NDC Ndchealth Corp

ATLANTA, Dec. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and NDCHealth Corporation (NYSE:NDC), TrOOP Facilitator for CMS, today announced that the Medicare Part D Eligibility solution is now available for unlimited free testing by the pharmacy industry. The development of the real-time Part D Eligibility solution required unprecedented cooperation between the government and all segments of the pharmacy and payer industries to support the effective implementation of the new prescription drug benefit program, while taking an important step to reduce the burdens on pharmacists. This new eligibility capability will allow pharmacies to use existing pharmacy systems to identify a Medicare beneficiary's plan billing information, which will save pharmacists time and money in processing prescriptions for Medicare beneficiaries. Some studies show that pharmacists spend up to 25 percent of their time addressing billing and payment issues for insurance and other third-party programs. "This solution helps pharmacists get more time to talk with their patients about their prescriptions, and that's especially important as Medicare starts prescription drug coverage," said Mark B. McClellan, M.D., PhD, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. "While we're helping seniors pay for their prescriptions, we're creating a more effective, electronic health care system." "We are delighted to be part of a solution that will enhance the practice of pharmacy and the satisfaction of Medicare beneficiaries," said Walter Hoff, Chairman and CEO of NDCHealth. The Part D Eligibility solution is the product of an unprecedented government-private sector initiative that included collaboration of government officials, independent and chain pharmacists and executives from PBMs, health plans, the industry standard setting organization and others to come up with electronic solutions to enhance and improve the delivery of the new drug benefit for Medicare beneficiaries. In order to train pharmacies and prepare them for the beginning of the Medicare drug benefit which will begin on January 1, 2006, NDCHealth announced that, beginning immediately, it will provide all community pharmacies with an unlimited opportunity to test the system, free of charge, now through December 31. NDCHealth will provide a variety of test cases to pharmacists so they may submit NCPDP 5.1 E1 transactions from their pharmacy locations to train pharmacists as to how to find the eligibility and billing information for Medicare beneficiaries within seconds, even if the beneficiary has limited information about their plan. In the coming days, NDCHealth will provide pharmacists the electronic systems capability to begin assisting Medicare beneficiaries with the transition to the new benefit. CMS and NDCHealth are also on track to deliver the TrOOP (True Out-Of- Pocket) Facilitator Services which will enable Part D Plans to accurately track and update their patients' out-of-pocket expenses. Both Eligibility and TrOOP Facilitation Services will be open and accessible by all pharmacies regardless of the network or pharmacy management system they use. Testing of the TrOOP Facilitator Services is currently in process and will go live with the January 1, 2006 launch of the Medicare Part D program. To get started with testing and for additional information about Medicare Part D implementation, visit the MediFacD Website at http://medifacd.ndchealth.com/. About NDCHealth Corporation NDCHealth is a leading information solutions company serving all sectors of healthcare. Its network solutions automate the exchange of information among pharmacies, payers, hospitals and physicians. Its systems and information management solutions help improve operational efficiencies and business decision making for providers, retail pharmacy and pharmaceutical manufacturers. Headquartered at Atlanta, Ga., the company provides information vital to the delivery of healthcare every day. For more information, visit http://www.ndchealth.com/. DATASOURCE: NDCHealth Corporation CONTACT: Robert Borchert, VP, Investor Relations of NDCHealth Corporation, +1-404-728-2906, or Web site: http://www.ndchealth.com/ http://medifacd.ndchealth.com/

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