McKesson Releases 30th Anniversary Edition of InterQual(R) Evidence-based Criteria for Clinical Decision Support; Software Enhances Reporting Capabilities, Expands HL7 Functionality

"For three decades, our clinical criteria have helped healthcare organizations ensure appropriate care," said Ricardo Guggenheim, M.D, vice president, clinical development and design, McKesson Health Solutions. "We continue to advance the state of the art in evidence-based medicine by embedding that ever-expanding criteria set into our care management workflow software. Integrated workflow capability is increasingly important to our customers, and the enhancements to our software tools announced today reflect our commitment to meeting that need."

CareEnhance(R) Review Manager Enterprise 5.0 features a number of enhancements designed to help care managers work more efficiently and effectively. These include new reporting capabilities using embedded Crystal Reports(R) viewer technology and expanded HL7 functionality to help streamline workflow involving data from other applications. The latest version also includes easier access to the InterQual Clinical Evidence Summaries, a broad-ranging set of over 100 evidence-based narratives to support physician decision-making.

The InterQual 2006 criteria release adds several criteria subsets including an adult eating disorder subset to behavioral health criteria; stem cell transplant and TMJ reconstruction subsets to procedure criteria; and several discharge/transfer and observation subsets to acute criteria for adults. InterQual 2006 also reflects the most current Medicare guidelines, helping healthcare organizations to stay up-to-date with Medicare requirements. For example, McKesson developed a senior subset in the InterQual rehabilitation criteria that addresses the recent CMS requirement that 75% of a rehabilitation facility's Medicare admissions have one of 13 specified diagnoses.

In addition, the newest release of the InterQual Workers' Compensation & Disability Management Product Suite software now supports electronic payment of medical bills, virtually eliminating the need for manual review and increasing the efficiency of the entire medical bill payment process.

More than 3,500 health plans, hospitals, academic medical centers, government agencies and care management organizations currently use McKesson's InterQual evidence-based tools to support clinical decisions for individual patients across the continuum of care. The product's unmatched clinical strength -- including its rich research base, care facilitation features, integration of quality indicators and care management notes -- has made InterQual Criteria the world's leading evidence-based criteria solution for care managers performing utilization review and discharge planning.

About McKesson Corporation

McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK), currently ranked 16th 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.