April 13, 2010

Strategic Benefit Solutions (SBS) Certified to Guarantee Wellness/Disease Management Program’s Return on Investment (ROI)

Atlanta, GA, April 13, 2010 – SBS announced they are one of only two consultancies certified to offer wellness and disease management vendor ROI guarantees by the Disease Management Purchasing Consortium, Inc. (DMPC) founded by Al Lewis. Lewis is the person most often credited with establishing the metrics by which disease management is measured. He announced Monday that he will be personally validating and guaranteeing disease management (DM) and wellness outcomes for an elite, award-winning group of benefits consultants, vendors, health plans, and employers.

In his announcement, Lewis stated, “Perception in this field always lags reality. The perception in the lay press is that these programs don’t save money. The reality is that the vendors who deliver the best-run programs do save money. I’ve validated this myself and now I am putting the DMPC balance sheet on the line to tell the world. I am vouching that the elite companies already on this list can achieve savings. The bottom line: I will financially guarantee any valid savings calculation.”

DMPC “auditor’s letters” will carry guarantees of up to $100,000 attesting that results being claimed by the DM/wellness program are valid. This guarantee is in addition to any other guarantees offered by the program. Strategic Benefit Solution had principals pass the DMPC test to receive Certification in Critical Outcomes Report Analysis.

David Rearick DO, Vice President of Medical Management for SBS, commented, "SBS believes the only way to know whether your recommendations are improving health status is to measure the outcomes accurately. Being selected as one of two ‘elite’ consulting firms by DMPC ensures our clients that the value we promise and deliver is accurately measured."

“This is a powerful statement by Lewis that adds credibility to the work SBS has done over the past twelve years,” Guy Morrison, SBS founder and president, said. “It’s one case where management and everyone else in the organization see very real benefits. SBS, certified in the valid measurement of wellness and disease management programs, can now guarantee any vendor that goes through the certification process is bringing real value. In an industry that is plagued by inaccurate ROI statements, coupled with shoddy and often deceiving measurements, this adds confidence for our clients.”

Health plans currently certified include AmeriHealth Mercy, Harvard-Pilgrim Health Care, Health Alliance Medical Plan, Blue Cross of Delaware, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Providence Health Plans, HealthPartners, Fallon, Connecticare, and Boston Medical Center Health Plan. Employers included in the program are Procter & Gamble, and The City of Savannah through The State and Local Group Benefits Administrators (SALGBA).

Vendors include industry leaders Healthways, Accordant, APS, McKesson Health Solutions, ActiveHealth, Quantum Health, Quality Health Solutions, and Matrix Medical.

About SBS
Strategic Benefit Solutions, Inc. (SBS) is an Atlanta based full service healthcare consultancy founded by industry experts. They believe that using the right strategies can drive costs out of employee benefits, while still delivering superior packages to employees and their families. This helps both fully-insured and self funded organizations with 50 to 10,000 employees attract and retain high caliber talent. As a member of The Benefit Advisors Network, a national consortium of premier consultancies representing over 9,000 employers with over 2,500,000 members, SBS is able to offer personalized service with national coverage. SBS has unique expertise in helping employers improve the health status of their workforce as a long term strategy to control benefit costs and improve productivity. To learn more about SBS and their full array of services, visit www.sbs-benefits.com or call 678-302-4990.

About Disease Management Purchasing Consortium, Inc.
(DMPC) DMPC membership includes most of the largest health plans in the country plus a large number of leading regional plans and provider-owned local plans, two dozen self-insured employers, unions and state Medicaid programs. Measured by dollar volume, DMPC is the largest procurement and care outcomes measurement consulting firm in the country. DMPC founder and President Al Lewis is consistently named “Number 1” in Managed Healthcare Executive's quadrennial listing of the top 25 executives in disease management listing of the top 25 executives in disease management. He co-authored the only book in print on disease management, The Next Generation of Disease Management. The DMPC Critical Outcomes Report Analysis exam has been passed by 200 people 25 health plans, states and employers have achieved DMPC Savings Measurement Certification, which deems them for a “best in disease management” award from the Health Industries Research Companies in their Disease Management Industry Annual Reports.