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LifeMasters Honors Nurse Practitioner With the 2005 New Mexico Nursing Excellence Award for Education and Research

Honoree Is Nurse Practitioner With New Mexico Gynecology Consultants and Southwest Clinical Research

LifeMasters Supported SelfCare, a leading national provider of disease management with one of its facilities located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, announced that Barbara M. Thorpe, MSN, RNC, CNP, has received the Excellence in Education and Research Award for 2005 from the New Mexico Center for Nursing Excellence. The award is sponsored by LifeMasters.

The New Mexico Center for Nursing Excellence is a non-profit organization whose mission is to advocate for the nursing resources necessary to meet the health care needs of the people of New Mexico. The organization's diverse board consists of nurse educators and executives, nursing associations and other stakeholders in nursing throughout the entire state. The Nursing Excellence Awards Program, honors nurses in 21 specialties for excellence in nursing practice each year. Awards are also given for the Nursing Legends of New Mexico and the New Mexico Distinguished Nurse of the Year.

Ms. Barbara M. Thorpe is a respected educator, researcher and clinician serving the Albuquerque medical community. She is currently a women's health nurse practitioner and certified menopause practitioner with New Mexico Gynecology Consultants. Throughout her forty-year career in nursing, Ms. Thorpe has worked in both rural and urban areas, in university-based hospitals and in federally funded indigent clinics. She has been involved as a sub-investigator in more than forty clinical trials for birth control and women's health products. In addition, Ms. Thorpe's work in gynecological research has led to an increased role that nurse practitioners now play in the identification and treatment of cervical disease and in its education and prevention. Her original research, "An Investigation of Sunlight Exposure: Could A Deficiency Contribute to Bone Resorption?" won the coveted North American Menopause Poster Prize in 1999 and prompted inquiry and further research in the role of vitamin D and bone health.

"I am honored to receive the Education and Research Award in recognition of my ongoing work in the field of women's health," said Barbara Thorpe, MSN, RNC, CNP. "I am grateful to LifeMasters for sponsoring this awards program so that I can continue research which directly benefits the New Mexico health care community," she continued.

"We are pleased to be able to support the New Mexico Center for Nursing Excellence by honoring such an exceptional nurse and educator," said Meredith Mathews, M.D., LifeMasters Chief Medical Officer. "The heart of every disease management company is its exceptionally trained, experienced nursing staff. At LifeMasters, we believe that supporting the nursing community in which we do business, not only makes good business sense, but also provides a way for us to recognize exceptional nurses for their dedication and commitment to providing superior patient care in their community," he continued.

About LifeMasters Supported SelfCare

LifeMasters Supported SelfCare, Inc. is a leading provider of disease management programs and services that create health partnerships among individuals, their physicians and payors. Its mission is to empower individuals to achieve and maintain optimal health. The programs improve quality of care for people with chronic illnesses, reduce chronic-disease costs for payors and provide decision-support tools for physicians. LifeMasters offers programs for individuals with diabetes, congestive heart failure (CHF), coronary artery disease (CAD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) hypertension, and asthma (all of which are fully accredited by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and URAC), and musculo-skeletal pain. LifeMasters' programs are holistically focused and support clinical co-morbidities such as depression and facilitate lifestyle changes such as smoking cessation and weight loss. LifeMasters provides services to more than 500,000 people throughout the nation.

Founded in 1994 by a Harvard-trained physician, LifeMasters works with some of the nation's leading health plans, employers, retirement systems and governmental organizations, including Aetna, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio, Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration (Medicaid) and CMS. More information about LifeMasters can be found at http://www.lifemasters.com or by calling 1-800-777-1307.

Distributed by Market Wire