New partnership will serve plan members across the senior care continuum

May 2, 2007 Brentwood, TN – Today INSPIRIS announced a major service expansion that will extend nurse practitioner-led care and care management services for members of Senior Care Action Network (SCAN) in the Phoenix market beginning today. INSPIRIS is an expert care and care management company focused on improving the quality of life for the frail elderly, the chronically ill and those with disabilities, while reducing the cost to Medicare Advantage and Medicaid health plans. INSPIRIS has been serving SCAN members in the Phoenix metropolitan area since October 2006, providing its CarePlus™ nursing home-based services to plan enrollees in custodial care. Beginning May 1, INSPIRIS will expand care and care management services to SCAN members who reside in some 15 assisted living centers through INSPIRIS’ new CarePlus At Home™ model. Nurse practitioners will be on site at assisted living centers each week, visiting members as needed and providing telephonic case management on a regular basis. INSPIRIS will also provide post-acute care management for members receiving short-term care during skilled nursing home stays. By continuing to care for SCAN members across varied settings, INSPIRIS can work to ease problems that often arise when patients transition from one care setting to another. Transitions of care are a major issue in health care quality because of fragmentation and barriers to communication that exist between diverse health care providers. INSPIRIS care managers serve as central collaborative voices when members move from the nursing home or assisted living center to a hospital, when they need specialty physician care, or when they are discharged from the hospital to care in skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes and assisted living centers. According to the National Transition of Care Coalition (NTOCC), gaps in follow-up care during these transitions often lead to patient safety problems, medication errors, and miscommunication between patients, care givers and providers. “The combination of these INSPIRIS programs bring members coordinated, consistent care focused on preventative care, as well as chronic and acute condition management—delivered in the appropriate setting,” said Mike Tudeen, chief executive officer of INSPIRIS. “The addition of services to assisted living centers and skilled nursing facilities in the Phoenix area will round out continuity of care and enhance stability for SCAN members across the care spectrum—preventive care in the institutional and assisted living center settings, post-acute care, and case management assistance when members are hospitalized.” “INSIPRIS shares our mission when it comes to assuring that our most vulnerable members receive quality care in the right setting, delivered with dignity and respect,” said Maureen McGurrin, vice president and general manager of SCAN. “We are pleased to expand our relationship with INSPIRIS in this way as we continue to grow our presence and our commitment to the Phoenix community.” SCAN Health Plan, which this year celebrates it’s 30th anniversary, entered Maricopa County late last year when it was awarded a three-year contract by the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System to provide long-term care services to low-income elderly and physically disabled Arizonans enrolled in the state’s Long Term Care System. The not-for-profit company is also one of California’s fastest growing and most successful Medicare Advantage Plans with more than 100,000 members. INSPIRIS uses a nurse practitioner-led care and care management model to deliver pro-active, preventative health care and to improve the quality of life for enrolled members, working through health plans that serve Medicare, Medicaid and commercially-insured members. The model has proved to effectively reduce costs, decrease hospital admissions and utilization of skilled nursing care, improve outcomes, and to improve patient and family satisfaction. INSPIRIS offers expertise to meet the complex needs of the frail elderly, chronically ill and those with disabilities. CarePlus and CarePlus at Home services include direct patient care, but also offers care management services, such as: Communicating with facility staff, family members and the plan member to create an individualized care plan based on each participant’s unique needs; On-site initial assessments and regular follow-up visits; Preventive health screenings and care; and Review of participant prescription medication use. The CarePlus model has proven to effectively reduce costs, decrease hospital admissions and utilization of skilled nursing care, improve outcomes, and to improve patient and family satisfaction. “We are pleased to partner with SCAN to bring this model of consistent, responsive, ongoing care to members in all these care settings,” Tudeen said. “We have seen remarkable success in improving the quality of care patients receive and reduced hospitalizations among partner plan members. This is a welcome opportunity to extend the model to serve even more members in the Phoenix area.” About INSPIRIS INSPIRIS is a unique health care management company focused on improving the quality of life for the frail elderly, chronically ill and those with disabilities, while reducing the cost to Medicare Advantage health plans. INSPIRIS partners with individual health plans to coordinate and provide care across the diverse settings where members need care, including post-acute, custodial, assisted living and hospice. For more information about INSPIRIS, visit www.inspiris.com.