quickly grown to over 200,000 users from across the globe and has been endorsed by Deepak Chopra, who is recommending the application to his followers as part of his worldwide well-being movement.

“Daily Challenge has been very helpful in suggesting positive changes to my life,” said Daily Challenge user Chandra T. “I enjoy how simple yet effective each challenge has been so far, and I love conversing with the new acquaintances I've made through the application. I highly recommend Daily Challenge to anyone who is looking for small but effective ways to improve their health and their lives.”

About MeYou Health

MeYou Health is the social well-being company, delivering web and mobile products that transform social networks into support systems to improve people’s well-being. People are overwhelmed and often fail when they try to make big, unrealistic health changes, while MeYou Health suggests daily small actions and enhances social ties to inspire meaningful, lifelong change. Located in Boston, MeYou Health was founded in 2009 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Healthways, Inc.

About Healthways

Healthways is the leading provider of specialized, comprehensive solutions to help millions of people maintain or improve their health and well-being and, as a result, reduce overall costs. Healthways’ solutions are designed to help healthy individuals stay healthy, mitigate or eliminate lifestyle risk factors that can lead to disease and optimize care for those with chronic illness. Our proven, evidence-based programs provide highly specific and personalized interventions for each individual in a population, irrespective of age or health status, and are delivered to consumers by phone, mail, internet and face-to-face interactions, both domestically and internationally. Healthways also provides a national, fully accredited complementary and alternative Health Provider Network and a national Fitness Center Network, offering convenient access to individuals who seek health services outside of, and in conjunction with, the traditional healthcare system. For more information, please visit www.healthways.com.

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