MHS wins EPA's 2011 National Environmental Leadership Award in Asthma Management

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC)  announced today that Managed Health Services (MHS), its Indiana subsidiary, won the 2011 National Environmental Leadership Award (Health Plan Division) in Asthma Management from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency).  The award, presented during the 2011 National Asthma Forum held June 9-10, 2011, in Washington, D. C., is the nation's highest honor for asthma control programs.

MHS' comprehensive asthma management program integrates a hands-on approach with a flexible outreach methodology that can be customized to suit the different age groups and populations it serves that are affected by asthma.  

"Managed Health Services is honored to receive such an esteemed award for this important program for our members," said Patrick Rooney, President and CEO for MHS.  "Our goal is to help our asthmatic members lead healthy and active lives through education and access to the care they need."

MHS began its asthma disease management program in 2007, working closely with Nurtur, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Centene that provides life, health and wellness programs.  The program provides proactive identification of members, stratification into appropriate levels of intervention including home visits, culturally sensitive educational pieces, and robust outcomes reporting.  It also includes aggressive care coordination to ensure patients have basic services such as transportation to the doctor, electricity to power the nebulizer, and a clean, safe home environment.  

"This recognition represents a team effort between our health plans and specialty companies to offer comprehensive and specialized programs that result in improved outcomes for our members," said Mary Mason, M.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Centene.

Nurtur's asthma disease management program has been accredited by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) since 2002, and URAC since 2009.  The program has received numerous national awards including a TOP 10 Disease Management companies by Health Industry Research 2000-2006, a National Health Information Award from the Health Information Resource Center 1999-2006, and a Gold Recipient Award in E-Health Care in 2006.