HARTFORD, Connecticut, May 13 /PRNewswire/ --
- Presentation to Focus on the Role of Health IT in Health Care Reform
Aetna (NYSE: AET) (http://www.aetna.com/investor/) announced today that Lonny Reisman, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, is scheduled to present at the 5th Annual World Health Care Congress - Europe on May 14, 2009, in Brussels, Belgium. As a participant in the Viable European Reform Models - The Role of HIT panel, Dr. Reisman will discuss how electronic health information systems can help strengthen the quality and affordability of health care. He will also examine U.S. best practices and discuss how these capabilities might contribute to European reform efforts.
By maximising the power of technology we can help to lower the cost of health care, said Dr. Reisman. A significant opportunity to improve quality of care lies in the use of clinical decision support tools within health IT. I'm a strong proponent that simply putting information online is not entirely useful unless you have tools to interrogate the data and create opportunities for decision making.
Also participating in the panel discussion will be Ministers of Health and thought leaders from Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Every health care system has its challenges; however, as world health leaders and decision makers come together to share best practices we can identify those solutions that are having a positive impact on health care and implement them more broadly, said Dr. Reisman.
Aetna's appearance at the European Congress is recognition of the company's efforts to help build a better health care system - both in the U.S. and abroad. Recently, through its international business segment, Aetna Global Benefits (AGB), Aetna has embarked on exporting innovations developed in the U.S. to support health care reform across the globe.
Our goal is to take the best of what we do in the U.S. and translate those capabilities to benefit new audiences located around the world, said Martha Temple, president of Aetna Global Benefits. As an example, we are helping National Health Service entities and clinicians in England to strengthen health care delivery in their communities.
Dr. James Cowan, National Medical Director for Aetna's UK-based business, will also present to the European Congress. As a participant in the Summit session on improving clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction through technology, Dr. Cowan will discuss the gap between real and ideal health outcomes in current health care systems.
About Aetna
Aetna is one of the leading diversified health care benefits companies in the United States, serving approximately 37.2 million people 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, behavioural health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities and health care management services for Medicaid plans. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labour groups and expatriates. For more information, see http://www.aetna.com and Aetna's Annual Report at http://www.aetna.com/2008annualreport.
James Simpson - Director and Head of Marketing Services, James.simpson@fwdmarketing.co.uk, +44(0)20-7623-2368
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