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Introducing Aetna Health Connections(SM) -- An Innovative Approach to Medical Management

Posted on: Wednesday, 5 April 2006, 09:00 CDT

Aetna (NYSE:AET) today launched Aetna Health Connections(SM), an innovative new approach to medical management. Aetna Health Connections takes a unique, comprehensive view of each covered member, incorporating health status, benefit plan design, demographics, personal preferences, and other information to help people understand and engage in attaining their optimal health. The program encompasses a range of Aetna programs and services to support members in all stages of health.

"Most traditional medical management programs focus only on the 20 percent of the members who are typically in poor health and represent the majority of medical costs," said Troyen A. Brennan, M.D., Aetna's chief medical officer. "Aetna Health Connections will continue to identify those members at highest risk of deteriorating health, but expands its focus and programs to include those with intermediate levels of risk and illness, and well members, too. Regardless of their health status, members and their physicians will find that Aetna offers programs or web-based tools to help individuals become more informed health consumers, more aware of their own health status, and more engaged in taking action to improve or maintain their health."

Aetna Health Connections comprises a range of member-focused health support and information services which are provided by more than 2,000 Aetna-employed clinical professionals, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, wellness counselors, nutritionists, and weight loss therapists among others. Working with members and their physicians, these clinical professionals help coordinate a member's care needs, help ensure the member understands a doctor's prescribed treatment plan in order to manage a chronic medical condition and help a member learn how to embrace a healthier lifestyle. In addition, Aetna Health Connections includes a high-quality suite of user-friendly, web-based tools and health information resources that has been singled out for recognition by third parties including the National Committee for Quality Assurance and BusinessWeek.

A New Generation of Disease Management: Supporting the Whole Member

Within the broad Aetna Health Connections strategy, the company is focusing today's announcement on an innovative approach to disease management for those members who suffer from chronic illness. Aetna will announce additional detail on the elements of our Wellness Programs and other Aetna Health Connections programs throughout the year.

"More than 40 percent of Americans are living with at least one chronic disease, and many of them with two or more," said Brennan. "In almost every case, these diseases should be managed together because chronic diseases rarely remain in the silos that other companies' disease management programs place them in." For example, people with diabetes are at an extremely high risk of a range of vascular complications, including heart disease and stroke. In addition, chronic disease is often associated with behavioral health issues like depression.

"Our new Disease Management program pairs members identified for the program with a nurse who serves as their primary point of contact at Aetna," said Patricia Mueller, M.D., Head of National Medical Management. "Each nurse is trained and has an easy-to-use electronic data base and clinical information system to provide comprehensive member support across a full suite of 30 chronic conditions, providing information not only for the primary health issues, but also for other health risk factors that may be associated with their condition."

"This type of 'whole member' support differentiates Aetna's DM programs from competing offerings," Mueller said. "We will consistently deliver a highly integrated product, help improve physician compliance with best-practice, evidence-based guidelines, and reinforce with our members the importance of understanding and following their physician's care plan."

Powered by Best-In-Class Technology

Aetna Health Connections Disease Management will focus on 30 chronic conditions, some of which will inevitably be present in the same member and require sophisticated levels of interdisciplinary analysis. This represents a significant expansion of depth and scope from the six conditions for which Aetna currently offers disease management services. Physicians and nurses will use technology from Aetna's new subsidiary, ActiveHealth Management, to identify and risk stratify members for different levels of outreach and support, and deliver services to them. In addition, Aetna's MedQuery(R) program, which is powered by the patented ActiveHealth Management CareEngine(R), will be embedded at the core of our new disease management programs. This technology enables Aetna to scan 100 percent of the population, 100 percent of the time, while working with treating physicians to address clinical gaps and errors, improve patient safety, and improve compliance with the best-practice standards and evidence-based guidelines.

Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 27.9 million unique members with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life, long-term care and disability plans, and medical management capabilities. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans and government-sponsored plans. www.aetna.com

Source: Business Wire

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