Aetna Hosts White House Health Technology Innovation Summit

-- Urges infusion of Health IT to support health care delivery and consumer purchasing --

HARTFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Aetna (NYSE: AET) today hosted The White House Business Council and Business Forward’s Roundtable Discussion on health information technology issues. The roundtable, “America's Innovation Economy: Health IT in Hartford” is part of the Winning the Future Roundtable with American Businesses seriesand featured Todd Park, Chief Technology Officer, and Entrepreneur in Residence, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Lonny Reisman, M.D., Aetna’s chief medical officer, spoke at the roundtable and encouraged further, rapid innovation in the development of health technology.

“We appreciate the Administration's outreach to the business community to help drive a national discussion on innovation and economic growth. We share the view that health IT innovations are critical to successfully reforming the nation’s health care system by improving care quality and lowering costs for patients and employers,” Reisman said.

“The delivery and coordination of health care services in America must change. Aetna is helping by investing in innovative health care tools and technologies that can seamlessly and securely exchange information among care providers and give them valuable, actionable, patient-specific health care information right in the physician's office, in the emergency room, or wherever they see a patient. Improved information flow will drive higher quality, more convenient health care at a lower cost for all.

“While this evolution on the inside of the health care system is occurring, the way the system opens to patients must also change in response to the sea-change in American consumer behavior. The health care system must provide convenient, mobile support of health care purchases to meet consumers on their terms as we build the new health and wellness marketplace. The system must respect that, for many, convenience is the key measure of quality, and must make cost, performance and access to information readily, easily available. We are building these necessary mobile health solutions and joining with other businesses to meet the demand for complete health information mobility in today’s fast-paced, ever-changing technology environment.”

About Aetna

Aetna is one of the nation’s leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 33.8 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral 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, labor groups and expatriates. For more information, see www.aetna.com.

AetnaSusan Millerick, 860-273-0536
[email protected]

Source: Aetna