November 12, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON STATE’S LARGEST EMPLOYEE UNION PARTICIPATES IN PILOT PROGRAM TO OFFER MEMBERS QUALITY HEALTH CARE AT LOWER COSTS WITH QLIANCE 

Sound Health and Wellness Trust Allows Members to Select Qliance as Direct Primary Care Medical Home

SEATTLE (November 12, 2009) – Qliance Medical Management Inc., which operates insurance-free direct primary care clinics – also known as “direct primary care medical homes” – in Washington state, today announced it has been selected by the Sound Health & Wellness Trust to pilot a health care program for its members, including the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 21, Washington state’s largest employee union.

The Qliance program, offered through its clinics in Seattle and Kent, WA, provides UFCW and other Trust members access to comprehensive primary, preventive and chronic management care for one low monthly fee.  Current enrollment is now being offered for the 2010 benefits to Trust members and their families, who include employees of union grocery stores and health care facilities.

“We are thrilled to give our members in Seattle and Kent the option to choose Qliance for their health care, which will offer them unparalleled access to their doctors, no co-pays for office visits, and unhurried appointments,” said David Schmitz, president of UFCW Local 21, a participating local in the Trust.  “We are piloting this program because we strongly believe Qliance will enable our members to have access to high-quality primary care services, and that this model can save the Sound Health and Wellness Trust a significant amount of money down the road.”

Trust members who join the Qliance Plan will pay approximately $3 per week ($156 per year) to receive all of the benefits of membership in the direct primary care medical home, including unrestricted primary and preventive care for everyday things like vaccinations, checkups, pneumonia, minor fractures, routine women’s health exams, and ongoing care for chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension or obesity.  Other benefits will include:

•          Unhurried 30- to 60-minute office visits

•          Same- or next-day appointments for urgent care needs

•          Open 7 days per week, with 24 hour cell phone and email access to a physician

•          On-site x-ray, laboratory and "first-fill" prescription drug dispensary

•          Coordination of care throughout the rest of the health care system

Participants in the program will also receive full wrap-around insurance coverage (for those rarely needed specialist or emergency services that Qliance does not provide) with an annual $150 deductible, and a $1,000 out-of-pocket maximum.

“This plan provides amazing value for some of the highest-quality health care available in the country and we look forward to welcoming the UFCW and other local Trust members to our medical homes,” said Garrison Bliss, MD, Chief Medical Officer and co-founder of Qliance Medical Management.  “The Trust has taken an important step to explore health care outside of traditional insurance programs that is already proving to reduce costs for employers and individuals.  We hope legislators in the other Washington look to this pilot as a model for an effective hybrid option that should be included in the proposed insurance exchange so more Americans can enjoy the benefits."

The Sound Health and Wellness Trustprogram is the first Taft-Hartley health care program in the nation to offer a direct primary care medical home package to its members.  The Trust has more than 30,000 members statewide, with approximately 5,500 living within a 10-mile radius of either Seattle or Kent, making them eligible to participate in the Qliance Plan pilot program. 

In addition to its relationship with Sound Health & Wellness Trustand the UFCW, Qliance works with many local small to mid-size businesses to offer their employees health care at substantial savings over traditional insurance-only health care.  For example, one Kent non-profit that employs 75 full-time people projects to save more than $1 million over the next five years by moving employees from traditional insurance plans to a local direct primary care medical home that is supplemented by lower-premium insurance for emergency and catastrophic care.

Qliance Medical Management Inc. was founded in 2006.  In 2007, the Washington State legislature recognized direct primary care as an innovative health care delivery model not to be regulated as insurance, paving the way for all Washingtonians to have access to affordable quality health care. 

For more information about Qliance, visit Qliance.com.  

###

About Qliance Medical Management

Qliance Medical Management was founded in 2006 and provides operating and management services to Qliance Medical Group of Washington PC.  Qliance direct primary care offers people of all ages and incomes unrestricted access to all types of primary, preventive and chronic illness care for one monthly membership fee, ranging between $39 and $79, depending on age.  Qliance does not exclude anyone for pre-existing conditions and offers unhurried same- and next-day appointments 7-days per week.  Through Qliance, patients and employers are getting exceptional care and saving between 20 and 50 percent on comprehensive health care costs when bundled with wrap-around insurance.  For more information, visit Qliance.com.

About Sound Health & Wellness

The Sound Health & Wellness Trust provides employees across Western Washington with comprehensive health benefits along with an innovative health and wellness program that encourages participants to achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle. The Sound Health & Wellness Trust is a Taft-Hartley trust managed jointly by unions and employers and provides benefits to more than 50,000 participants and their families.  Participating unions include: UFCW Local 21, UFCW Local 81, UFCW Local 1439, Teamsters Local 38, and UFCW Local 367.  Participating employers include union grocery stores and health care facilities.

About United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 21

United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 21 is the largest private-sector local union in the state of Washington, with over 35,000 members working in grocery store, retail, health care, and other service jobs. UFCW 21 represents more retail and grocery employees and more professional and technical health care employees than any other union in the state. UFCW 21 was formed in October 2005, when a merger between UFCW Local 1001 and Local 1105 went into effect.

###

Contacts on behalf of Qliance:

Pr[at]qliance[dot]com
Dawn Lyon 415-846-4706
Laura Lowery 206-799-5604

Contact on behalf of UFCW Local 21 and the Sound Health and Wellness Trust:

Dave Schmitz 206-436-6597

November 9, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

STATEMENT OF DR. GARRISON BLISS ON BEHALF OF THE DIRECT PRIMARY CARE COALITION PASSAGE BY THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF H.R. 3962, THE AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE FOR AMERICA ACT

“Passage of the H.R. 3962, the Affordable Healthcare for America Act by the U.S. House of Representatives this weekend means that the approximately 45,000 Americans who have elected to receive their medical care through a direct primary care medical home will continue to have that option – for now.

“Direct primary care medical homes were pioneered in Washington State more than a decade ago by physicians like me who decided they preferred to work for their patients versus insurance companies. This model has proven to be so popular that direct primary care medical homes now exist in at least 20 other states and that number is growing. "Direct primary care medical homes offer low-monthly fees starting at $49 per month for all primary, preventive and chronic care and include 24/7 phone and email access to a primary care physician. There are no exclusions for pre-existing conditions and insurance coverage for catastrophic health care events is covered by a lower-premium plan specifically designed to cover those unpredictable events outside the scope of primary care. Not only do these practices save 40 percent of the cost of traditional care by cutting out the administrative costs of health insurance but patients and businesses can realize savings of 20 to 50 percent on their total health care costs.

“As of now this innovative health care delivery model has been left out of the health care reform bills working their way through the U.S. Senate. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) have pledged to work together to offer an amendment to include direct primary care medical homes in the insurance exchange. We are hopeful that their amendment will not only pass in the Senate but will also garner bipartisan support.

“On behalf of the members of the Direct Primary Care Coalition, I would like to thank the U.S. House of Representatives for ensuring that direct primary care medical homes were included in the health care reform bill. We hope the Senate follows your lead to move beyond the status quo and allow this innovative and growing model a chance to compete and flourish while providing Americans more options at lower cost.”

More information about direct primary care medical homes can be found at www.dpcare.org.

Dr. Garrison Bliss has been a primary care doctor for more than 30 years and has been operating direct primary care practices in Seattle since 1997. He is a founder of the Direct Primary Care Coalition and currently Chief Medical Officer of Qliance Medical Management Inc. in Seattle. He is also past president of The Society for Innovative Medical Practice Design.

###

Contacts on behalf of Qliance:

Pr[at]qliance[dot]com
Dawn Lyon 415-846-4706
Laura Lowery 206-799-5604

July 6, 2009

EMERGING WASHINGTON STATE HEALTH CARE MODEL SECURES $7.5 MILLION IN VENTURE CAPITAL

Qliance Medical Management Closes Financing Round from
Second Avenue Partners, New Atlantic Ventures, and Clear Fir Partners

SEATTLE (July 7, 2009) – Qliance Medical Management Inc., which operates insurance-free direct primary care clinics -- also known as “direct medical homes” -- in Washington State, today announced it has closed a $4 million funding round from three institutional venture capital firms, led by Second Avenue Partners with participation by New Atlantic Ventures and Clear Fir Partners, bringing its total capital raised to approximately $7.5 million.  The company plans to use the proceeds to add new clinics for its medical practice partner, Qliance Medical Group of Washington PC., operating under the Qliance® brand.

“We see the Qliance direct primary care model as an important transformational option to health care reform that is easily scalable for other communities across the U.S.,” said Nick Hanauer, managing partner of Second Avenue Partners, based in Seattle.  “Their innovative health care model reduces costs dramatically for individuals and businesses while delivering exceptional care and access for patients.” 

In those rare circumstances when outside specialist care or hospitalization is required, Qliance physicians and nurse practitioners serve as a patient’s “medical home,” operating as the central coordination point for all other care and services.  To cover the costs of any necessary outside care, most Qliance members choose a low-premium insurance plan for unpredictable serious and catastrophic illnesses, such as trauma sustained in a serious car accident or cancer.  Qliance direct primary care provides a comprehensive health care coverage solution when bundled with a “wrap-around” insurance plan, and can typically save patients between 40 and 50 percent and employers between 20 and 35 percent on health care costs.     

“Most people don’t realize that insurance is simply not needed for 90 percent of the reasons people go to a doctor today. By operating without the hassles of insurance reimbursement overhead, Qliance providers can reduce costs for patients and employers and focus on what we were trained to do – practice medicine and heal,” said Dr. Garrison Bliss, co-founder and chief medical officer of Qliance Medical Management and a 30-year internal medicine physician who left insurance behind in 1997 and created the first broadly affordable direct primary care model in the nation.  “We’re gratified Second Avenue Partners, New Atlantic Ventures and Clear Fir Partners share our vision to transform health care and expand the direct primary care model to more communities.”

Qliance currently has one clinic in downtown Seattle and will be opening its second in Kent, Wash. in August.  A third is planned around the end of this year.  The company is currently in discussions with several large groups to extend its model to other parts of the country.

Qliance Medical Management Inc. was founded in 2006, evolving from Dr. Bliss’ private practice, with seed investment from Second Avenue Partners, Clear Fir Partners, and other private investors.  In 2007, the Washington State legislature recognized direct primary care as an innovative health care delivery model not to be regulated as insurance, paving the way for all Washingtonians to access and afford quality health care.  

For more information about Qliance, visit Qliance.com

###

About Qliance Medical Management

Qliance Medical Management was founded in 2006 and provides operating and management services to Qliance Medical Group of Washington PC.  Qliance direct primary care offers people of all ages and incomes unrestricted access to all types of primary, preventive and chronic illness care for one monthly membership fee, ranging between $39 and $79, depending on age.  Qliance does not exclude anyone for pre-existing conditions and offers unhurried same- and next-day appointments 7-days per week.  Through Qliance, patients and employers are getting exceptional care and saving between 20 and 50 percent on comprehensive health care costs when bundled with wrap-around insurance.  Qliance and its direct primary care model, which was pioneered by co-founder Dr. Garrison Bliss in 1997, is backed by Second Avenue Partners and Clear Fir Partners LP in Seattle and New Atlantic Ventures in Reston, Va. and Cambridge, Mass.  For more information, visit Qliance.com.

About Second Avenue Partners

Second Avenue Partners is a Seattle-based provider of management, strategy, and capital for early stage companies. Second Avenue Partners' investment approach is to make early-stage investments in promising ventures which exhibit transformative business models in their respective industries. It builds long-term relationships, actively assisting its portfolio companies in becoming market leaders. Second Avenue Partners has funded companies such as aQuantive (acquired by Microsoft), HouseValues (NASDAQ: SOLD, now known as Market Leader); Insitu (acquired by Boeing); Azaleos; Ice Energy, Qliance Medical Management; Fantasy Moguls; Newsvine; Coolspotters; Realself; and Rubicon. For more information, visit www.secondave.com.

About New Atlantic Ventures

New Atlantic Ventures is a leading early-stage venture capital firm targeting investments in technology companies in emerging mass markets. Through its offices in Cambridge, MA and Reston, VA, NAV targets companies in the Eastern United States, while also pursuing select opportunities nationwide. The NAV portfolio includes investments in Pontiflex, Stitcher, GateRocket, Mpowerplayer, TVU Networks, Koofers, Secure Command, FashionPlaytes and Qliance Medical Management. For more information, visit www.navfund.com.

About Clear Fir Partners LP

Clear Fir Partners LP is a private, early-stage limited partnership, based in Seattle, with a history of early-stage investments in small and growing companies in emerging markets.  Its portfolio includes InfoSpace (NASDAQ: INSP), Audience Science (formerly Revenue Science), Insitu, MInfo, Qliance Medical Management, Pet Holdings, Inc., and Lydian Trust, and Petra Growth Funds I & II.

Contacts on behalf of Qliance:

Pr[at]qliance[dot]com
Dawn Lyon 415-846-4706
Laura Lowery 206-799-5604