French health insurer awards Healthways contract to manage diabetes nationwide

20 April 2011

France’s Caisse Nationale d'Assurance Maladie des Travailleurs Salariés (CNAMTS) has awarded US company Healthways in partnership with French consulting firm Altran a contract to expand services for CNAMTS’ Sophia program.

The programme aims to improve health and well being for all citizens with diabetes, in France and French territories overseas.

“The decision by CNAMTS to award this contract to the Healthways-Altran Group, particularly given the caliber of our competition, is a highly meaningful validation of the depth and breadth of both our comprehensive well-being solution and of our Embrace platform,” said Matt Kelliher, President, Healthways International.

“We look forward to working with Healthways in our efforts to extend the benefits of Sophia to a greater number of citizens afflicted with diabetes and other chronic diseases,” said Frédéric van Roekeghem, Managing Director of CNAMTS. “We have a high level of confidence that, through this relationship, both the technical integration of systems and the delivery of services to our members with chronic disease will lead to significant improvements in their well-being and quality of life.”

CNAMTS, the national health insurance fund for salaried workers in France, is under the supervision of both the Health Ministry and the Finance and Economy Ministry. It is the primary health insurer for 56 million people, almost 86% of the French population. It is also responsible for optimization of the healthcare system as well as implementing coordinated treatment pathways throughout the country, with the primary care doctor at the centre of this system.

Integration of the CNAMTS information system and Healthways’ Embrace Platform and infrastructure is expected to take 7-8 months, during which period Altran will provide expert technology consulting services.

At the same time, Healthways will be training CNAMTS clinicians on the Healthways application and intervention model. Delivery of services using the new solution is scheduled to begin by the end of 2011. In addition, the agreement provides for Healthways’ support in transitioning services at two existing service centers, opening four new service centers and developing programs for two new disease states, most likely cardiac and respiratory, to the program.

Further, CNAMTS may secure additional work in any of six specified areas including, additional integration, development of new functionalities, selection and installation of new telephone technology, and additional service center staff training.

Yves de Chaisemartin, Chief Executive Officer, Altran, said, "The CNAMTS technology environment and Healthways’ Embrace Platform and infrastructure are both highly advanced and complex systems. The successful integration will provide improvements in the performance of the overall system, resulting in both enhanced effectiveness and efficiency for the Sophia program.

"Altran is proud to be part of the winning team and is excited to have the opportunity to demonstrate its expertise and contribute to an ambitious patient centered health project on behalf of the growing number of French citizens with chronic situations.”

Individual participation in Sophia is accomplished by an opt-in process initiated by the patient’s physician. As part of the plan for this agreement, Healthways and Altran will be working closely with CNAMTS to develop approaches to significantly increase participation while ensuring that the patient’s physician remains at the center of their patients’ interactions with Sophia staff.

Services to Sophia participants ultimately will be provided from six service centers, distributed throughout France and its overseas territories. In accordance with France’s medical privacy law, CNAMTS will continue to manage these service centers and the staff will continue to be CNAMTS employees.

“Our selection by CNAMTS, following our recently announced agreements with Hawaii Medical Service Association and the State of New South Wales, Australia, is convincing evidence that purchasers have significantly raised the bar with respect to process, technology and outcomes expectations across the entire spectrum of population health management services,” Leedle said. “We have been preparing for these new demands for several years. Our signing of these three agreements would suggest that our planning and execution have been right on target.”

Leedle continued, “At this time we expect to recognize relatively modest revenue from the contract during the current fiscal year and are in the process of analyzing and defining key implementation milestones and customer acceptance criteria over the next several weeks to further refine our revenue estimate for 2011. Based upon our current revenue expectations for 2011 and the corresponding estimated implementation and support costs, we would expect this contract to be approximately breakeven in 2011 and begin to achieve target revenue and profitability in 2012 and beyond.”