FONEMED/Centra Care named winner in URAC’s Best Practices in Consumer Empowerment and Protection Awards

Orlando, FL March 31, 2008  - URAC announced the winners of its inaugural Best Practices in Consumer Empowerment and Protection Awards competition March 25, naming FONEMED and Centra Care-Florida Hospital Urgent Care in the patient/consumer safety category.  The awards were presented at a black tie gala during URAC’s Best Practices in Consumer Empowerment and Protection Conference in Orlando Florida.  During the conference, award finalists presented their model programs to attendees so these best practices can be duplicated in communities across the country.

The Exposure Hotline offers advanced technology and CDC protocols to provide and document medical counseling to healthcare workers, law enforcement personnel, firefighters and other employees who sustain occupational exposure to blood or body fluids, communicable diseases or environmental exposures, including pandemics and bio terrorism.  The highly sophisticated programs developed by Centra Care with FONEMED’s call center technology and services provide healthcare workers and patients exposed to these medical hazards, a single point of contact to deal systematically with their urgent situations.

URAC President Alan Spielman with Ken Bleakley, Alison Sturge and Charlene Slaney from FONEMED and Lorraine McInerney from Centra Care

“A Best Practices Award is a strong signal to the marketplace that an organization places a premium on consumer protection and empowerment,” said Alan P. Spielman, URAC’s president and CEO.  “We are excited about this opportunity to recognize these trailblazers and draw attention to programs that are models for the industry.”

Scott Brady, MD, president of Centra Care stated: “Centra Care has always strived to develop best practices that will benefit our patients and employees alike.  It’s gratifying when an esteemed organization like URAC recognizes those efforts.”

A complete list of winners of the Best Practices in Consumer Empowerment and Protection Awards may be found at www.urac.org. 

About FONEMED

FONEMED® uses communications technology to provide individuals with round-the-clock, telephone or web-based access to medical advice, information, products and services. It provides outsourced services from its health information call center, accredited by URAC. It also supplies the tools, technology, and know-how to operate proprietary Health Information Centers as installed or hosted systems. FONEMED’s medical and information technology staff designed its new web-based operating platform specifically to support a broad range of interrelated medical activities such as the Exposure Hotline.  FONEMED’s website is at www.fonemed.com.

About Centra Care/Florida Hospital Urgent Care

For 25 years, Centra Care has provided adults and children preeminent medical care for non-life threatening illness and injury.    Each of the 16 Central Florida locations is staffed by a Florida Hospital, board-certified physician and is equipped to handle X-Rays and labs on-site.  Centra Care is Florida’s largest urgent care provider and Central Florida’s only urgent care facility backed by a nationally recognized health system.  For more information visit www.centracare.org.

About URAC

URAC, an independent, non-profit organization, is well-known as a leader in promoting health care quality through its accreditation and education programs. URAC offers a wide range of quality benchmarking programs and services that keep pace with the rapid changes in the health care system, and provide a symbol of excellence for organizations to validate their commitment to quality and accountability. Through its broad-based governance structure and an inclusive standards development process, URAC ensures that all stakeholders are represented in establishing meaningful quality measures for the entire health care industry. For more information, visit www.urac.org.                            

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