Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)
Program Overview

How the Program Works | Facts You Need to Know | Compliance Management | National Guidelines | CAD Outcomes | High-Risk Program

How the Program Works

The CAD Program helps individuals with coronary artery disease to understand their illness and the serious health effects from not complying with care plans. In order to prevent disease progression, disability and the development of other chronic conditions, we focus on treatment plans, medication compliance and modifying unhealthy lifestyle behaviors.

Our specialized nurses work with participants to recognize and control CAD symptoms that lead to the worsening of their condition. Our program has repeatedly demonstrated that helping individuals be proactive in managing CAD results in reduced medical expenditures, increased productivity in the workplace and improved quality of life.

We encourage our participants and work with them to:

• Comply with prescribed medications and their doctor’s plan of care
• Lower their blood pressure
• Control cholesterol level with a low-fat diet and/or medication
• Lose weight and control overeating
• Stop smoking
• Exercise to tolerance
• Reduce and improve management of stress
• Recognize early symptoms of a heart attack and what to do about it
• Know when to seek medical symptoms

Through educational materials, Web tools and telephonic interactions, we help people with CAD learn how to quickly recognize the early warning signs of this disease. Alere provides guidance from our specialized nurses who help participants take better care of their CAD symptoms, which allows them to better combat this disease.

This results in an improvement in quality of life and prevention of costly or unnecessary healthcare expenditures. By working with participants to alter their regular routines, we help them reduce disabling symptoms that result in absenteeism, presenteeism and a reduced quality of life.

Facts You Need to Know

Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States.1 Approximately 1.2 million Americans with CAD suffer from a heart attack each year; roughly half of them are fatal.2 Worldwide, coronary artery disease kills more than 7 million people each year.3

Heart disease is projected to cost more than $258 billion annually, including healthcare services, medications, and lost productivity.4 Also this disease does not seem to be slowing in prevalence. There are approximately 37 percent of adults reporting that they have two or more of the six preventable risk factors for heart disease.5

Preventable risk factors for heart disease include obesity, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, high blood cholesterol and lack of exercise.6 Non-preventable risk factors include a history of heart disease in the family, aging and gender. Women are less at risk to develop heart disease until after menopause.7

Compliance Management

Our program is designed to help participants comply with their doctor’s plan of care, which involves several key clinical performance indicators based on national standards. While working with participants, we track their adherence to these standards and report back measurable results to show program impact on participant compliance. For participants with CAD, we monitor the following:

CAD-specific CPIs

• Beta blocker use
• Statin use
• Liver function testing with statin use
• Non-statin antilipemic use
• Aspirin use

Standard CPIs for all Care Solutions Programs

• Body mass index (BMI)
• Blood pressure
• Lipid management
• Physical activity
• Tobacco cessation
• Flu vaccination
• Pneumonia vaccination
• Preventive screenings (age and gender specific)

National Guidelines

We utilize nationally recognized clinical guidelines, along with the latest clinical research and advancements in care, for each condition to drive our interventions. Alere’s Scientific Advisory Board, composed of our industry experts, guides and directs appropriate protocols for all programs.

The CAD Program is based upon national guidelines from the:

• American Heart Association
• American College of Cardiology

CAD Outcomes

The CAD Program produced the following results for a range of clients:

Cost Savings:

• Reduced hospitalizations by 24 percent and per member per month (PMPM) costs by 17.5 percent
• Reduced ER visits by 17 percent
• Reduced PMPM medical costs by 12 percent
• Reduced pharmaceutical PMPM costs by 6 percent
• Reduced total PMPM costs by 12 percent

Clinical Performance Indicators:

• Increased LDL screenings by 13 percent
• 40 percent of LDL test results within target range

High-Risk Program

Key differences include a Quality of Life Survey at enrollment and six months after the onset of the program, and a Patient Satisfaction Survey after six months. Additionally, these participants receive more telephonic outreach and coaching calls.