ADVANTAGE Health Solutions, Sound Physicians Win 2011 Doyle Award

PALM SPRINGS, Calif., April 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Milliman Care Guidelines today presented its Doyle Award for Innovation and Leadership in Healthcare to ADVANTAGE Health Solutions, Inc.(SM) and to Sound Physicians.   The awards were presented in ceremonies here at the Milliman Care Guidelines Client Forum.

ADVANTAGE Health Solutions, Inc.(SM) a regional health plan in Indiana, won the Doyle Award health plan category.  The company used Milliman Care Guidelines products in an innovative case management program providing managed care solutions that improve patient outcomes, keep costs low, and improve the health and wellness of the communities it serves.  

The program reduced readmissions, improved member satisfaction, and improved staff efficiency and productivity for its Commercial line of business.  It also significantly reduced bed days and emergency room visits among those members actively enrolled in the case management program.

Sound Physicians, a national hospitalist service organization, won the Doyle Award healthcare provider category.  With approximately 500 physicians working at more than 45 hospitals around the country, Sound Physicians used the Care Guidelines as a key component to support its High-Impact Diagnoses Initiative.  

The High-Impact Diagnoses Initiative uses evidence-based best-practice guidelines at the bedside for patients with diagnoses where quality, cost and volume intersect, such as pneumonia, sepsis, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and urinary tract infection.  The Care Guidelines-backed High-Impact Diagnoses Initiative has decreased hospital length of stay, reduced direct cost per case, reduced practice variability, and improved the accuracy of clinical documentation for targeted diagnoses, all leading to improved quality, financial performance and clinical efficiency.

"We're proud to recognize the healthcare improvements created by Milliman Care Guidelines clients such as ADVANTAGE Health Solutions and Sound Physicians," said James M. Schibanoff, MD, Editor-in-Chief of the Care Guidelines.  

Anthony Akosa, MD, MBA, Vice President of Medical Affairs, accepted the award for ADVANTAGE Health Solutions, while Marina Farah, MD, MHA, Medical Director of Clinical Operations, and Kristi Frantz, MSS, Senior Director of Clinical Operations, accepted the award for Sound Physicians.

About ADVANTAGE Health Solutions

ADVANTAGE Health Solutions, Inc.(SM), a local provider-sponsored health plan, offers health care benefits and solutions to Indiana employer groups of all sizes.  ADVANTAGE has always taken a different approach in providing health plan benefits through its large and diverse network of providers.  The company focuses on helping its members stay healthy and, when necessary, understand and deal with the challenges of chronic health conditions.  For ADVANTAGE, it's not just about low-cost, high-quality healthcare access...it is about avoiding those unnecessary services and utilization that do not add value to the healthcare dollar.  For more information, visit www.advantageplan.com.

About Sound Physicians

Sound Physicians is a leading hospitalist organization focused on driving improvements in quality, satisfaction and efficiency of inpatient healthcare delivery.  By investing deeply in outstanding physicians, implementing clinical process excellence and developing proprietary workflow and informatics technology, Sound Physicians is defining hospital medicine.  Sound Physicians seamlessly partners with healthcare providers to measurably enhance patient outcomes and strengthen the hospital's financial performance. To learn more, visit: www.soundphysicians.com.

About Richard L. Doyle

Richard L. Doyle, MD, the visionary behind the Milliman Care Guidelines, began creating clinical guidelines as San Diego's Mercy Hospital Chief of Staff in the 1980s to improve hospital efficiency and quality.  In 1990, Dr. Doyle joined Milliman to publish the company's first clinical guidelines.  Before retiring in 1997, he had produced the original editions of four of the Care Guidelines products currently in use.

About Milliman Care Guidelines LLC

Milliman Care Guidelines LLC, A Milliman Company, independently develops and produces evidence-based clinical guidelines and software used by more than 1,900 hospitals, health plans, and CMS audit contractors.  The eight-product Care Guidelines series is updated annually by an experienced team of clinicians and supports the care management of a majority of Americans.  For more information, visit www.careguidelines.com.

About Milliman

Milliman Care Guidelines is a wholly owned subsidiary of Milliman, Inc.  Milliman is among the world's largest independent actuarial and consulting firms.  Founded in Seattle in 1947 as Milliman & Robertson, the company currently has 54 offices in key locations worldwide.  Milliman employs more than 2,500 people.  The firm has consulting practices in healthcare, employee benefits, property & casualty insurance, life insurance and financial services.  Milliman serves the full spectrum of business, financial, government, union, education and nonprofit organizations.  For further information, visit www.milliman.com.

SOURCE Milliman Care Guidelines