Milliman Care Guidelines(R) Innovations Spur Eight-Fold Growth in Hospital Client Base

Milliman Care Guidelines(R) Innovations Spur Eight-Fold Growth in Hospital
Client Base
CMS Audit Contractor and Health Plan Clients Also Increase

SEATTLE, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The number of hospitals using the Milliman
Care Guidelines® has grown eight-fold from 116 in 2002 to more than 950 in
2009 thanks to client-driven innovations and enhancements in all Care
Guidelines products and software.

These enhancements include improved care pathway tables, expanded patient
education materials and integrated quality measures, plus enhanced search,
documentation and customization features in CareWebQI® interactive software.

Evidence-based clinical guidelines and software from Milliman Care Guidelines
are used by a wide range of healthcare organizations. Updated annually, the
seven-product Care Guidelines series covers the continuum of care. By
enabling informed and consistent clinical decisions, the Care Guidelines can
support the best patient outcomes possible.

Significant Growth Among All Clients

The overall number of healthcare organizations using the Care Guidelines has
grown significantly, from fewer than 200 clients in 2002 to more than 1,700
now.

Hundreds of payors including seven of the country's eight largest health
plans use Care Guidelines products and software to support the care of nearly
two-thirds of all US health plan members. More than 20 audit contractors for
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), such as Quality Improvement
Organizations (QIOs), Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) and Zone Program
Integrity Contractors (ZPICs), use the Care Guidelines to review the quality
of healthcare delivered across the country.

While CMS contractors audit healthcare quality and effectiveness in many
settings, the agency itself does not mandate or endorse any specific criteria.
Contractors may select any nationally recognized guidelines for audits, and a
growing number of them select the Care Guidelines.

"We are gratified by this growth, and proud that the Care Guidelines products
and software are fast becoming the standard among healthcare professionals,
particularly in hospitals," said Scott Harris, Milliman Care Guidelines Senior
Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "This strong response supports our
core belief that evidence-based medicine, presented in easily used software,
can help deliver the right care, in the right place and at the right time to
provide optimal healthcare."

Improving Care through Evidence-Based Medicine

Developed in the 1990s, the Care Guidelines were the first clinical guidelines
to offer a proactive, "look-ahead," approach to most conditions, allowing
clinicians to see the entire continuum of care for a patient, and to identify
milestones along the road to recovery. Today, Care Guidelines products
Ambulatory Care, Inpatient and Surgical Care, General Recovery Guidelines,
Recovery Facility Care, Home Care, Chronic Care Guidelines and Behavioral
Health Guidelines and their supporting software are licensed by clients
delivering optimal care to patients and members.

Interactive Software Available

A growing number of clients access the Care Guidelines through CareWebQI
interactive software, which provides robust medical management tools and
features to ease clients' care management and patient-tracking workload,
making it one of the most useful patient episode management applications
available. This flexible software allows Care Guidelines clients to capture
and report on real-time clinical data to measure their own performance against
national quality standards; track variances from best-practice; identify
inappropriate care; and detect physician, facility and resource delays.

About Milliman Care Guidelines

Milliman Care Guidelines LLC, A Milliman Company, is located in Seattle, and
independently develops and produces evidence-based clinical guidelines and
software widely used by hospitals, health plans, and government contractors.
Covering the continuum of care, the seven-product Care Guidelines series is
updated annually by an experienced full-time team of clinicians. For more
information, visit www.careguidelines.com.

About Milliman

Milliman Care Guidelines is a wholly owned subsidiary of Milliman, Inc., which
is among the world's largest independent actuarial and consulting firms.
Founded in Seattle in 1947 as Milliman & Robertson, the company now has 51
offices in key locations worldwide. Milliman employs more than 2,300 people,
with a professional staff of more than 1,100 qualified consultants and
actuaries, including specialists ranging from clinicians to economists. The
firm has consulting practices in healthcare, employee benefits, property and
casualty insurance, life insurance, and financial services. Milliman serves
the full spectrum of business, financial, government, union, education, and
nonprofit organizations. For further information, visit www.milliman.com.

SOURCE Milliman Care Guidelines LLC

Scott Harris, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Milliman Care
Guidelines, Tel: +1-206-381-8160, Cell: +1-480-203-7268,
scott.harris@milliman.com