CAPP CARE TO DISTRIBUTE SOFTWARE ON 50 MEDICAL CONDITIONS

CAPP CARE TO DISTRIBUTE SOFTWARE ON 50 MEDICAL CONDITIONS to physicians in the preferred provider organization's network as part of a "practice guideline initiative," VP-Health Care Programs John Marlow, MD, told the National Wholesale Druggists Association Nov. 14 at the group's annual meeting in Honolulu. Newport Beach, Calif.-based Capp Care will try to make the initial set of 50 guidelines available by the end of June. The software will be in disc format and will first be sent to doctors in Orange County, California and central Florida. The guidelines will be based on those created by HHS' Agency for Health Care Policy & Research, the National Institutes of Health and medical specialty societies. Text guidelines will be changed to algorithmic form and then computerized. Doctors will be able to send Capp Care information about outcomes by computer, and the guidelines will be periodically updated based on the results. By sending out uniform guidelines, the company hopes to reduce variation in the practice of its doctors and thereby save money. Capp Care is looking to work with 34 pharmaceutical companies in this project. The companies will provide funding, help develop a formulary, recommend dosages and conduct outcomes research. The formulary will be based on that of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Minnesota but will only include drugs made by the 34 companies. To date, Capp Care has commitments from six companies. Capp Care was founded by CEO Edward Zalta, MD, in 1982. The PPO has 72,000 physicians at 2,000 hospitals across the country and covers 3 mil. lives.