Onalaska, Wis. — Allergychoices Inc. and Allergy Associates of La Crosse put their La Crosse Method™ Protocol for allergy treatment’s performance to the test, inviting the Validation Institute to review its outcome measures. And it passed rigorous standards with flying colors.
The Validation Institute’s independent team of population health scientists and bio-statisticians review companies’ claims about their results and determine whether:
- The data source is reliable;
- The data is used properly to compose the measure; and
- The results are accurately described.
“Lots of companies say that their program saves money, reduces emergency room visits, shortens hospital stays or decreases medical visits and medications,” said Linda K. Riddell, MS, Validation Institute’s Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, “but only those who get independent review can say that their results are real.”
The Institute’s goal is for companies whose programs are truly effective, like Allergychoices or Allergy Associates of La Crosse, to attract clients based upon their actual results. When the market makes actual results – rather than hype—the focus, less effective or wasteful programs will fade away.
The data reviewed included clinical data and patient survey data regarding treatment outcomes, medication use and healthcare utilization by patients who had undergone allergy immunotherapy using the La Crosse Method sublingual immunotherapy protocol. The Protocol was developed at Allergy Associates of La Crosse by founder David Morris, MD, and his partners, who found that using sublingual immunotherapy, or allergy drops taken under the tongue rather than allergy injections, allowed them to safely treat a wider range of patients suffering from food or environmental allergies. The treatment is used to help allergic patients slowly build tolerance to the allergens that had elicited symptoms previously. Morris founded Allergychoices in 2000 as an avenue to share the Protocol with providers around the country to help them treat patients seeking help closer to home.
“As we look at rising healthcare costs in the U.S. and treatment options that have the ability to change the course of disease affordably rather than simply manage symptoms, we’re excited to have an option that is demonstrating both outcomes,” adds Jeff Kessler, President of Allergychoices. “For those paying the costs of allergy and related disease, including asthma, chronic sinusitis, atopic dermatitis, and a variety of other co-morbidities, it’s great news to know that there are affordable options to lessen the impact of a costly chronic disease.”
In addition to receiving validation, Allergychoices was named a national finalist for a Health Value Awards at the 15th Annual World Health Care Congress in Washington DC in April. This competition’s goal is to shine a bright light on health care organizations that consistently deliver significant value, relative to their peers, and that promote essential price and outcomes transparency.
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About the Validation Institute: The goal of Care Innovations™ Validation Institute’s is to help organizations involved in population health — from Health Plans to Employers to Vendors — adhere to the highest standards of validity, allowing them to compete on the basis of integrity and performance.
The Validation Institute’s Trusted Community is made up of companies that have had outcome claims and/or contractual language validated by one of our 3rd party, independent validators. Our validators are population health and statistical experts.
By impartially challenging the status quo of typical population health outcomes measurement, we seek to impact how the industry establishes its credibility over time. For more information, visit validationinstitute.com.
About Allergy Associates of La Crosse: Allergy Associates of La Crosse is an internationally-recognized allergy clinic that helps identify and treat the cause of allergies – not just the symptoms – through comprehensive diagnostics and sublingual immunotherapy (allergy drops taken under the tongue). Founded by Dr. David Morris in 1970, the practice has pioneered this treatment approach and advocated for research advances to expand treatment options for allergic patients. The practice moved to Onalaska, Wisconsin, in 2010. Its published La Crosse Method™ Protocol is used by more than a thousand allergists around the country to treat inhalant and food allergy through patient-specific treatment.
About Allergychoices: Allergychoices began as an educational and networking resource for patients and physicians to increase awareness of and access to sublingual immunotherapy. Today, it has grown to a leading provider of sublingual immunotherapy prescription services in the United States. The company provides retail compounding pharmacy, clinical laboratory, and marketing services to allergy practices from around the country. These practices base their treatment from the La Crosse Method™ Practice Protocol developed by Dr. David Morris and his physician partners at Allergy Associates of La Crosse. The Protocol has enabled allergy providers to treat a wide array of allergic diseases including inhalant and food allergies, asthma, sinusitis, and eczema.