LifeMasters Supported SelfCare, Inc., a provider of interactive health management services, has received Continuing Education Provider status from the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN). The designation enables LifeMasters' nurses, who provide personalized health monitoring and education to patients with chronic disease via the Web and telephone, to receive continuing education hours (CE's) towards nursing license renewal, through the company.

``LifeMasters is happy to be able to provide this great benefit to our nursing staff. One of our values as a company is continuous learning for our patients and staff alike,'' said Christobel E. Selecky, CEO of LifeMasters. ``Our quality education components are a key part of our approach to interactive disease management. By helping LifeMasters' patients understand their diseases and providing the most up-to-date disease information, our nurses inspire their patients to be more active in their own care."

Mona Mathewson, clinical education coordinator for LifeMasters, said, ``California nurses are required to achieve 30 continuing education hours every two years for nursing license renewal. Many companies don't even provide reimbursement or paid time off for their nurses to pursue these credits. At LifeMasters, we have created an extensive learning program to support their career development. Offering education credits for on-going training and monthly education courses shows the company's appreciation for its nurses and the jobs they do, as well as the company's commitment to education.

LifeMasters brings this training in-house by devoting one staff meeting each month to an education topic. Nurses earn one CE hour for each of these courses, enabling them to accrue a minimum of 12 CE hours each year for learning done during the workday alone. In addition, LifeMasters offers CE hours for its new Clinical Nurse Consultant (CNC) training and on-going clinical education.

About LifeMasters

Founded in 1994, LifeMasters Supported SelfCare, Inc. offers interactive health management services designed to improve clinical outcomes for patients, provide decision support for physicians, and reduce costs for payors, providers and employers. Population-based disease management components include customized patient education, online health content and interactive health management tools, lifestyle modification, vital sign monitoring, and ongoing nurse-mediated patient support. At enrollment, a patient's personal physician sets monitoring parameters based on LifeMasters' nationally accepted standards of care. Patients enter longitudinal vital sign and symptom data into LifeMasters' Web-enabled database using the Internet or a touch-tone telephone. The company's proactive intervention model empowers individuals to take an active role in their own well being, and encourages program compliance. LifeMasters notifies the patient's physician when treatment is required to prevent a medical episode or hospitalization.

In 1998, LifeMasters pioneered the first Web-enabled disease management program with the introduction of its password protected Web site for enrolled patients.

In 1999, LifeMasters introduced its programs ``direct-to-consumer'' at http://www.LifeMastersOnline.com. This consumer Web site provides disease-specific education, wellness components and interactive health management tools, and is available free to the general public, or as a private labeled link to LifeMasters' Web partners.

More information can be obtained by calling 1-800-760-9261, or at http://www.LifeMasters.com.