OREANDA-NEWS.  October 10, 2012. Kern Health Systems, a managed care health plan based in Bakersfield, California, has selected McKesson to provide disease, chronic condition, and case management services to its members. With this agreement, thousands of people in Kern County will receive sophisticated care management programs and educational materials based on their individual health needs. McKesson VITAL Care Management’s customized programs and materials will help improve health outcomes through better coordination of care, and in turn help reduce the financial burden on the health care system, reported the press-centre of McKesson.   

By partnering with McKesson, Kern Family Health Care members will receive care management programs through a combination of nurse-directed activities and technology-driven tools. Full-time registered nurses will provide personalized care interventions and counseling to members with chronic conditions including diabetes, asthma and chronic heart failure. Advanced technology from McKesson then enables these nurses to communicate with members’ doctors and coordinate information and care plans. “By talking with members and understanding their particular health needs, and reinforcing their doctor’s instructions with them, our care management programs are able to help reduce unnecessary emergency room visits and hospital readmissions, and improve medication adherence and self-management of their complex conditions,” said Dolores Suedel, RN, who has delivered case management programs for McKesson for 8 years.

“The care management services from McKesson will allow us to serve our members’ chronic and complex health care needs and help improve their clinical outcomes, while reducing unnecessary costs and raising administrative efficiencies,” said John Fisher, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Kern Health Systems. “The members we serve will get more coordinated care, and that will translate to better health.”

In addition to the care management program, targeted mailings and interactive voice response phone calls in both English and Spanish will be sent to over 9,000 eligible Kern Family Health Care members. The campaigns will be designed to educate members on their health and remind them to take action, such as by getting an annual flu shot. “A lot of health plan members simply aren’t aware of easy steps they can take to improve their health,” noted Suedel. “Communications programs like these are effective in helping people manage their conditions and make healthy lifestyle changes.”

About McKesson
McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 14th on the FORTUNE 500, is a healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to making the business of healthcare run better. We partner with payers, hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies and others across the spectrum of care to build healthier organizations that deliver better care to patients in every setting. McKesson helps its customers improve their financial, operational, and clinical performance with solutions that include pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management, healthcare information technology, and business and clinical services. For more information, visit www.mckesson.com.

About Kern Health Systems
Kern Health Systems (KHS) is a managed care health plan based in Bakersfield, CA that offers care to Medi-Cal and Healthy Families Program recipients throughout Kern County. KHS has built a network of over 500 health care providers including traditional and safety-net providers, private practice doctors, pharmacies, vision providers, and hospitals that manages the health care of 1 out of every 7 Kern County residents.