The Disease Management Purchasing Consortium (DMPC) is offering Critical Outcomes Report Analysis (CORA) Certification to both individuals and organizations. On the individual level, it is a professional credential that is increasingly being recognized as evidence of expertise in the challenging endeavor of reading outcomes reports with a practiced, expert eye. Individuals with CORA certification are also invaluable to their organizations for Corporate certification in CORA. Corporate CORA certification allows CORA-certified individuals who review all reports and declare them to be free of identifiable errors to label those reports with the CORA Certification seal. For more information on CORA certification, go to www.dismgmt.com/outcome_report_certification_rules.htm.

The Disease Management Purchasing Consortium International, Inc. provides strategy and procurement services to support the disease management and wellness efforts of more than one hundred health plans, employers and states. The DMPC is led by Al Lewis, who is widely accepted as the founder and most influential leader in the disease management industry. Associate members include national health care accreditation organizations such as JCAHO and URAC, the Harvard School of Public Health, Bain & Co., Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey and eight investment banks. DMPC also offers Certifications in Savings Measurement Validity, Small Group Outcomes Measurement and Critical Outcomes Report Analysis. Programs and services are available at www.dismgmt.com.

Disease management reporting is a skill which few have mastered. In fact, roughly 70% of disease management outcomes reports contain fundamental errors invalidating their results...right in the report itself.

If you are a writer of these reports it is critical to spot these errors before the customer does. If you are a reader of these reports, it is imperative for you to spot these errors before you accept the findings. In both cases, no one wants to sign off on a report in which someone else finds flaws.

But clearly mistakes are rampant and escape altogether too many people's notice For instance:

• One vendor labels all their utilization graphs "PMPM" when all the statistics are Per Member Per Year...and for three years no one noticed that all the statistics were off by a factor of twelve.
• A very large health plan routinely reports cost savings percentages in excess of admission and ER reduction percentages, which of course is impossible...and no benefits consultant or employer has noticed.
• Two vendors often claim clinical improvements because drug use goes up in the clinical outcomes slide...and then later in the report take credit for savings in drug costs because they declined overall, adjusted for their view of trend.
• Several vendors and health plans routinely report actuarial results which are not tested and checked against utilization changes. And when someone does check them, it is almost invariably the case that the actuarial result cannot be supported.
• Medicaid programs in Indiana, Connecticut and Mississippi have all made basic mistakes in their RFPs or outcomes reports...and no one noticed.

Many, many such examples can be cited. Today, though, more and more people are finding them -- using the Critical Outcomes Report Analysis skills developed in sessions such as this one. Finding these fallacies and mistakes early and completely prevents embarrassment and increases the credibility of the remaining findings. The flip side: If you don't find them, the chances are increasing that someone else will.

Learning how to find them is the agenda for this Critical Outcomes Report Analysis seminar. In the months since its introduction, it has proven extremely effective and popular. Don't take our word for it. More than 100 people have been through these courses and, of those, more than 40 people are already certified. They are listed at http://dismgmt.com/CORA_honorroll.htm and simply ask any of them if they think this is a worthwhile course and certification.

The optional CORA certification examination is provided as part of this session. Examination registrants will receive the examination via email upon the completion of the training session and will have one hour to complete the examination. The certification examination is presented in a case-study format. Each slide or set of slides presents a case study in fallacies and errors. The candidate is asked to identify these fallacies and errors on the examination sheet. Upon completion of the examination the candidate emails it back to the exam administrator. The examination will be graded and results shared with candidates within two weeks of submission. Candidates who identify more than 70% of the findable flaws will receive Critical Outcomes Report Analysis certification from DMPC.

Upon completion of the examination, once the results have been returned to DMPC, examination registrants may rejoin the audioconference for a review and discussion of the examination. Those taking the exam for practice may also rejoin, and self-score their own tests when we go through the answers and analysis.

It is a live event that includes session handouts, an interactive question and answer period, and access for an unlimited number of participants at each call-in site. However, only one site can be offered per registration. It is impermissible for an organization to purchase one registration and to operate multiple sites through an internal telephone system. During the live Audioconference participants will be able to ask questions and make comments. The Audioconference faculty has agreed to take follow-up questions via email. Audioconferences are simple, accessible, cost effective and reach a broad audience locally.

Physicians, Nurses, Pharmacists, Chief Executive Officers, Chief Operating Officers, Chief Information Officers and Chief Financial Officers, Privacy Officials, Security Officers, Compliance Officers, Legal Counsel, Patient Account Managers, Billing Staff and Information Services Staff.

All Faculty Materials will be Posted on the Disease Management Audioconference website:
www.DMAudioconferences.com/dmaudio20080110 in downloadable PDF Formats.