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Randy Axelrod, MD Presents Sentara Health System's
Significant Improvements at National Symposium
on Disease Management

Orlando, FL (May 19, 2000) – Randy Axelrod, MD, Medical Director of Sentara Health System, delivered a presentation entitled, "Physician Profiles and Data Feedback" at The First Annual Symposium on Disease Management which was held in Las Vegas, NV in early May. Sentara, located in Virginia Beach, VA, is the largest health system in the state and a client of MEDai, Inc. Dr. Axelrod presented the significant improvements that Sentara has achieved. The Health System has cut pneumonia mortalities from 12 percent to nine percent, eliminated formerly common related complications and cut the average hospital stay for pneumonia from 11.5 to seven days, cutting the cost of treatment in half. The integrated delivery network has also reduced the average length of stay for stroke patients from 9.8 days to 5.3 days, producing a savings of more than $3,000 per patient. And, in a pilot study of early detection and management of congestive heart failure, Sentara decreased LOS from 6.4 days to 4 days.

The most important tool in this effort, according to Dr. Axelrod, has been a sophisticated data analysis system which harnesses the latest artificial intelligence technology to correct errors in data and qualify best practices in terms of both quality of care and cost. The system, provided by MEDai, demonstrates the effectiveness of these best practices to Sentara's physicians by providing a severity-weighted comparison of each doctor's outcomes to the best outcomes in the system.

This information is delivered in the form of clinical pathway recommendations through Sentara's network to doctors' computer screens. This insures that all physicians in the system have the latest information when they need it to plan patients' treatments.

"When you have very sophisticated analytical capabilities to examine the care you are providing and use that information to create better pathways, you will elevate quality," said Dr. Axelrod. "The focus of our evidence-based protocols is clearly on optimizing care at every level. When you increase quality you eliminate complications and cut the length of stay in the hospital, decreasing the cost of care."

According to Dr. Axelrod, Sentara also gave all of its doctors individual report cards showing how their clinical results and costs compared to the average and the best results. The hard data motivated physicians to move to the methods that gave the best outcomes. "Such analysis identifies specific practices that dramatically reduce LOS and complications," said Dr. Axelrod. "For instance, the program identified a common problem: stroke patients often inhale, rather than swallow bits of food, causing pneumonia as a complication. Based on this information, we now segregate stroke victims into wards where nurses are trained in their special needs, virtually eliminating pneumonia from that population."

MEDai, Inc, headquartered in Orlando, FL, is a computer information services company, software developer and tools provider that uses artificial intelligence to assist healthcare providers and payors in the measurement of quality, efficiency, disease severity, and outcomes with superior predictability. For more information contact: