Magellan Pharmacy Solutions’ Whole Health RxSM Delivers a Total Health Approach to Integrate Prescribing Practices

AVON, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Today, Magellan Pharmacy Solutions, a division of Magellan Health Services (MGLN), announced a new, comprehensive clinical quality management program, Whole Health RxSM, which works to address the quality of drug management across the fragmented delivery systems that deal with behavioral health and pharmacy benefits. Whole Health Rx uses medical diagnosis, behavioral and pharmacy claims, and lab data to identify patients taking behavioral health medications who also have common co-morbid conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and other chronic diseases. Magellan then works with behavioral health providers, primary care physicians and nurse practitioners to identify and resolve inappropriate prescribing, gaps in care and potential drug interactions to improve member safety and reduce cost. Through our advanced proprietary clinical algorithms, best practice guidelines, and active partnership with providers, Whole Health Rx improves clinical outcomes and reduces non-compliant prescriber behavior.

Whole Health Rx gives providers feedback and evidence-based information to allow them to better manage patients with behavioral health conditions who often have common co-morbid physical health conditions that affect cardiovascular, endocrine and respiratory systems. It targets vulnerable pediatric and geriatric populations as well as patients with potential substance abuse issues.

Approximately 86 percent of adults with a behavioral health condition also have at least one co-morbid medical condition. Coordinated treatment between all prescribers and system integration will improve evidence-based practice. Under the current delivery system, these patients often experience poor health outcomes and increased costs.

Whole Health Rx is the next-generation pharmacy management tool that combines behavioral, pharmacy and medical claims to identify prescribing patterns that are outside of evidence-based guidelines, said Teresa DeLuca, M.D., MBA, chief medical officer, Magellan Pharmacy Solutions. By utilizing the behavioral expertise of Magellan Behavioral Health and the pharmacy experience of Magellan Pharmacy Solutions, we are uniquely positioned to create innovative protocols that look at the whole patient and help determine where medications may be over- or under- prescribed, and identify gaps in care.

Whole Health Rx analytics can identify the following outlier prescribing patterns:

Our communication strategy provides outreach in many different ways - face-to-face, virtual consultations or by telephone, email, fax or mail, said Gary Henschen, M.D., chief medical officer, Magellan Behavioral Health. Our proprietary clinical protocols were developed by our multi-disciplinary Magellan Clinical Excellence Committee using the latest literature and best practice experience. The Committee consists of a wide range of specialties, including adult psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, internal medicine, cardiology and clinical pharmacy practice. Through targeted interventions and education, we can improve prescribing practices, clinical outcomes, and member safety, as well as reduce cost and provide significant return on investment to our customers.

For more information on Whole Health Rx, please contact Melissa Lamer at mlamer@magellanhealth.com, or via phone at (602) 284-9428.

About Magellan Health Services

Headquartered in Avon, Conn., Magellan Health Services Inc. is a leading specialty health care management organization with expertise in managing behavioral health, radiology and specialty pharmaceuticals, as well as public sector pharmacy benefits programs. Magellan delivers innovative solutions to improve quality outcomes and optimize the cost of care for those we serve. As of December 31, 2012, Magellans customers include health plans, employers and government agencies, serving approximately 33.8 million members in our behavioral health business, 17.2 million members in our radiology benefits management segment, and 8 million members in our medical pharmacy management product. In addition, the specialty pharmaceutical segment served 41 health plans and employers, and several pharmaceutical manufacturers and state Medicaid programs. The companys Medicaid Administration segment served 24 states and the District of Columbia. For more information, visit http://www.MagellanHealth.com.

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Magellan Pharmacy Solutions’ Whole Health RxSM Delivers a Total Health Approach to Integrate Prescribing Practices