Johns Hopkins and National Fibromyalgia Association Announce Successful Outcomes from Landmark Educational Initiative

Millions of Americans Suffering from Debilitating, Chronic Pain Disorder to
Benefit from Clinical Education That Increases Awareness, Diagnosis & Best
Practice Treatment of Fibromyalgia
NEW YORK CITY--(Business Wire)--
According to The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the Fibromyalgia
Circle of Care Initiative has achieved dramatic success in heightening
awareness, diagnosis and best practice treatment of fibromyalgia - a complex and
chronic pain disorder that plagues an estimated 10 million Americans. Most
people go undiagnosed, suffering from widespread body pain and fatigue that
impacts the ability to carry out the simplest daily activities. According to The
Institute for Johns Hopkins Nursing and the National Fibromyalgia Association,
the initiative has already demonstrated success in increasing the awareness and
adoption of multi-faceted fibromyalgia treatments including patient education,
cognitive behavior therapy, prescription medication and exercise.

The goal of the Fibromyalgia Initiative was to go beyond traditional clinical
education and engage physicians in a multi-interventional, multidisciplinary
educational activity to demonstrate measurable value and improvement in patient
care and clinical practices. The reported outcomes include significant,
demonstrated successes in those areas that represented the biggest barriers or
gaps in improving patient care:

* Increasing provider confidence in diagnosing fibromyalgia;
* Identifying comorbid conditions;
* Applying evidence-based clinical trial data; and
* Integrating novel FDA-approved therapies and additional therapeutic options.

"The Fibromyalgia Circle of Care Initiative educated clinicians on the proven
benefits of addressing fibromyalgia treatment on multiple levels and the
application of specific standards of care while empowering patients in self-care
and management of their condition," said Victor Marrow, Ph.D., Executive
Director, Office of Funded Programs/CME, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. "The
initiative`s outcomes demonstrate that the multi-interventional aspects of this
CME program actively engaged participating clinicians and enhanced their
knowledge of the disease, diagnosis and care."

"This educational CME program goes beyond the traditional CME learning models by
combining an interactive learning format with simulated patient case studies and
visual aids to address educational factors that influence appropriate care and
treatment of patients," said Jane Shivan, MScN, RN, AOCN, Executive Director,
The Institute for Johns Hopkins Nursing. "After completing the program,
clinicians said they had learned about evidence-based clinical trial data and
new, approved medications, and that they planned to adopt a more comprehensive
approach to managing the condition -- from education to exercise -- to treat
patients."

"This initiative united multiple disciplines to address the deficiencies in
properly identifying, diagnosing, and managing patients with fibromyalgia," said
Lynne Matallana, President and Founder, National Fibromyalgia Association. "The
increased awareness resulting from this educational program will help reduce
delays in diagnosis and treatment that are so prevalent today and encourage
immediate, aggressive treatment -- greatly improving patients` quality of life
and long-term outcomes."

The second phase of the Fibromyalgia Circle of Care Initiative will be launched
with the first ever Performance Improvement Initiative in Fibromyalgia this
year. This educational initiative will look beyond pain to address other major
patient complaints including fatigue, decreased cognition and increased
depression. The program will educate primary care providers, rheumatologists and
psychiatrists about best practices for diagnosis, as well as medicinal and
non-medicinal treatments for fibromyalgia patients. Leveraging a performance
improvement model, the Phase II initiative will measure improvements in the
clinicians' diagnoses and management of the disease as a result of participation
in the program.

The first phase of the Fibromyalgia Circle of Care initiative was supported by
educational grants from Eli Lilly and Company, Forest Laboratories, Inc., and
Pfizer, Inc., and the second phase is supported by Eli Lilly and Company. MJ
Consulting Group, LLC is the facilitator and manager of both educational
initiatives.

For more information on the Fibromyalgia Circle of Care Initiative, please visit
http://www.hopkinscme.edu/ofp/fibromyalgia.

About the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

In July 2008, U.S. News & World Report ranked the Johns Hopkins Hospital #1
among American hospitals for the 18th consecutive year. In 2006, the Johns
Hopkins Office of CME received "Accreditation with Commendation" for six years,
the highest ranking issued by the ACCME. Hopkins CME has been recognized as a
center for "Best Practices" and as a resource to ACCME-accredited providers. For
more information, please visit http://www.hopkinscme.edu or contact Victor
Marrow, Ph.D., Executive Director, CME`s Office of Funded Programs at
vmarrow@jhmi.edu.

About the Institute for Johns Hopkins Nursing

The Institute for Johns Hopkins Nursing designs and delivers leading-edge
continuing education for nurses. The Institute accesses the expertise of faculty
and nurses from both the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and Johns
Hopkins Hospital, including over 2,500 highly skilled clinicians in 10 clinical
and countless subspecialty areas who are also world-renowned researchers and
educators. For more information, please visit http://www.ijhn.jhmi.edu.

About the National Fibromyalgia Association

The National Fibromyalgia Association (NFA) is a non-profit 501(c)(3)
organization whose mission is to develop and execute programs dedicated to
improving the quality of life for people affected by fibromyalgia. The NFA
publishes a quarterly magazine, Fibromyalgia AWARE,and hosts an award-winning
website at http://www.FMaware.org.

About MJ Consulting Group, LLC.

MJ Consulting Group (MJ) collaborates with academic medical centers of
excellence, nonprofit associations and medical education companies dedicated to
advancing medical education. MJ`s mission is to deliver communications
strategies that improve the knowledge, skills and clinical behavior of
healthcare providers and raise awareness of educational gaps and needs to
positively impact patient care and outcomes. For more information, please visit
http://www.mjconsultinggroup.com.

Amendola Communications for MJ Consulting Group, LLC
Janet Cabibbo,480-664-8412 x15
jcabibbo@ACmarketingPR.com
Jan Shulman, 480-664-8412 x12
jshulman@ACmarketingPR.com

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