Health Integrated's Depression Disease Management Program Yields Measurable Return on Investment

Tampa, FL - August 2, 2004 – In a groundbreaking presentation to the Strategic Research Institute's 2nd Annual Disease Management Conference, Health Integrated, Inc. a leading provider of Advanced Care Management services, announced a positive return on investment of 1.5 to 1 in their Depression Disease Management Program. A six-month cohort study examined approximately 500 commercial insured participants from a large Midwest health plan enrolled in this unique program, which treats the patient holistically from both a behavioral and medical perspective. Key clinical measures included Hamilton Depression Scale trends, Global SF-36 and SOFAs trends, treatment and medication compliance, access to care, psychosocial support, as well as stratification and satisfaction scores.

The preliminary results from the treatment group indicate:

• a decrease in depressive symptoms, based on Hamilton Depression Scale scores
• a decrease in members identified with barriers to medical compliance
• a decrease in depression outpatient facility visits, compared to an increase in the control group
• a decrease in medical outpatient facility visits, compared with an increase in the control group
• a decrease in emergency room utilization, versus a control group increase
• a decrease in medical inpatient days per thousand, compared to an increase in the control group
• ROI of 1.5 to 1

"This study clearly illustrates the impact of depression and its co-morbidity with other medical conditions," said Sam Toney, M.D., President and Chief Medical Officer of Health Integrated. "Depression represents an annual economic burden of $83 billion, frequently occurs with other medical conditions, and has a significant effect on workplace productivity and overall medical costs. The results are outstanding, demonstrating significant clinical improvement while reducing BOTH behavioral and medical care costs."

Health Integrated, Inc. is a privately held corporation based in Tampa, Florida. It is one of the fastest growing health care management companies in the nation, providing comprehensive, integrated medical and behavioral support yielding improved patient outcomes. It is URAC accredited for Health Utilization Management, Case Management and Disease Management. For more information call 877-267-7577 or visit the website at www.healthintegrated.com.

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