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WINSTON-SALEM, NC, July 11, 2007 - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today that Forsyth Medical Group and nine other participating physician groups improved the clinical management of diabetes patients in the first year of the three-year CMS-sponsored Physician Group Practice (PGP) Demonstration project. Forsyth Medical Group was one of only two groups to score 100 percent on all 10 diabetes care measures, while all 10 groups achieved benchmarks on at least seven of the measures.

Forsyth Medical Group's 254 primary-care and specialty physicians treat about 15,000 Medicare patients annually.

"We believed from the beginning of this project that consistently and effectively caring for the chronic diseases that many of our Medicare beneficiaries have would be an essential focus for us," said Stephen V. Spare, M.D., who was Forsyth Medical Group's executive vice president during the project's first year. Spare now serves as executive vice president, quality and integration, for Novant Medical Group. "Our physician steering committee wanted our physicians and their practices to apply a consistent approach each time one of our Medicare patients came to see us."

The medical group improved care, in part, by creating a comprehensive disease management program which offers services at no cost to help Medicare beneficiaries and other patients manage diabetes and other chronic illnesses. COMPASS, or Comprehensive Organized Medicine Provided Across a Seamless System, includes education about living with and managing symptoms of chronic illnesses; health reminders for preventive services; assistance with medication management; assistance in making follow up appointments after hospitalization or a visit to the emergency department; connections to other health resources; and registered nurse case managers who work with particularly fragile patients following hospitalization or emergency room visits to make sure they have the services they need.

"We increased quality of care by ensuring patients received education about their disease, had regular foot and eye exams, and monitored their blood sugar levels," said Nan Holland, senior director, clinical services for Forsyth Medical Group. "The first-year results of this project show Forsyth Medical Group reduced visits to the emergency department and readmissions to the hospital, and got patients back to their outpatient physicians promptly after being discharged from the hospital."

One of the unique features of this demonstration is that physician groups have the flexibility to redesign care processes and invest in care management based on the evidence. This helps Medicare beneficiaries maintain their health and avoid further illness and admissions to the hospital at no additional cost and with no reduction in benefits. If these efforts save money for the Medicare program, the physician groups are able to share in a portion of those savings.

Although Forsyth Medical Group did not receive a financial reward this year, the medical group earned the distinction of being the lowest cost provider of the ten groups in the project across the country.

"Forsyth Medical Group is proud to be recognized and to showcase how the steps we put in place are bringing about better health, not only for Medicare recipients, but for other patients in our practices," Spare said. "In addition to affirming our commitment to quality, the CMS results showing us as the lowest cost provider of quality care in a nationwide project is good news for patients, their families and our communities."

Forsyth Medical Group had already been working for a number of years on a comprehensive disease management program when it was invited to join the demonstration project in 2005. The medical group had been accredited by the Joint Commission for the systems that insure good patient care are in place in its practices and by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for its ability to manage chronically ill patients with diabetes and cardiac disease. The medical group has also participated in a Novant Health initiative that received national recognition for its efforts to reduce the adverse side effects of the blood-thinning drug Coumadin.

The PGP Demonstration has fostered a nationwide learning collaborative for the groups who voluntarily participated in this demonstration as a result of their leadership in their communities and profession. CMS is working with the groups to identify successful healthcare redesign and care management models developed under the demonstration that can be spread across the health care system. The demonstration project will last until March 31, 2008, but may be extended.

"We have learned much and look forward to learning more from the other physician groups about best practices and care redesign," Spare said. "We believe that these care principles can be exported throughout our own health system."

For more information on Forsyth Medical Group's COMPASS program, go to www.forsythmedicalgroup.com and click on the services tab.

Novant Health is a not-for-profit health system consisting of eight hospitals in North Carolinas Triad, Charlotte and southeastern regions: Forsyth Medical Center, Medical Park Hospital and Thomasville Medical Center in the Triad region; Presbyterian Hospital, Presbyterian Orthopaedic Hospital, Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville and Presbyterian Hospital Matthews in the Charlotte area; and Brunswick Community Hospital along the coast. Other facilities and programs of Novant Health include the Novant Medical Group comprised of 670 physicians and 152 clinic locations, outpatient surgery and diagnostic centers, two nursing homes and senior residential facilities, rehabilitation programs and community health outreach programs.