Mercy Health Plans selects more McKesson CareEnhance products

Mercy Health Plans of St. Louis has signed a three-year agreement with McKesson Corporation, which has a location in Springfield, to license CareEnhance Clinical Management Software and the nationally recognized InterQual Criteria.

Mercy Health Plans has used McKesson's CareEnhance Resource Management Software for five years; adding these critical tools will allow the organization to manage the medical care of its 210,000 members from one integrated, patient-centric system.

According to a company announcement, this new contract puts the entire complement of McKesson's CareEnhance products in place at Mercy Health Plans: CCMS, patient care management products that combine case, disease and utilization management into one automated workflow and data tracking system; InterQual, a set of clinical appropriateness criteria; and CRMS, business intelligence tools that help managed care organizations measure, report, and improve clinical and financial performance.

Supporting these products is McKesson's Medical Management Platform, an integrated clinical, analytic, workflow and technical infrastructure.

"What attracted us to McKesson's Medical Management Platform was its integrated design and functionality. We feel that it will have great utility in re-engineering the time-consuming and manual processes that have historically plagued payer organizations," said Thomas Kelly, president and CEO of Mercy Health Plans.

"For example, CCMS will replace upwards of six different systems our case manager nurses use to track, manage and schedule interactions with members.

Their ability to access a comprehensive clinical picture of an individual patient from a single sign-on will streamline workflow tremendously, allowing more resources to be dedicated directly to treatment planning as opposed to paperwork," he added.

Mercy Health Plans also will implement CareEnhance CareLink, a module of CCMS, to Web-enable member eligibility and benefits checks, as well as online referrals and authorizations and assessment completion in the provider office.

As Mercy Health Plans looks to the future, McKesson's Medical Management Platform will play a significant role in how the organization extends its care management programs to full population management identifying members at risk before a hospitalization or otherwise catastrophic event.

"Our next big job is providing members with a program that allows them to keep their own personal health record and set their own health goals," Kelly said.

"Care then becomes member-directed. We feel this is the key to maximizing the health status of our membership, and that McKesson can help us get there,'' Kelly said.

McKesson Corporation is a provider of supply, information and care management products and services. Its health solutions business unit offers integrated technologies and services for the payer, provider and pharmaceutical manufacturer markets.