For Immediate Release

Contact:
Scott Harris
Milliman Care Guidelines
+1 206 381.8160
scott.harris@milliman.com

James S. Loughman
Donley Communications
+1 212 751.6126

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City Goes Live with Milliman Care Guidelines’ CareGuideQI^®

CareGuideQI Enhances Quality of Care for Clients

SEATTLE, WA June 8, 2004 — Milliman Care Guidelines, a division of Milliman, announced today that its evidence-based clinical guidelines, the Milliman Care Guidelines^® have been licensed to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (BCBSKC). The agreement is a renewal for the entire suite of Care Guidelines publications, including Ambulatory Care, Inpatient and Surgical Care, Recovery Facility Care, and Home Care with the addition of an interactive software solution called CareGuideQI.

The Care Guidelines define care criteria, while CareGuideQI helps document, measure and assess the application of those criteria. CareGuideQI enables consistent pairing of patient information with the Care Guidelines to anticipate patient needs, raise the quality and efficiency of healthcare delivery and increase patient satisfaction.

Dr. Blake Williamson, Medical Director at BCBSKC notes, “For quality care management, we require access to best practice information to ensure informed and consistent decisions. Milliman’s Care Guidelines offer exactly what we were looking for: evidence-based knowledge that is relevant to patients in a broad range of settings. The data we will extract from CareGuideQI is essential because of its ability to evaluate our organization's use of the guidelines which will, in turn, help us anticipate the needs of our patients and enhance the quality of care for our patients.”

The network of clinicians at BCBSKC now has quick and easy access to fully annotated, evidence-based references. They have up-to-date best practices readily available for decision support, which is critical to ensuring the highest possible quality of care by facilitating the coordination of care and smooth patient transitions.

"The signing of this contract is on track with our objective to deliver nationally recognized, evidence-based clinical guidelines to the healthcare industry," said Scott Harris, Director of Marketing and Sales for Milliman Care Guidelines. “It’s written by an editorial staff of healthcare professionals who understand the need for a simple to use tool that allows for greater consistency in decision-making and the ability to proactively manage patient care.”

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield Kansas City

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, the largest not-for-profit health insurer in the state and the only not-for-profit health insurer in Kansas City, has been part of the Kansas City community since 1938. BCBSKC provides health coverage to more than 865,000 residents in the greater Kansas City area and Northwest Missouri. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

About Milliman Care Guidelines

Milliman Care Guidelines, located in Seattle, WA, is a division of Milliman and provides its Care Guidelines to many of the firm’s clients in the hospital and insurance industries. The Care Guidelines are evidence-based tools that guide care and improve care management across the continuum of care. They reflect current best practices for the actual working environment of today ’s healthcare organizations.

Milliman, whose corporate offices are in Seattle, serves the full spectrum of business, financial, government and union organizations. Founded in 1947 as Milliman & Robertson, the company has 32 offices in the United States as well as offices in Bermuda, Hong Kong, London, Madrid, Sao Paulo, Seoul and Tokyo. Milliman employs approximately 1,800 people, including a professional staff of more than 800 qualified consultants and actuaries. The firm has consulting practices in employee benefits, healthcare, life insurance/financial services, and property & casualty insurance. It is a founding member of Milliman Global, an international organization of consulting firms serving insurance, employee benefits and healthcare clients worldwide. For further information, visit www.careguidelines.com.