Johns Hopkins Celebrates 20 Year Anniversary of Adjusted Clinical Groups® (ACG) System at Upcoming User's Conference, May 6-9

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., May 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- DST Health Solutions, LLC, today announced that they and Johns Hopkins University will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the ACG® System this year. Johns Hopkins' ACG System offers one of the best in class case mix methodologies, providing Predictive Modeling, Risk Adjustment and Population Case Mix methods to achieve better disease and case management, and ultimately, better patient care.

Based at Johns Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public Health, the ACG System was developed in the 1980's to address the need to better understand the morbidity profiles of patients and populations particularly to measure performance, quality and for capitation adjustment. It has since evolved to include predictive modeling, measuring pharmacy use, and care management applications. The ACG System has been available for 20 years as of 2012, through exclusive US distributor DST Health Solutions.

"We have been using the ACGs for nearly a decade, and the ACG tools have always been a core element in our evaluation and stratification strategies," commented long-time customer, Don Hughes, President of Encompass Medical Management, Inc. "The single most significant characteristic of the success of the ACG System has been the commitment of the ACG team to scientific rigor and the ability to adapt to the realities of patient care over time. The ACG team has been extraordinarily successful in improving the system in keeping it fresh and cutting edge. We at Emmdata (Encompass Medical Management) are deeply appreciative of their dedication and look forward to their continuing insights."

Johns Hopkins will feature the ACG System at its upcoming 2012 International ACG Risk Adjustment Conference in Baltimore, MD, on May 6-9, 2012 at the Baltimore Marriot Waterfront. The program will include presentations on the recently released Version 10, innovative methods of predictive modeling, and highlights from ACG System implementation from around the world.

"The ACG® research team takes pride in its achievements in both research and practice," said Jonathan Weiner, DrPH, Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health and co-developer of the original ACG System. "Without both the academic and practice experience, there is no way to construct accurate models to benefit patients and caregivers."

"We are pleased to congratulate Johns Hopkins University for the ongoing success of the ACG System over the past 20 years and look forward to continuing to represent and distribute the system for many more years" says Steve Sabino, President of DST Health Solutions. "The ACG System is unlike any other product on the market in terms of the thoroughness of the research and the constant improvements based on user feedback. We are proud to be part of the ACG System team."

For more information, please call 800-272-4799.

About DST Health Solutions

DST Health Solutions, LLC delivers systems and services that help improve efficiency,  increase speed to market, as well as facilitate medical cost management and price containment. Our clients include commercial health plans, consumer-directed plans, government plans (Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part D and Medicaid) and physician practices. DST Health Solutions' enterprise applications and outsourcing services include claims processing, member and provider management, benefit plan management, new product development, care management and medical management, and decision support/analytics. DST Health Solutions is a wholly-owned subsidiary of DST Systems, Inc. For more information about DST Health Solutions, contact 800.272.4799, email [email protected] or visit www.dsthealthsolutions.com.

The information and comments above may include forward-looking statements respecting DST and its businesses. Such information and comments are based on DST's views as of today, and actual actions or results could differ. There could be a number of factors affecting future actions or results, including those set forth in DST's latest periodic financial report (Form 10-K or 10-Q) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All such factors should be considered in evaluating any forward-looking comment. The Company will not update any forward-looking statements in this press release to reflect future events.

Contact:

Larry Stephenson                      
816-843-9087
[email protected]

SOURCE DST Health Solutions, LLC