TAMPA, Fla., Nov. 21, 2005 -- Informed Decisions, LLC and Mississippi Medicaid have begun rolling out the eMPOWERx(TM) wireless patient care program to state Medicaid providers, giving them point-of-care access to critical drug information, interaction screening tools, current medication histories, preferred drug lists, clinical decision support tools and e-prescribing capabilities.

"eMPOWERx delivers the comprehensive, real-time information Medicaid providers need to make the most informed medication decisions for their patients," said David Medvedeff, PharmD, MBA, President, Informed Decisions, a subsidiary of Gold Standard Inc. "Arming providers with point-of-care access to tools that enhance their ability to monitor and evaluate patient compliance will result not only in improved overall patient outcomes, but will also reduce the potential for drug interactions and allow Mississippi Medicaid to realize an overall cost savings."

The program was made possible by a $250,000 grant from the Mississippi Academy of Family Physicians Foundation in conjunction with a Pfizer initiative. Initial funding will allow 225 Medicaid physicians to receive the devices and will support the eMPOWERx program for one year. Roll-out is taking place in stages to allow for training.

"While this program will ultimately help reduce fraud and expense, our main objective is to improve health outcomes for our beneficiaries," says Robert Robinson, Executive Director, Division of Medicaid. "Mississippi Medicaid is aggressively pursing proactive programs designed to improve the health of our beneficiaries, and eMPOWERx is expected to play a key role in achieving that goal by putting a truly cutting-edge technology into the hands of providers to eliminate instances of redundant services and reduce adverse effects."

Using a secure, wireless, integrated Pocket PC/PCS phone, providers receive a real-time, 100-day prescription history for each of their Medicaid patients. That information is then integrated with Mississippi Medicaid's preferred drug list, as well as Gold Standard's critically acclaimed Clinical Pharmacology drug information and interaction screening tools. eMPOWERx also features e-prescribing capabilities.

Approximately $691.6 million was spent on medications for Mississippi Medicaid's approximately 748,000 beneficiaries during FY2005 - double the amount spent in FY2000. In addition to improved health outcomes, implementation of the eMPOWERx program is expected to enhance continuity and coordination of care between providers, minimize duplicate therapies and reduce Medicaid spending on unneeded treatments. The program is also expected to facilitate additional cost savings by reducing fraud and abuse.

About Informed Decisions, LLC

Based in Tampa, Informed Decisions - http://www.informeddecisions.com - is a wholly owned subsidiary of Gold Standard Inc. that provides a full array of health information technology services to healthcare interests including state governments, commercial insurance payers, pharmaceutical manufacturers and professional healthcare associations. Gold Standard - http://www.goldstandard.com - is a leading developer of drug information databases, software and clinical information solutions.

For Informed Decisions, LLC, Tampa
NPC Creative Services
Liz Roop, 813-960-5092
lroop@npccs.com
or
Mississippi Medicaid
Francis Rullan, 601-359-6078
exfxr@medicaid.state.ms.us