The MED Group Announces Strategic Partnership with HealthCall

The MED Group, a Managed Health Care Associates, Inc. (MHA) company, is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with HealthCall® LLC, a medical communications company and the first provider of patented Automated Patient Response™ solutions.

The MED Group is a leading group purchasing and member services organization serving the home medical equipment industry. The new strategic partnership with HealthCall addresses the most challenging post-acute care populations and the need for reduction of hospital readmissions. For MED members, this paves the way to support a broader section of chronic care management and capture hospital-to-home transitional care opportunities above and beyond today's equipment-centric HME space.

To enable optimum care and reduce unnecessary hospital readmissions, The MED Group in consultation with its members has established an exclusive and comprehensive clinical pathways program known as MED Clinical Pathways Program – MCPP™. With the strategic partnership in place, the MED Clinical Pathways Program now provides immediate access to the HealthCall technology platform, enabling MED members to deliver a continuum of care through services and software for use in post-discharge care, chronic care management, as well as automated patient response services. The initial MCPP Care Plan focuses on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and MED anticipates co-development targeting additional chronic conditions such as Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and asthma, as well as rehab and home ventilation.

"The partnership we've developed with HealthCall demonstrates The MED Group's continued dedication to introduce innovative technology and care management solutions that provide significant value to our Members," said Rhonda Hines, Division Vice President, The MED Group. Ed Izbicki, Jr., Senior Vice President, Alternate Site Division, MHA, added "We believe The MED Group and HealthCall's partnership realizes a new and exciting chronic care opportunity. By closing a vital gap in the transition of patients from hospital to home, the partnership enables MED members to provide optimum patient care, and stay competitive."

"Multiple factors continue to drive the convergence of care back into the home as the primary site of care," said Daniel Hayes, HealthCall's President and CEO. "By empowering MED members with the HealthCall patented system we advance the delivery of in-home care and eliminate barriers for those with chronic conditions. We are excited to extend this proven model to MED's network of payers for improving patient health in the comfort of home."