For Immediate Release
Cheyenne, Wyoming
April 19, 2006

Wyoming Healthy Together Program Urging Cancer Prevention And Screening With Medicaid Clients, Health Care Providers

APS Healthcare Hosting April 20 Videoconference to Update Health Care Professionals on Breast, Cervical and Colorectal Cancer Clinical Guidelines

As part of the Wyoming Healthy Together Health Management program, APS Healthcare and the Wyoming Department of Health’s EqualityCare program (the Medicaid health insurance program) are educating Wyoming’s EqualityCare clients and their families about what they can do to prevent cancer, including adopting healthier lifestyles and seeing their health care providers for regular screenings.

According to the Wyoming Department of Health’s Cancer Risk Factors in Wyoming report (2003), nearly 97 percent of all Wyoming adults (368,000 individuals) reported one or more of the six preventable cancer-related risk factors, including tobacco use, being overweight, eating less than five fruits and vegetables daily, heavy drinking, little physical activity and sunburn.

An American Cancer Society Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Facts & Figures report (2006) indicates at least half of all cancer deaths could be avoided. Cutting out tobacco, making use of cancer screening tests, reducing levels of obesity and overweight, and improving nutrition and physical activity could go a long way toward lowering the number of cancer deaths in the United States, the report says.

 “One goal of the Healthy Together program is to create healthier and better informed EqualityCare clients who follow their physicians’ advice and who adopt healthy lifestyles,” explains Teri Green, Medicaid Policy Manager. “APS Health Coaches work with EqualityCare clients, over the phone and in person, to encourage them to increase their physical activity, lose weight, quit smoking, eat nutritiously and avoid sun exposure.”

In addition, an APS nurse works closely with patients in the Wyoming Department of Health’s Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program to provide information for clients and to encourage following up with their prescribed therapy.  Additionally, for those women enrolled in the Wyoming BCCEDP, Healthy Together Care Managers provide emotional support, help coordinate patients’ care with their many providers and ensure patients are getting the resources they need.

APS Healthcare does not provide direct patient care.  Instead, our programs focus on providing support and symptom/side-effect management for EqualityCare clients.

Finally, the Healthy Together program provides education and information for the state’s own health care providers on cancer prevention and screening. APS and EqualityCare are hosting an educational videoconference on April 20 on breast, cervical and colorectal cancer and will be distributing over 700 provider education kits containing information on cancer in Wyoming, recommended clinical guidelines for the screening and treatment of cancer, and tools developed by the American Cancer Society for use in provider’s practices.

The purchase of materials and distribution of the kits were supported by a 2005 legislative appropriation to educate providers about cancer.

For more information on the Healthy Together program, or to refer a EqualityCare client who would benefit from the program, please contact APS Healthcare at 1-888-545-1710

APS Healthcare, headquartered in Silver Spring, Md., is a leading provider of specialty healthcare solutions that cover more than 20 million members in the United States and Puerto Rico. APS offers customized, integrated healthcare solutions across three major healthcare product lines – health management services, behavioral health services and quality improvement programs. APS operates under the belief that managing healthcare for the mind and body improves overall health and reduces total healthcare spending.

APS is committed to “Helping People Lead Healthier Lives” through the implementation of customized programs that meet each customer’s unique needs.