Medical Mutual of Ohio and Eliza Corporation Named as Finalist for Best ... - MarketWatch (press release)

CLEVELAND, Ohio & DANVERS, Mass., May 21, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Medical Mutual of Ohio and Eliza Corporation were named as a finalist for the Best Practices in Health Care Consumer Empowerment and Protection Awards by URAC, a leading health care accreditation organization. Nineteen finalists were selected from entries across the nation by a distinguished panel of judges, and will be honored during URAC's 2012 Quality Summit, October 9-11, 2012, in San Francisco, CA. The award recognizes achievements of organizations that are effectively advancing the role of consumers as active participants in health care through two areas: Consumer Decision-Making and Consumer Health Improvement.

"The Best Practices Awards provide an opportunity for health care leaders to focus attention on those organizations that are delivering on the mission to advance consumer protection and empowerment," said Alan P. Spielman, President and CEO of URAC. "URAC is honored to share these programs and raise awareness of innovative approaches to health care delivery and management that can be replicated across the industry."

Medical Mutual of Ohio and Eliza Corporation have been nominated for Improving Preventive Screening Rates through Interactive, Automated Outreach -- preventive health outreach made to MMO members eligible for breast cancer, cervical cancer, and colorectal cancer screenings. As part of the program, Eliza's automated, interactive phone calls engaged MMO members in conversation about these screenings, offered education and support, gathered members' motivation for compliance as well as barriers to not having recommended screenings, and pointed members to resources -- including MMO's web site -- as appropriate. Eliza draws on its deep health engagement management expertise to develop scalable, data-driven health promotion programs like this one that meets people where they are in life and yields improved health outcomes.

For this particular program, the mammography rate of MMO members who received a combined outreach regarding both breast and cervical cancer was 45% higher than the rate of those who didn't receive the calls, and the cervical cancer rate was 53% higher. Meanwhile, the colorectal cancer screening rate of members who received the Eliza outreach was 35% higher compared to those who didn't get the call.

"This collaboration with Eliza is proof that, by simply improving the methodology, we are bringing about both member engagement and behavioral changes," says Paula Sauer, Senior Vice President of Care Management and Pharmacy at Medical Mutual. "In this situation, outreach technology plays a major role in driving engagement and ultimately results in positive health outcomes."

"Our work with Medical Mutual of Ohio is proof that when engaged in a way that is supportive and authentic and informed, people are actually eager to take better care of themselves. Technology helps us do that in a tailored and sustainable way -- increasing preventive screening rates and helping to make a real difference in people's lives," states Alexandra Drane, Founder, Chief Visionary Officer and Chair of the Board at Eliza Corporation. "MMO's efforts deserve this recognition from URAC, and we are honored to be their partner on these potentially life-saving programs."

More than twenty of the nation's foremost thought leaders in health care judged the entries based on criteria established by URAC. Finalists are invited to present their winning programs at URAC's 2012 Quality Summit. During a special event at the conference, Platinum award winners will be announced in the two topic categories. Gold, Silver and Bronze awards, as well as Honorable Mention, awards will be presented in six organizational categories. For complete conference details, go to https://www.urac.org/13thAnnualSummit/13thAnnualSummit.asp .

About Medical Mutual of Ohio

A trusted insurer for more than 75 years, Medical Mutual is the oldest and largest health insurance company headquartered in the state of Ohio and the Medical Mutual Family of Companies has operations in Georgia, Indiana and South Carolina. As a mutual company, Medical Mutual operates for the benefit of its members without being required to meet the demands of stockholders or Wall Street analysts. Instead, the company focuses on developing products and services that allow it to better serve its customers and communities. Visit us at: medmutual.com.

About Eliza Corporation

Eliza Corporation is the pioneer and recognized leader in Health Engagement Management, blending technology, communication expertise and data analytics to drive healthy behavior change. Drawing from more than 700 million interactions with consumers about their health, Eliza makes health and healthcare information more accessible, more actionable and more engaging. Each program is powered by Eliza's patented speech recognition technology, rich web and multi-modal delivery platform (including automated calls, emails, text messages, mail, and social media interactions), population profile analysis, and Continuity of Care Record (CCR) capabilities. These programs consistently yield the best outcomes in the industry in terms of improved engagement, health and wellness measures, and measurable, sustainable ROI.

Eliza's customers include the nation's leading health plans, disease management firms, pharmaceutical companies, pharmacy benefit managers and employers. The results of Eliza's programs have been recognized by organizations including the Centers for Prevention and Disease Control, the BlueCross BlueShield Association, URAC, Entrepreneur magazine, The Consumer Directed Health Care Congress and Harvard Medical School. Eliza is privately held; for more information, please visit www.elizacorp.com .

About URAC

URAC, an independent, nonprofit organization, promotes health care quality through its accreditation, education and measurement programs. URAC offers a wide range of quality benchmarking programs and services that keep pace with the rapid changes in the health care system and provide a symbol of excellence for organizations to validate their commitment to quality and accountability. Through its broad-based governance structure and an inclusive standards development process, URAC ensures that all stakeholders are represented in establishing meaningful quality measures for the entire health care industry. For more information, visit www.urac.org .

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SOURCE: Eliza Corporation

                            Eliza Corporation            Nancy Scott, 978-236-7320                    

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