McKesson Expands Alliance Partner Program with Addition of Extended Care Information Network

"InterQual products set the standard in the industry for rigorous clinical content, and we want to put InterQual everywhere our customers need or want it," said Ricardo Guggenheim, M.D., vice president, clinical content and design, McKesson Health Solutions. "By partnering with ECIN, we will be able to provide yet another way for our hospital customers to use InterQual Criteria as a tool in making appropriate care decisions."

ECIN's ExtendedCare Professional utilization management software enables hospitals to automate many paper-based processes within their case management departments, including documenting patient clinical reviews, sending patient information to payors, documenting and tracking claims, managing case management workflows and providing detailed management reports on key departmental metrics. When integrated with the ExtendedCare Professional automated discharge planning tool, hospital case management departments can fully automate processes from admission through discharge.

"We are very pleased that McKesson's Alliance Partner Program will allow us to provide ECIN customers seamless access to InterQual Criteria, the industry standard for guiding the most appropriate, evidenced-based level of care and services," said ECIN CEO Jeff Surges. "With InterQual, we can add immediate value very early in the care continuum."

More than 3,500 health plans, hospitals, academic medical centers, government agencies and care management organizations currently use McKesson's InterQual tools to support clinical decisions for individual patients across the continuum of care. Over 15 managed care, hospital and behavioral health software vendors integrate InterQual Criteria into their care management products, enabling hundreds of healthcare organizations to drive medical management value from the use of evidence-based clinical content inside their workflow systems.

About Extended Care Information Network

ECIN is a market-leading software company offering Internet-based solutions, services and consulting to improve the efficiency and operation of hospital Case Management departments. Founded by healthcare professionals, ECIN's products and services have been implemented in over 250 hospital and health systems nationwide, including many of the leading healthcare organizations in the U.S. ECIN solutions include robust functionality for hospital case management departments, including Utilization Management, Discharge Planning and Case Management -- and have proven to improve productivity and reduce patient length of stay. For more information, please visit our Web site, http://www.extendedcare.com.

About McKesson Corporation

McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK), currently ranked 15th on the FORTUNE 500, is a healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to helping its customers deliver high-quality healthcare by reducing costs, streamlining processes and improving the quality and safety of patient care. Over the course of its 173-year history, McKesson has grown to provide pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management across the spectrum of care; healthcare information technology for hospitals, physicians, homecare and payors; hospital and retail pharmacy automation; and services for manufacturers and payors designed to improve outcomes for patients. For more information, visit us at www.mckesson.com.