Two Large Indiana Physician Groups Team with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Real-World Research to Improve Their Patients’ Health

INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Hundreds of physicians from
Indianapolis-based Community Physicians of Indiana and Evansville-based
Deaconess Clinic have enrolled in HealthCore’s Integrated Research Network®
(IRN) to participate in research that they can use to improve their patients’
health.

The IRN® is operated by HealthCore, Inc. and owned by the parent company of
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Indiana. The IRN has enrolled thousands of
physicians nationally in multiple practice areas. Individual physicians may
enroll at https://www.healthcoreirn.com//home/registration.

“Physicians’ willingness to be involved in cutting-edge health research
illustrates the innovative aspects of Community Physicians and Deaconess,” said
David Lee, M.D., vice president of physician engagement for Anthem Blue Cross
and Blue Shield in Indiana. “These physicians want to know what methods, drugs,
tests and devices work the best and are the safest in the real world for their
patients. They use this information every day when seeing patients to help them
improve their patients’ health.”

Most clinical trials provide research on a drug or device before they are
released for use by the general public. These trials are typically conducted in
small, controlled environments, which is why real-world results may differ in
research gathered after a product has been approved by the Food and Drug
Administration and used by a variety of patients of different ages, income,
education, gender, and ethnic and racial backgrounds.

The IRN is a network of physicians engaged in studies commissioned through
HealthCore that involve drugs, devices, diagnostics and various medical and
surgical approaches for treatment of many illnesses. In addition to providing
data for ongoing studies, physicians will be able to identify clinical issues to
study, respond to health surveys and recruit and enroll patients in comparative
effectiveness and safety studies in real-world settings.

When clinical and patient-reported data collection for a study is complete, this
information can be combined with HealthCore’s data environment, which includes
integrated information on medical and pharmacy use, eligibility and benefits,
and laboratory results on as many as 33 million patients from across the
country, to reach conclusions that are shared back with the physicians.

The Deaconess Clinic, which has about 90 physicians in its multi-specialty
physician group, performs about 100 clinical and device trials per year,
including researching new treatments for obesity, heart disease, diabetes,
chronic pain, skin disorders, and most cancers.

“We are involved in clinical research to be closer to leading-edge science and
to have hands-on experience with promising new treatments and technology,” said
Greg Folz, administrative director of the Research Institute of Deaconess
Clinic. “We are looking to participate in the IRN to give us continuous access
to additional research about evidence-based medicine to further enhance the care
we can provide our patients and the communities we serve.”

Community Physicians of Indiana, which employs about 200 general practice
physicians for Community Health Network, wants to tie in the IRN studies to its
focus on chronic disease management, inclusive of diabetes, asthma, coronary
artery disease, congestive heart failure, dementia, and back pain.

“We have not only a moral and ethical responsibility to improve health care, we
have a financial responsibility to our community,” said Mary Jane Hall, director
of clinical excellence for Community Physicians for Indiana. “It’s a huge
responsibility to make sure our patients are getting the best health care
possible. The IRN is one of our efforts to help fulfill this responsibility.”

The IRN is currently registering practicing physicians in internal medicine,
family practice, general practice, rheumatology, cardiology, endocrinology,
psychiatry, oncology and gastroenterology. Specifically, HealthCore is exploring
several opportunities in the areas of heart failure, several pain syndromes,
antibiotic resistance, Type 2 diabetes and breast cancer. Individual physicians
may enroll at https://www.healthcoreirn.com//home/registration.

About Anthem

Anthem Health Plans of Indiana, Inc. trades as Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
in Indiana, and its service area is all of Indiana. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue
Shield and its affiliated HMO HealthKeepers, Inc. are independent licensees of
the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. ®ANTHEM is a registered trademark of
Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and
symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
Additional information about Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Indiana is
available at www.anthem.com. Also, follow us on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/healthjoinin, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HealthJoinIn, or
visit our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/healthjoinin.

About HealthCore

HealthCore, based in Wilmington, Del., is a clinical outcomes research company.
HealthCore has a team of highly experienced researchers including physicians,
biostatisticians, pharmacists, epidemiologists, health economists and other
scientists who study the “real world” safety and effectiveness of drugs, medical
devices and care management interventions. HealthCore offers insight on how to
best use this data and communicates these findings to health care
decision-makers to support evidence-based medicine, product development
decisions, safety monitoring, coverage decisions, process improvement and
overall cost-effective health care. For more information, go to
www.healthcore.com.

SOURCE Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Indiana