Star-Tribune staff

The Wyoming Business Coalition on Health has launched a project to help contain health-care costs.

"HealthMapRx," also known as "The Asheville Project," has helped reduce emergency room visits and hospital admissions among employees with diabetes and those with cardiovascular ailments like high blood pressure.

The coalition is not a health-care policy group, but intends to make changes via buyer-to-supplier conversations and negotiations.

The new group has several objectives, which include providing measurable and meaningful results for employers in the form of reduced health-care expenditures, and to improve the health of the state work force.

Kickoff events are scheduled for April 21 and 22 at the Petroleum Club in Casper, which will include a presentation by Dan Garrett of the American Pharmacists Association Foundation. Garrett helped launch "HealthMapRx."

"We aspire to involve a large group of employers from all across the state. Our organization will be most attractive to employers who provide health-care benefits to their employees. This includes both private and public employers," spokeswoman Anne Ladd said in a press release.

For more information, contact Ladd at anneladd@bresnan.net, or call 307-262-2550.