Catasys Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Omar Manejwala to Present at TAHP Medical Directors Forum

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  • Title: "A Pill Alone Can't Solve the Opioid Epidemic"
  • American opioid and heroin dependent population approaching 3 million
  • Currently deployed strategies will not be effective; a comprehensive solution is required

Catasys, Inc. CATS, a provider of proprietary predictive analytics and integrated treatment solutions to health plans, announced today that the company's Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Omar Manejwala, M.D., will be presenting at the TAHP Medical Directors Forum on Friday, September 8, 2017 at The Hotel Contessa in San Antonio, Texas.

Dr. Manejwala's presentation titled A Pill Alone Can't Solve the Opioid Epidemic will take place on Friday, September 8, 2017 at 8:30am CT. According to ASAM (American Society of Addiction Medicine), drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the US, with 52,404 lethal drug overdoses in 2015. Opioid addiction is driving this epidemic, with 20,101 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers, and 12,990 overdose deaths related to heroin in 2015. Of the 20.5 million Americans 12 or older that had a substance use disorder in 2015, 2 million had a substance use disorder involving prescription pain relievers and 591,000 had a substance use disorder involving heroin.

Commenting on his upcoming presentation, Omar said, "The Opioid crisis is ravaging communities and draining our resources at the local, state, and national levels. The momentum behind increased abuse of both prescribed and illicit opioids is crippling communities and overwhelming care providers. Sensible limits to prescribing and Medication Assisted Therapy are important, but people with addiction often switch to illicit opioids and cannot engage in treatment in an effective manner. Furthermore, over half of the opioids prescribed in the United States go to people with mental health disorders – unless we also treat these comorbid conditions, the cycle will continue. As we've seen time and again with other chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, access to care is an important ingredient, but without engagement, coaching and whole-person treatment, outcomes will remain poor. My focus will be on comprehensive interventions that can solve this crisis quickly and effectively."

Omar Manejwala, M.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, is responsible for overseeing Catasys clinical affairs and leads new product development efforts. Dr. Manejwala is a psychiatrist, a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. He has extensive addiction experience and a passion for integrated treatment approaches. He is the author of Craving: Why We Can't Seem to Get Enough.

About Catasys, Inc.

Catasys, Inc. provides big data based analytics and predictive modeling driven behavioral services to health plans and their members through its OnTrak solution. Catasys' OnTrak solution—contracted with a growing number of national and regional health plans—is designed to improve member health and, at the same time, lower costs to the insurer for underserved populations where behavioral health conditions cause or exacerbate co-existing medical conditions. The solution utilizes proprietary analytics and proprietary enrollment, engagement and behavioral modification capabilities to assist members who otherwise do not seek care through a patient-centric treatment that integrates evidence-based medical and psychosocial interventions along with care coaching in a 52-week outpatient treatment solution.

OnTrak is currently improving member health and, at the same time, is demonstrating reduced inpatient and emergency room utilization, driving a more than 50 percent reduction in total health insurers' costs for enrolled members. OnTrak is currently available to members of several leading health plans in Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for statements of historical fact, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking and made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect numerous assumptions and involve a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which may cause actual results to differ materially from stated expectations. These risk factors include, among others, changes in regulations or issuance of new regulations or interpretations, limited operating history, our inability to execute our business plan, increase our revenue and achieve profitability, lower than anticipated eligible members under our contracts, our inability to recognize revenue, lack of outcomes and statistically significant formal research studies, difficulty enrolling new members and maintaining existing members in our programs, the risk that the treatment programs might not be effective, difficulty in developing, exploiting and protecting proprietary technologies, intense competition and substantial regulation in the health care industry, the risks associated with the adequacy of our existing cash resources and our ability to continue as a going concern, our ability to raise additional capital when needed and our liquidity. You are urged to consider statements that include the words "may," "will," "could," "should," "believes," "estimates," "projects," "potential," "expects," "plan," "anticipates," "intends," "continues," "forecast," "designed," "goal," or the negative of those words or other comparable words to be uncertain and forward-looking. For a further list and description of the risks and uncertainties we face, please refer to our most recent Securities and Exchange Commission filings which are available on its website at http://www.sec.gov. Such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

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