Mountain View, CA, November 4, 2004
IMPAC Medical Systems,
Inc. (NASDAQ:IMPCE), a leading provider of information technology
solutions for oncology care announced today its support for CMS’
(Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services) one-year demonstration
project to assess the quality of care for cancer patients
undergoing chemotherapy.
Quality cancer treatment includes determining patient status and
preferences; outlining appropriate chemotherapy regimens;
assessing patient symptoms, complaints, and quality of life; and
supporting and educating caregivers. In addition to reducing
cancer burden or providing cures, effective cancer care also
results in managing pain, minimizing nausea and vomiting, and
limiting fatigue. These steps may also help reduce the overall
costs of cancer care, by avoiding hospitalizations with
complications. In particular, clinicians armed with appropriate
assessments can intervene to reduce some of the unpleasant and
frequent side effects that often accompany cancer and chemotherapy
treatment.
To facilitate the collection of information on these areas, CMS
has established new billing codes to be reported by practitioners
in the one-year demonstration. The codes correspond to four
patient assessment levels for each of the patient status factors:
nausea and/or vomiting, pain, and fatigue. These levels, based on
the Rotterdam scale, have already proved effective in cancer care,
are easily understood by patients, and have been in widespread
use. Practices reporting data on all three factors to Medicare
will qualify for an additional payment of $130 per encounter.
IMPAC will be incorporating this assessment methodology into its
oncology electronic medical record (EMR) to facilitate the
accurate and efficient collection of the quality indicators. The
Company will provide a patient self-assessment tool to allow
patients to self-enter the assessment in the waiting room prior to
treatment. Additionally, IMPAC will support the electronic billing
and remittance for these codes via its fully integrated medical
billing system. The Company expects to ship the EMR tool in late
December in time for the January initiation of the CMS project.
About IMPAC Medical Systems, Inc.
IMPAC Medical Systems, Inc. is a leading provider of oncology IT
solutions that streamline both clinical and business operations to
help improve the process of delivering quality patient care. With
systems designed for anatomic pathology, medical oncology,
radiation oncology, imaging, clinical laboratory, and cancer
registry, IMPAC supports the entire team of healthcare
professionals who contribute to the care of the cancer patient.
Supporting more than 2500 installations worldwide, IMPAC provides
practical solutions that deliver better overall communication,
process efficiency and quality patient care. For more information
about IMPAC’s products or services, please call 888-GO-IMPAC or
visit www.impac.com.
The statements contained in this press
release that are not purely historical are forward looking
statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities and
Exchange Act of 1934, including statements regarding the Company's
expectations, beliefs, hopes, intentions or strategies regarding
the future. Forward looking statements include statements
regarding the Company's review of its revenue recognition policies
and the estimated impact of the proposed financial restatement of
previously report results, possible delisting from The NASDAQ
Stock Market, business strategy, timing of, and plans for, the
introduction of new products and enhancements, future sales,
market growth and direction, competition, market share, revenue
growth, operating margins and profitability. All forward looking
statements included in this document are based upon information
available to the Company as of the date hereof, and the Company
assumes no obligation to update any such forward looking
statement. Actual results could differ materially from the
Company's current expectations. Factors that could cause or
contribute to such differences include the Company's ability to
expand outside the radiation oncology market or expand into
international markets, our inability to recognize revenue from
multiple element software contracts where certain elements have
been delivered, installed and accepted but other elements remain
undelivered, lost sales or lower sales prices due to competitive
pressures, the ability to integrate its products successfully with
related products and systems in the medical services industry,
reliance on distributors and manufacturers of oncology equipment
to market its products, changes in Medicare reimbursement
policies, the integration and performance of acquired businesses,
and other factors and risks discussed in the 10 K/A and other
reports filed by the Company from time to time with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. |
