WAYNE, PA and MADISON, WI--(Marketwired - November 04, 2015) - Medecision, Inc. and Forward Health Group, Inc. (FHG) have entered into a strategic business alliance to enable New York Performing Provider Systems (PPSs) to succeed under the Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program to reduce hospitalizations by 25% over the next five years. DSRIP is the federal government's Medicaid reform initiative backed by $6.7 billion in funding to support the system transformation needed (data analytics, quality management, and high-performance provider networks) to enable new care models required to reduce hospitalizations.

To be effective, the PPSs will transform unconnected and siloed service providers into a cohesive, networked healthcare system that includes hospitals, home health agencies, skilled nursing facilities, federally qualified health centers, ambulatory clinics, behavioral health providers, and other key stakeholders.

Population Health Management solution leaders Medecision and FHG have aligned their complementary solutions to offer the data-driven performance and care coordination workflow specifically targeted to support NY DSRIP PPS system transformation, clinical improvements and population-wide strategy implementation (DSRIP Domains 2-4).

"We are pleased to align with Forward Health Group to help NY PPS organizations reduce risk and costs associated with serving the state's Medicaid population," said Deborah M. Gage, president and CEO of Medecision. "The nation's leading health systems are leveraging our Aerial platform to gain insight from healthcare data, manage population risk, optimize care decisions and coordination and improve patient engagement. The combination of Aerial with FHG's field expertise as a steward of trusted clinical data essential to performance management, and their set of DSRIP-specific quality measure reporting, will help PPSs realize their full financial objectives and achieve the DSRIP goal of dramatically reducing hospitalizations."

FHG brings a rich track record in population health analytics, data stewardship and quality measure reporting along with top-tier ranking among organizations like KLAS. Medecision offers advanced data analytics, risk adjustment and stratification, integrated care and disease management, and patient engagement capabilities. The strategic alliance enables PPS organizations to quickly assimilate and accurately report on millions of clinical and socio-economic data fragments that are currently locked inside a variety of clinical systems at the various provider points within the PPS network, track progress and manage care to meet the requirements of 134 DSRIP quality measures. More specifically, the joint offering:

• Captures data in its natural form by tapping into its existing flow within an organization and eliminating the need for interfaces with restrictive data formats
• Transforms the data into actionable insights that feed integrated clinical care management workflows that can be followed by disparate care team members and patients
• Supports effective engagement with patients, caregivers and community services to optimize participation in managing their health
• Optimizes performance- and metric-based payments and incentives by targeting core process improvements and driving fast system implementations

"We are pleased to team with Medecision to enable NY DSRIP PPS organizations to confidently take the first steps toward better understanding their DSRIP patient populations while securing their initial reporting incentive payments," said Michael Barbouche, founder and CEO of Forward Health Group. "For decades FHG has helped the nation's leading health systems master their own data in a rapidly changing technical and business environment, where measures change routinely. Our job is straightforward, but rarely simple to do: we deliver a data asset for reporting and performance analytics that doctors and health systems leadership trust. It doesn't matter what measures you need to report, we have the capability to meet DSRIP and any other new measures the financial sponsors may require."

Barbouche continued, "And, together with Medecision, we will deliver the solutions and services to PPSs to turn their data into an asset that drives coordinated care, engages patients, and enable NY PPSs to achieve New York and CMS's ambitious goals for the DSRIP program."

New York DSRIP PPSs can learn more about the solution here: https://www.medecision.com/dsrip-populations-2/

About Medecision

Medecision is the leading provider of population health and connected care technology and services for risk-bearing healthcare organizations including health plans, hospitals, thousands of physicians and millions of consumers. Working within the framework that patients, care providers and health plans are all driving towards better health outcomes, Medecision and its Aerial™ solution help connect all stakeholders to liberate the highest-quality and most cost-efficient care. As more organizations transition to accountable care and delegated risk management, Medecision continually applies 25+ years of experience, comprehensive technology platforms, significant investments in research and development, and the broadest implementation and clinical expertise to ensure consumers receive the best possible care. With Medecision as a business partner, health plans and healthcare providers confidently manage through market changes, regulatory updates and new populations under shared savings and risk contracts, while improving quality and reducing costs. For more information, visit www.medecision.com.

About Forward Health

Forward Health Group, Inc. (FHG) is a leading-edge provider of data solutions critical to maximizing returns in today's changing health care environment. FHG's PopulationManager® platform provides best-in-class data collection, validation, and visualization. The data delivered by FHG enables health care stakeholders to track quality and financial measures, assess and manage risk and take action to positively impact clinical outcomes and lower costs.

FHG is the leading population health data steward in the country, with nearly a decade of experience mastering the tradecraft of managing data sourced from EMRs, labs, pharmacy and imaging systems, practice management and claim processing platforms, and HIEs, like SHIN-NY, the statewide health information network.

FHG offers PPSs the single source of trusted information that underpins the entire DSRIP program. This asset provides the patient-level data analysis and reporting, visualization tools each PPS requires to drive physician commitment to the challenging program goals and overall performance.