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INTERxVENT CORPORATE INFORMATION

INTERxVENTUSA Inc., MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS THROUGH SEPTEMBER 2001

 

INTERxVENTUSA Inc., founded in July 1997 by Neil F. Gordon, MD, PhD, MPH, is a Savannah - based corporation that develops, tests, implements and licenses scientifically-based, turn-key programs for the prevention of cardiovascular and other chronic diseases. The company's mission is to optimize the health and quality of life of as many individuals as possible by providing access to affordable, evidence-based, comprehensive chronic disease prevention programs. Major accomplishments through September 2001 include:

Tested Products and Services

Brief Update – Over 20 years of research and development have been invested in INTERxVENTUSA’s products and services. INTERxVENTUSA has developed novel ways, including the use of handheld computers, to efficiently screen large populations and simultaneously integrate information into its existing database. INTERxVENTUSA has filed for patents associated with multiple software applications. These include INTERxVENTUSA's proprietary computerized participant management, tracking, and reporting database and outcomes analysis system that allows for integration and analysis of up to 255 comprehensive standalone database applications. INTERxVENTUSA has completed phases one and two of its website development. Phase three beta testing is currently in progress and scheduled for completion during the fourth quarter of 2001. These phases will rapidly facilitate enterprise wide (global) accessibility, delivery, and implementation of INTERxVENTUSA’s products and services.

Joint Venture with St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System

Brief Update – In February 1998, INTERxVENTUSA and St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System formed an exclusive affiliation in the Savannah service area and a new entity was established – INTERxVENT Savannah, LLC. INTERxVENT Savannah, LLC, has programs operating at a variety of sites in Savannah, including a shopping mall, St. Joseph’s Hospital, Candler Hospital, health clubs, and worksites. Leading by example, the St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System is providing INTERxVENTUSA as a benefit to its employees enrolled on the health care plan. The INTERxVENTUSA products and services are now being provided to many of Savannah's other large employers, including the City of Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia Ports Authority and Interstate Paper. The INTERxVENTUSA cardiac rehabilitation product, INTERxVENTCR, is also being delivered to participants in the St. Joseph's/Candler Health System's cardiac rehabilitation program. Over 100 Savannah-based physicians are members of the INTERxVENTMD Network.

License Agreement with Neurological Institute of Savannah

Brief Update – The company has executed a license agreement for a disease management version of INTERxVENTUSA, a stroke risk reduction program, for use with patients in a large neurology practice. The INTERxVENTUSA Stroke Risk Reduction Program at the Neurological Institute of Savannah was successfully implemented in February 1999. Outcomes analyses documenting the Program's clinical effectiveness have been presented at several national and international scientific meetings, including the American Heart Association's annual scientific meeting in November 2000 and the American Stroke Association's international stroke meeting in February 2001. Patients are participating in the INTERxVENTUSA Stroke Risk Reduction Program at the Neurological Institute of Savannah in two locations, one in Savannah and a second in Waycross, Georgia.

Joint Venture with Emory HealthCare

Brief Update – After an extensive due diligence process by both parties, an exclusive joint venture relationship was established with Emory HealthCare for metropolitan Atlanta and the State of Georgia in August 1999. The Emory Hospital cardiology program has been recognized as one of the top ten programs by U.S. News and World Report every year since the magazine began ranking hospitals in 1990. This year, Emory was the only Georgia hospital and one of just two in the southeast to be ranked in the top 10 in cardiology. Emory HealthCare is committed to market INTERxVENTUSA through its primary care physicians, clinical cardiologists, emergency room physicians, occupational medicine programs, and employer contracts within the Emory HealthCare service area. INTERxVENTUSA programs are currently being delivered at the Emory Heart Center, Crawford Long Hospital, and at a major Atlanta-based Fortune 500 company. INTERxVENTCR is also being delivered in the cardiac rehabilitation program at Emory HealthCare. Over 1,250 Emory Clinic physicians are members of the INTERxVENTMD Network.

License Agreement with North Broward Hospital District, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Brief Update In August 1999, the company executed a license agreement for the INTERxVENTUSA programs for use with North Broward Hospital District employees (approximately 5,000 employees) covered on its self-insured health plan. The district is currently delivering and expanding the INTERxVENTUSA programs through its five county hospitals, which serve a trade area of two million people. Effective August 2000, the district renewed and expanded its licenses and added the rights to use the INTERXVENTUSA retail product and the INTERxVENTMD Network.

License Agreements with Other Credible, Leading Medical Organizations

Brief Update - INTERxVENTUSA has also executed and/or implemented license or other agreements with other prestigious academic/ medical institutions including Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN); the Medical College of Ohio (Toledo, OH); William Beaumont Hospital (Detroit, MI); Trident Health Systems (HCA, Charleston, SC); North Central CareNet, Ltd. (Norwalk, OH); Holy Name Hospital (Teaneck, NJ); Providence Health System (a unit of Ascension Healthcare, Mobile, AL); Heart Advocates, LLC (Hudson Valley, New York area); Texas Health System for seven of its hospitals – Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, Harris Methodist Hospital-Fort Worth, Presbyterian Hospital of Plano, Harris Methodist HEB Hospital, Harris Methodist Northwest Hospital, McCuistion Regional Medical Center, and Arlington Memorial Hospital (Dallas-Fort Worth, TX); Memorial Health System (Chattanooga, TN); Florida Lipid Associates (Altamonte Springs, FL); Tallahassee Heart and Vascular Institute at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (Tallahassee, FL); Forrest General Hospital (Hattiesburg, MS); and the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada).

 

Creation and Implementation of the INTERxVENTMD Network

Brief UpdateIn order to narrow the gap between evidence-based medical practice and actual medical practice, a specific model for including physicians in a prevention oriented, national network has been developed. The Network product provides physicians with easy access for their patients to the INTERxVENTUSA programs in a way which enables them to derive revenue for services that are typically not reimbursable. The Network product has received a favorable review and Advisory Opinion letter from the Office of Inspector General, Department of Health & Human Services. The Advisory Opinion letter was issued toward the end of June 2000. To date, over 100 physicians have joined the network in the Savannah service area and the INTERxVENTMD Network product has been implemented at their practices. Attorneys representing Emory HealthCare have now provided their approval for the implementation of the INTERxVENTMD Network in the Atlanta service area. An agreement has been executed that covers over 1,250 physicians in Atlanta with the Emory Clinic. INTERxVENTMD Network discussions are at an advanced stage with large physician groups in Dallas, Nashville, Miami, Detroit, and Central Ohio.

New Products

Brief Update - In conjunction with MedGraphics Corporation, INTERxVENTUSA has developed a "special" product offering for license to the health club industry, and INTERxVENTUSA and MedGraphics Corporation are collaborating on implementation in health clubs nationwide. Our first collaborative agreement at a large health club in Minneapolis has been completed and is being implemented. A number of other installations are under negotiation, including discussions with several large national and international operators of health and fitness clubs.

Scientific Papers and Publications

Brief Update – INTERxVENTUSA is based on models shown to be effective in randomized clinical trials. Moreover, because the data on all participants in the INTERxVENTUSA programs is computerized, we have been able to utilize our proprietary outcomes analysis software to document the clinical effectiveness of our products and services. Additionally, we have conducted randomized clinical trials to further validate the clinical effectiveness of the INTERxVENTUSA programs in a variety of patient populations. Data on the effect of INTERxVENTUSA on specific important health risk factors have been published in the American Journal of Cardiology, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Circulation, Coronary Artery Disease, American College of Sports Medicine Certified News, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, and the Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation. Results have been presented at the annual scientific meetings of the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation, American College of Sports Medicine, and the American Neurology Association. Collectively, these studies have culminated in an evidence-based product that has been enthusiastically embraced by mainstream medical leaders. Future research efforts are being guided by INTERxVENTUSA staff in consultation with a prestigious Scientific Advisory Committee comprised of these leading academicians / clinicians / scientists: Dr. Wayne Alexander, Emory University Hospital; Dr. Barry A. Franklin, William Beaumont Hospital; Dr. William L. Haskell, Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention (Chairman); Dr. Harold W. Kohl, The International Life Sciences Institute; Dr. Penny M. Kris-Etherton, Penn State University; Dr. Bess Marcus, Miriam Hospital; Dr. David Maron, Vanderbilt Page-Campbell Heart Institute; and Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier, Stanford University.

Special Projects

Brief Update The credibility and potential importance of the INTERxVENTUSA programs is best attested to by the award by the American Heart Association to Dr. Gordon and the St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System of a $499,120 grant to further study the benefits of the program in patients with coronary artery disease. Data from this study, documenting the clinical- and cost-effectiveness of the INTERxVENTUSA program in this specific patient population, were presented at the American Heart Association's annual scientific meeting in November, 2000 and the first of several manuscripts has been submitted to a prestigious cardiology journal for consideration for publication. These data clearly demonstrate that INTERxVENTUSA programs can be used to increase accessibility to evidence-based risk reduction services and have major implications for cost containment in cardiovascular medicine. INTERxVENTUSA products are also the lifestyle intervention and compliance tracking mechanism for a research study entitled "Implementation of a Comprehensive Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Program in Transplant Recipients" ($427,000 grant from the Carlos and Marguerite Mason Trust to St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System, Neil F. Gordon, MD, principal investigator). Additionally, formal strategic projects are in progress with several leading pharmaceutical companies. Finally, as a result of successes at various INTERxVENT locations, thirteen INTERxVENT-related clinical abstracts have been presented at national scientific meetings during 2001.

Health Claims Analyses

Brief Update - Data from randomized clinical trials conducted using the INTERxVENTUSA programs and the analyses performed on data from participants in the INTERxVENTUSA programs have consistently documented substantial improvements in multiple risk factors for cardiovascular disease and certain other chronic illnesses, functional capacity, and various indexes of wellbeing and quality of life. Based on data previously published by other researchers, these findings would be expected to result in a reduction in direct and indirect (for example, due to reduced productivity and time away from work) healthcare related expenditures. As the number of participants in the INTERxVENTUSA programs increases over time, it is anticipated that INTERxVENTUSA will be able to accurately document the impact of its programs on healthcare-related expenditures. Currently, data are available for the employees of a Florida-based company. Healthcare claims data are available for 3,062 employees who were employed by the Florida-based company in 1999 (the year prior to implementation of the INTERxVENTUSA program for the company's employees) and 2000 (the year the INTERxVENTUSA program was first implemented). Of these employees, 636 enrolled in the INTERxVENTUSA program between February 1 and July 31, 2000. A comparison was made of the average healthcare claims per employee during February 1 through July 31, 1999 and February 1 through July 31, 2000 for INTERxVENTUSA program participants and non-participants. When comparing the 1999 data to the 2000 data, the average six-month healthcare claims per employee increased by 10.3% (or US$110.63) for the non-participants and decreased by 14.3% (or US$142.47) for the participants. This represents an annualized difference in claims cost of US$500 per participant. These early data support INTERxVENTUSA's belief that the well-documented benefits of the INTERxVENTUSA programs in terms of clinical results are likely to be accompanied by reductions in healthcare expenditures.

Regulatory and National "Policy" Compliance

Brief Update - In April, President Bush approved (after reversing himself) the regulation governing the privacy of medical information, including electronic storage and transfer. While many of these provisions are not directly applicable to INTERxVENT, they do affect many of INTERxVENTUSA clients. In anticipation of these changes, the INTERxVENTUSA Information Technology team and legal team have designed and implemented provisions for INTERxVENTUSA and its clients to be in immediate compliance.

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