Michigan Achieves Dramatic Improvements In Health Outcomes, Reduces Costs Through Broad Use Of Technology

Michiganâ??s success offers blueprint for states

LANSING, Mich., and EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (March 30, 2009) –

Michigan, a state hit hard by the economic downturn, has achieved dramatic success in improving health outcomes and reducing taxpayer costs through broad adoption of information technology to support diverse health-related programs. Michigan’s success offers a blueprint of how other states might use sophisticated data warehousing strategies and analytics to improve health outcomes nationwide.

The Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) and the Michigan Department of Information Technology (MDIT), in partnership with Ingenix, a leading health information, technology and consulting services company, integrated information from 15 separate health-related program areas into a single, unified data warehouse environment. The MDCH worked with the MDIT, with Ingenix’s support, to apply advanced analytics to assess care and costs across multiple programs and examine state-wide health issues. This broad analysis enabled the MDCH to make better-informed decisions that drove greater access to care and more targeted preventive care efforts.

Key results from Michigan’s use of technology to improve health outcomes include:

Reducing the number of children with lead poisoning by 35 percent from 2003 to 2007, increasing the percentage of Medicaid-enrolled 3-year-olds screened for lead to 72 percent as of January 2009, and identifying the 14 Michigan communities that represent nearly 80 percent of all child lead poisoning cases and targeting lead poisoning prevention efforts to them.
Identifying 59,000 children on Medicaid at risk of flu complications during the 2006-2007 flu season, then providing pop-up messages to physicians as they accessed medical records for those children, encouraging administration of a flu shot.
Removing approximately $200 million in annual costs from the state’s health care programs since 2005 based on efficiencies and improved health outcomes.

“Despite the worst economic downturn in decades, we’ve achieved outstanding results in our effort to expand access for more people in need by lowering health care costs,” said Janet Olszewski, director, Michigan Department of Community Health. “We continue to look for new ways to apply technology and advanced analytics to support our mission of improving health outcomes while serving more residents more efficiently.”

“We pride ourselves on being early adopters of leading-edge technologies that help our agencies achieve their goals and objectives,” said Ken Theis, Michigan’s CIO and director of the Michigan Department of Information Technology. “Our approach is to be strong partners with agencies and departments in helping them employ technologies and use information to better serve Michigan citizens.”

Michigan began its long-term partnership with Ingenix in 1994 with the creation of the nation’s first Medicaid data warehouse to monitor claims for quality of care, overpayment and fraud/abuse. Since then, Ingenix and Michigan have worked closely to expand the data warehouse to include information from most of the state’s largest programs, agencies and departments.

“Michigan is a terrific example of how states around the country can make their Medicaid dollars go further and take better care of their citizens by making smart use of information technology,” said Andy Slavitt, chief executive officer of Ingenix. “We are so pleased to have been able to partner with Michigan to help them achieve their goals.”

About the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH)
The MDCH is one of the largest of Michigan’s 20 state departments with approximately 4,300 employees. It is responsible for health policy and management of the state’s publicly-funded health service systems. About 2 million Michigan residents will receive services this year that are provided with total or partial support from MDCH. More information is available at www.michigan.gov/mdch.

About Ingenix
Ingenix, a wholly owned subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), transforms organizations and improves health care through information and technology. Organizations rely on its innovative products, services and consulting to improve the delivery and operations of their business. More information about Ingenix can be obtained at www.ingenix.com.

Source: Ingenix