08.26.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:00 am by Pit
PMSI Settlement Solutions℠ Detects a Significant Increase in MSA Prescription Drug Allocations
Industry Leader Continues to Advocate Accuracy in Drug Review Methodology to Prevent Overallocation
Tampa, Fla. (Vocus) August 24, 2009 -- PMSI Settlement Solutions (www.pmsisettlement.com), a leading provider of settlement services for the liability and workers' compensation markets, announced today that an analysis of recent Medicare Set-Asides (MSAs) reviewed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) using their new drug review guidelines shows a significant increase in prescription drug allocations.
Preliminary results indicate that the percentage of allocation costs attributed to pharmacy has increased considerably since the implementation of the new guidelines on June 1, 2009. "Recent analysis by PMSI found that prior to CMS' review of prescription allocations, medications comprised approximately 26% of the total allocation. An examination of MSA submissions since June 1 shows that the percentage of the MSA allocation attributed to pharmaceuticals is now much greater," says Kent Takemoto, MD, President of PMSI Settlement Solutions.
Much attention has been focused on the recent inclusion of medications in CMS' review of MSAs. PMSI, the nation's leading provider of pharmacy and Medicare-Set Aside services, is concerned that current guidelines for the review of MSA drug allocations can be ambiguous, which can lead to the over-allocation of future drug expenditures. This may also limit the ability of payors to settle claims.
"While prescription allocation costs have increased dramatically, drug utilization review is effective in mitigating costs related to drug dose frequency. However, CMS is not currently allowing for the tapering of medications with age. As a patient ages, the tapering of medications is necessary due to decreased kidney and liver function (effectively increasing blood medication levels) as well as the risk for adverse side effects increases with use for extended durations," comments Maria Sciame, PharmD, Director of Clinical Pharmacy Services for PMSI. "We are pleased that CMS is taking the first steps towards a reasonable review standard and we look forward to working with them to identify relevant algorithms for MSAs to be even more accurate and consistent."
Together with payors and other industry experts, PMSI Settlement Solutions is advocating that CMS adopt revised guidelines in order to increase the accuracy and predictability of MSAs, decrease rejections and prevent the over-allocation of drug costs. PMSI continues to work with CMS and is engaged in dialogue to aid in the development of more reasonable guidelines. As the founder of the Workers' Compensation Pharmacy Benefit Management industry and the only major MSA provider with an in-house pharmacy program, PMSI is uniquely qualified to engage with CMS around this issue. In the meantime, PMSI is continuing to make real-time adjustments to its prescription allocations as CMS makes changes. The company is also using its best-in-class Drug Utilization Review (DUR) to allow payors to accurately allocate for the pharmacy cost component program of the MSA.
About PMSI Settlement Solutions:
PMSI Settlement Solutions is recognized as the leader in Medicare Set-Aside allocations. PMSI Settlement Solutions offers a comprehensive portfolio of services for workers' compensation and liability/no-fault auto claims that are focused on settling claims in the most timely, cost-effective manner and in compliance with all government requirements. PMSI Settlement Solutions is a division of PMSI, one of the nation's largest providers of specialty managed care services and products for workers' compensation and liability markets. To learn more about PMSI Settlement Solutions, our services and web-enabled, integrated capabilities visit www.pmsisettlement.com or call 888.MSA.PMSI.
About PMSI:
PMSI is one of the nation's largest full-service providers of clinically-driven services for Pharmacy, Settlement Solutions, and Medical Services and Equipment, and is devoted exclusively to the workers' compensation and liability markets. For over 33 years, PMSI has served as the trusted resource for thousands of insurance payors, state workers' compensation funds, employers, and third-party administrators. Today, PMSI continues its leadership position by managing millions of pharmacy, medical services and equipment, and settlement transactions each year. For more information, please refer to the PMSI website at www.pmsionline.com.
PMSI Contact:
Shelia Chapman
Executive Director, Marketing
877.ASK.PMSI
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Consumer Confessions: I Look for Dietary Fiber Content on Food and Drink Labels
Tate & Lyle Finds that Food & Drink Labels are Prime Real Estate for Manufacturers
Decatur, Ill. (Vocus) August 25, 2009 -- Consumers' secrets are out: When shopping for themselves and their loved ones, they are swayed by what's prominently displayed on food labels.
As U.S. consumers actively embrace healthier lifestyles, Tate & Lyle found that 55 percent of them display a laser-like focus on nutrition facts and ingredient labels.
"As a leading ingredient company in the U.S., Tate & Lyle is committed to understanding consumers' needs as they start and maintain healthy lifestyles," says David Lewis, Business Manager, PROMITOR™ Dietary Fiber, Tate & Lyle. "With consumers pressed for time, food labels quickly communicate nutrition information to help them choose products that support their healthy intentions."
8 Approaches to Label Reading
From blogs and online forums to news reports and diet trends, today's time-crunched consumers are inundated with messages about healthy dining from multiple sources. Consumers shared eight approaches to label reading with Tate & Lyle that help them determine which food and beverage items make the final cut.
No. 1: Is it a New Product? Many consumers are brand loyal and will scrutinize the labels of new products to determine if trial is necessary.
No. 2: Who is it for? Adult consumers aren't the only one's trending more toward healthier eating. Parents are exhibiting increased interest in reading labels if food and beverages are for their children.
No. 3: Everyday or Indulgent Item? Consumers are more diligent about reading packages of everyday staples. They also report having an interest in healthy indulgence.
No. 4: Current Media Reports. Consumers are more inclined to read labels if they read or watch diet and nutrition feature stories by key media influencers like Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Oz.
No. 5: Influence of a Prior Diet Program. Former dieters have learned to look for carbs and fiber from diets like Atkins and Weight Watchers.
No. 6: Front Package Claims. When specific health claims are made on the front of packages, consumers tend to scrutinize the back and side panels of packages for additional information.
No. 7: On a Diet. Consumers focus on the most important aspects of the package that are dictated by the diet they are currently following.
No. 8: In a Hurry. Consumers, especially parents, are time-crunched and tend to read labels quickly to stay on schedule.
Ingredients Matter
Many times, consumer education starts and ends with packaging, says Lisa Sanders, Ph.D., R.D., Nutrition Scientist, Tate & Lyle. With thousands of consumer brands flooding supermarket shelves, the majority of consumers report two major reasons for reading labels.
"Consumers want to make healthy choices and more than 60 percent of them rely on food and beverage labels to do this," Dr. Sanders explains. "Research also shows that 50 percent of consumers look to labels when they are purposely trying to add specific nutrients, like fiber, to their diets."
When reading labels, the Nutrition Facts Panel is one of the top areas consumers read. Tate & Lyle found that 46 percent review the Nutrition Facts Panel to find out about fiber content.
Fiber is Excellent!
The International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation found that 43 percent of consumers look to product labels for statements about nutrition benefits. Tate & Lyle’s research reveals that 42 percent of consumers actively shop for foods and drinks that clearly indicate fiber on the package.
It's a bonus if product labels tout an "excellent source of fiber*" statement on the front of the package. Consumers agree this statement is appealing to them across many product categories:
• More than 60 percent (63 percent) of consumers find an "excellent source of fiber" on dairy products appealing
• Seven in 10 (70 percent) of consumers believe cereals with an "excellent source of fiber" label claim is appealing
• More than 50 percent (54 percent) of consumers say drink products with "excellent source of fiber" is appealing
• Nearly 6 in 10 (59 percent) of consumers say bread products with "excellent source of fiber" is appealing
About PROMITOR™ Dietary Fiber
With the heightened consumer interest in eating healthy, fiber-rich foods, Tate & Lyle's PROMITOR™ Dietary Fiber can be easily incorporated into a broad range of food and beverage applications without compromising great taste and texture. Clinical studies have found PROMITOR™ Dietary Fibers provide excellent tolerance for consumers when compared to other sources of fiber. The PROMITOR™ Dietary Fiber range includes PROMITOR™ Soluble Corn Fiber and PROMITOR™ Resistant Starch, and can be used to manufacture healthy products for the entire family. For more information about PROMITOR™ Dietary Fiber, visit www.promitorfiber.com
About Tate & Lyle
Tate & Lyle is a world-leading renewable food and industrial ingredients company, serving a global market from more than 45 production facilities throughout the Americas, Europe and South East Asia. Our efficient, large-scale manufacturing plants turn agricultural products, corn and cane sugar, into valuable ingredients for our customers. These ingredients add taste, texture, nutrition and increased functionality to products that millions of people around the world use or consume every day.
Tate & Lyle's range of leading branded food ingredients includes SPLENDA® Sucralose, PROMITOR™ Dietary Fiber, STA-LITE® Polydextrose, Tate & Lyle Fairtrade Sugar and Lyle's Golden Syrup. Tate & Lyle also produces branded industrial ingredients including Bio-PDO™, Ethylex® and STA-Lock® paper starches; and staple ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup, sugar, ethanol, citric acid and basic starches. In addition to providing a wide range of ingredients our expert sales and product applications teams support customers by providing technical advice and proprietary consumer insight studies.
Tate & Lyle is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol TATE.L. American Depositary Receipts trade under TATYY. In the year to 31 March 2009, Tate & Lyle employed 5,718 people in its subsidiaries and joint ventures, and sales totaled $6.4 billion (£3.55 billion) http://www.tateandlyle.com
SPLENDA® is a trademark of McNeil Nutritionals, LLC
*An excellent source of fiber is at least five grams of fiber per serving
Tate & Lyle's proprietary consumer research was conducted in the United States during the first half of 2008 by Illuminas, an internationally recognized consumer research agency. The research is a combination of qualitative and quantitative studies, including an online survey with a sample of 4,421 adults.
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Centrifuge Releases New Interactive Analytics Software
Centrifuge Systems, Inc., a leading provider of next generation business intelligence software, today announced the availability of Centrifuge Server 1.7, the latest version of its groundbreaking Interactive Analytics technology. The application is available for free evaluation at www.centrifugesystems.com, which also features a brief "See It in Action" video.
McLean, VA (Vocus) August 25, 2009 -- Centrifuge Systems, Inc., a leading provider of next generation business intelligence software, today announced the availability of Centrifuge 1.7, the latest version of its groundbreaking Interactive Analytics technology. The application is available for a free evaluation at www.centrifugesystems.com. Click on Try It Online. Recorded videos are available at centrifugesystems.com and "See It in Action (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzrhjJCk2KY)" on YouTube.
Interactive Analytics (IA) is an exciting, new analyst-centric approach to understanding data in support of better decision making. It brings together three modern innovations in analysis: Interactive Data Visualization, Unified Data Views and Collaborative Analysis, Widely used by US Government agencies in some of the most demanding applications in the world including cyber security, financial crimes, homeland defense and counter-terrorism applications, IA is gaining recognition in other industries where companies are looking to extract insights from lots of rapidly changing data.
With IA, analysts can unify disparate data into rich visualizations to uncover relationships and insights that are hidden across their data. Analysts "shift their lens" across different visualizations and pose questions by interacting directly with the pictures. This highly interactive approach allows analysts to explore data at the speed of the human mind.
Centrifuge 1.7 includes several significant enhancements, particularly in the area of collaborative analysis. Live workspaces in the Centrifuge Repository (http://www.centrifugesystems.com/images/ec/collaboration.jpg) now allow users to securely share work in progress and collaborate with other team members that may be conducting similar analyses.
The new version also includes improvements around ease of use. Analysts can now more easily connect to their data, regardless of the number or location of sources, and begin exploring immediately. The ability to add data on demand, and grow the visualization, without the need for dedicated IT resources, is now as simple as point and click.
"Organizations adopting BI solutions have struggled greatly in two areas: making BI available to departments and projects that most need the capability and turning the lonely function of analysis into a group exercise that leverages the collective knowledge of their team," explains Guljit Khurana, CEO of Centrifuge. "Our continued focus on usability has been received very well. The collaboration features take a page out of the Web 2.0 playbook with a focus on community features such as tagging and discussions while still recognizing the needs of the enterprise."
Other new features in Centrifuge 1.7 include Map Charts (http://www.centrifugesystems.com/images/ec/map.jpg) that supplement existing geospatial analysis and Smart Filters (http://www.centrifugesystems.com/images/ec/smart-filter.jpg) that allow users to quickly and intuitively filter on multiple attributes simultaneously.
Organizations can deploy Centrifuge Server as an on-premise or hosted solution, and end users can use the application through a standard web browser. No client software installation is required. A free evaluation of Centrifuge is available via the TRY IT ONLINE facility at www.centrifugesystems.com.
About Centrifuge:
Centrifuge Systems is a leading provider of next generation business intelligence software that helps organizations discover insights, patterns and relationships hidden in their data. The unique Centrifuge approach is called Interactive Analytics which brings together three innovations in analysis: Interactive Data Visualization, Unified Data Views and Collaborative Analysis. With Centrifuge, users ask open ended questions of their data by interacting with visual representations of the data directly.
Traditional business intelligence solutions require users to define what they want to see in advance and present the results in static dashboards. With Centrifuge, users determine what is of interest "on the fly", then manipulate the displays directly in a highly interactive fashion. The experience is refreshingly easy-to-use and the resulting insights can be extraordinary.
Centrifuge is used in some of the most demanding applications in the world, including counter-terrorism and homeland defense, providing analysts with the freedom to explore. It supports a wide variety of applications including fraud analysis, cyber security, performance management, customer relationship management, business intelligence and many other applications.
For more information including access to white papers, videos and the free online evaluation, visit the company's website at http://www.centrifugesystems.com.
Contact:
Tony Agresta
Centrifuge Systems, Inc.
571-830-1390
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New ZERONA Non-Surgical, Painless Laser Liposuction, Exclusively Available at Advanced Anti-Aging & Weight Loss in Newburgh, IN
Advanced Anti-Aging & Weight Loss exclusively launches ZERONA™ in Newburg). ZERONA is the latest fat reduction technology to rival liposuction without the surgery, incisions, pain or recovery.
Newburgh, IN (Vocus) August 24, 2009 -- Practically forever, women and men have been fighting issues with fat. There has never been a completely non-surgical solution that has rivaled the quick results of liposuction…until now. Introducing ZERONA™ (http://www.evansvilleweightloss.com/zerona.htm), a laser that melts fat without surgery, medication, incisions, pain or recovery time. The ZERONA technology has been FDA approved for use along side traditional liposuction for over 5 years. Now this technology can fly solo as a non-surgical alternative to liposuction and it is exclusively available in Newburgh, at Advanced Anti-Aging & Weight Loss (http://www.evansvilleweightloss.com).
“Our clinic has been using Cold Lasers for over 8 years. The Zerona technology was the perfect addition to our non-invasive and holistic body sculpting program. This is the most exciting technology I have seen in decades. The results are amazing and we are able to transform people in as little as 2 weeks with no interference in their daily life or use of risky painful procedures,” says Dr. Jeannie Haseman, M.D. medical director at Anti-Aging & Weight Loss.
The ZERONA body-sculpting laser procedure removes fat and contours the body without invasive surgery. According to the manufacturer Erchonia®, ZERONA allows the patient to continue their daily activities without interruptions from surgery, pain, or wounds.
ZERONA is considered a cold laser, designed to emulsify adipose (fat) tissue which then releases into the interstitial space. The excess fat is passed through the body during its normal course of detoxification. The ZERONA procedure is proven through a double blind, randomized, multi-site, and placebo controlled study. Patients lost 3.5 to 9 inches compared to the placebo group that lost only a half an inch. ZERONA body sculpting requires 6 sessions over a 2 week period.
Advanced Anti-Aging & Weight Loss has been working with aesthetic lasers for many years and is very excited that we able to help patients slim down fast without the use of pills, lotions or risky surgery.
Advanced Anti-Aging & Weight Loss (http://www.evansvilleweightloss.com) is located at 8788 Ruffian Lane, Suite C Newburgh, IN 47630. Zerona consultations are complimentary. To schedule a consultation call: 812-858-9800.
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Treating Prostate Cancer: Old School vs. New School
The historically low cure rates offered by traditional radiotherapy and proton therapy are being replaced by almost unbelievable treatment outcomes from the combination of modern brachytherapy and IMRT
Mesa, AZ (Vocus) August 24, 2009 -- New innovations in treating prostate cancer have more than doubled the cure rate for high-risk patients. Traditional proton and photon therapies have an approximate 40% success rate for patients with advanced prostate cancer. In sharp contrast, new combined therapies discussed on Doctorfinders.com, have shown cure rates as high as 98% for patients in expert hands.
An estimated 234,000 new cases of prostate cancer (http://doctorfinders.com/prostate-cancer.php) will be diagnosed in the United States this year, making it one of the most common cancers affecting American men, second only to skin cancer. More than 27,000 deaths due to prostate cancer are expected to occur this year.
Prostate cancer is most often diagnosed through a blood test measuring the amount of prostate specific antigens (PSA) in the body. However, signs and symptoms of prostate cancer can include: Changes in urinary flow: frequency, urgency, and hesitancy. Also, frequent nighttime urination, painful urination, or blood in urine.
The good news is that the outlook for men diagnosed with prostate cancer is better than ever. When prostate cancer is detected early, while the tumor is still localized, the survival rate is extremely high.
Dr. Jamie Cesaretti, a prostate cancer specialist with the Florida Radiation Oncology Group and contributor to Doctorfinders.com says, "It is an exciting time in prostate cancer radiotherapy treatment. Old concepts of radiotherapy using standard treatments have largely been replaced with new more precise therapies called image-guided brachytherapy (seed-implants) and/or intensity modulation radiation therapy (IMRT)."
The historically low cure rates offered by traditional radiotherapy and proton therapy are being replaced by almost unbelievable treatment outcomes from the combination of modern brachytherapy and IMRT. "A combination of brachytherapy and IMRT can cure between 98% for low-risk patients, 95% for intermediate risk and 85% for high risk patients in expert hands," says Dr. Cesaretti.
The concept behind the combination treatment is simple; the brachytherapy seed implant causes a minimum amount of symptoms while still targeting the cancer. In addition, the IMRT treatment dose is also lowered to also decrease symptoms. In combination, the two high-tech treatments punish the cancer while leaving most men with an excellent quality of life in terms of their ability to have and maintain an erection and live without bowel and bladder symptoms.
Dr. Cesaretti and his partners perform over 500 prostate seed implants per year. He has a special interest in the treatment of prostate cancer with a combination of IMRT and brachytherapy. Dr. Cesaretti's profile can be found at Doctorfinders.com.
DoctorFinders.com is an innovative tool that allows the general public to easily access information about health concerns and find the right doctor for their needs. The site allows for users to identify doctors by geographic area, specialties, procedures (http://doctorfinders.com/procedures.php), and more.
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