LITTLE ROCK, AR — The Case Management Society of America (CMSA) and Pfizer, Inc., have awarded the second annual Award of Excellence in Adherence Management (AEAM) to Texas Senior Trails (TST) of Dallas, Texas. The 2006 award was presented at CMSA's 16th Annual Conference in Grapevine, Texas, held in June, and acknowledged the pioneering work of TST toward reliable case management outcomes. Patti Grady, RN, BSN, CCM, CMCN, of Richardson, Texas, a Texas Senior Trails manager, accepted the award, presented by Pfizer director David Day, on behalf of TST.
  
 The AEAM was begun in 2005 as a national case management award designed to spotlight excellence in applying CMSA's Case Management Adherence Guidelines (CMAG) and use of the CMAGTracker, a web-based collection tool for documenting patient encounters and improvements in outcomes through use of the CMAG guidelines.
 
 Texas Senior Trails represents a consortium of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Texas Tech Physician Associates, and TrailBlazer Health Enterprises, which are coordinating an integrated health care delivery pilot project for beneficiaries in west Texas. The organization was selected in July 2005 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as one of only six organizations nationwide to operate a three-year demonstration project to help Medicare beneficiaries improve their quality of life while reducing medical expenses and Medicare program costs.
  
 CMS reports that the average beneficiary sees seven physicians and takes 20 prescriptions. The TST project will be an initial effort to test the ability of direct-care provider models to coordinate care for high-cost, high-risk beneficiaries. A reduction in duplication of medications prescribed by multiple physicians is anticipated along with an outcome of measurable improvement in quality of life, prevention of complications, and reduction of expenses for Medicare beneficiaries. The project is also expected to help increase adherence to recommended treatment based on tools available through CMSA’s CMAG Guidelines by impacting health behavior change.
 
 The Texas Senior Trails team has enthusiastically participated in CMAG training and incorporated the online CMAGTracker tool into the system database streamlining the enrollment process and providing immediate access to beneficiary records. The CMAG tools and assessments mirror the process of providing patient education according to national clinical guidelines. Project case managers have the added benefit of utilizing motivational interviewing techniques, which are considered some of the most significant enhancements in behavior modification. The demonstration began enrolling beneficiaries on April 3, 2006, and it is anticipated that 3,500–4,000 beneficiaries will be enrolled by September.
  
 The inaugural AEAM was presented in June 2005 to CMSA member, Jerri Lee Post, RN, BSN, of Hope, Ark., at CMSA’s 2005 Annual Conference and Expo in Orlando, Fla. Open only to CMSA members who have attended a CMAG training workshop, the award includes a $1,500 cash award and a commemorative plaque. The AEAM program is supported through an unrestricted educational grant from Pfizer, Inc., a corporate sponsor of CMSA and a company whose purpose is discovering and developing breakthrough medicines; providing information on prevention, wellness, and treatment; consistent high-quality manufacturing of medicines and consumer products; and global leadership in corporate responsibility.
  
 A CMSA advisory committee selects applicants for the AEAM who complete the following requirements: (1) Registration for the online CMAG Tracker system; (2) Entering of assessment data from at least one patient into the system and completing a full patient assessment, and (3) Submission of a descriptive essay on the applicant's activities to improve patient adherence to prescribed medications using skills or strategies learned in a CMSA CMAG workshop.
  
 The Award of Excellence in Adherence Management entry deadline is February 28, 2007. For more AEAM information, contact Jason Barnhart at (501) 225-2229 ext. 1115 or at jbarnhart@acminet.com. AEAM rules and details are available on CMSA's website.
###