Massachusetts General Hospital Licenses MCAP Clinical Criteria and Software


      WELLESLEY, Mass.--Oct. 24, 2001--The Oak Group today announced
  that it has been awarded a contract to license its MCAP Criteria to Massachusetts General
  Hospital (MGH) in Boston, Massachusetts. This multi-year license encompasses MCAP
  Medical/Surgical Criteria and the MCAP Software System. MGH will use MCAP Criteria to help
  assure patients receive services at the most appropriate level of care. This means that care is
  provided in the setting best able to meet the patient's individual needs in the safest and most
  cost-effective manner.
      In addition, reviewers will use MCAP Criteria in their case management activities and, by doing
  so, collect consistent and detailed data about the care processes that are taking place. MGH will
  analyze these data to uncover opportunities to provide better care more cost-effectively.
      "We are always striving to enhance the quality of care while managing costs effectively," said
  Nancy Sullivan, Director of MGH's Case Management Department. "The MCAP Criteria employ
  an evaluative approach, which has allowed us to avoid frequent denials. In addition, the data
  highlight for us clear opportunities for clinical and operational improvements." 
      According to Dr. David Maltz, President and CEO of The Oak Group, "MCAP is designed to
  approximate a medical director's approach in reviewing a level of care decision. Rather than
  focusing down onto one or two quantifiable metrics, MCAP guides an evaluation of the overall
  clinical and treatment needs of the patient. Therefore, MCAP provides as good or better care
  management while resulting in far fewer overrides than other systems produce."
      MCAP Criteria are tight and clinically relevant, and accommodate co-morbid conditions as the
  criteria parallel the decision-making process of an expert reviewer. Fast and easy to use, the
  MCAP System also captures the data needed to guide process improvement initiatives.
  Importantly and distinctively, MCAP does not second-guess treatment decisions and does not
  prescribe "cookbook" medicine.
      The Oak Group offers clinical Criteria and software that meet today's critical care management
  needs for providers, insurers, and hospitals. Its MCAP Criteria are used by case managers,
  utilization managers, and physician advisors for over 25 million covered lives across the US and
  Canada.
      The Massachusetts General Hospital, established in 1811, is the original and largest teaching
  hospital of Harvard Medical School. The MGH conducts the largest hospital-based research
  program in the United States, with an annual research budget of more than $300 million and major
  research centers in AIDS, the neurosciences, cardiovascular research, cancer, cutaneous biology,
  photomedicine, transplantation biology. In 1994, the MGH joined with Brigham and Women's
  Hospital to form Partners HealthCare System, an integrated health care delivery system comprising
  the two academic medical centers, specialty and community hospitals, a network of physician
  groups and non acute and home health services.

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      CONTACT: The Oak Group
               Eric Kapust, 781-943-2231, 888-900-7952 
               ekapust@oakgroup.com 
               www.oakgroup.com