In conjunction with the Wharton School's Center for Health Management and
Economics, Humana Unveils Patent-Pending Processes that Reduce
Health Benefit Costs and Improve Quality of Life
NEW YORK, Nov. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), one of the
nation's largest health benefits companies, today launched its groundbreaking
Innovation Center at FORTUNE magazine's first-ever Innovation Forum. The
launch, sponsored in conjunction with the Wharton School's Center for Health
Management and Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, featured a
demonstration of computer-based, patent-pending processes that reduce health
benefit costs for businesses while improving the quality of life for
individuals with chronic health conditions.
FORTUNE's Innovation Forum features sessions with legendary investor
Warren Buffett, Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt and other dynamic
visionaries on the role of innovation in business success -- how it can be
created, nurtured and cultivated within disparate enterprises. As a partner
with FORTUNE, Humana's "Innovation in Health Care" center at the Forum gives
speakers and attendees the opportunity to interact with the company's
proprietary software and to meet company leaders.
Michael B. McCallister, Humana's president and chief executive officer,
was a featured speaker on a Forum panel this morning examining the theme of
"Leading Innovation in Traditional Businesses."
"FORTUNE's Innovation Forum is the ideal venue for introducing a new,
holistic approach to health benefits with the consumer at the center," said
Jack Lord, M.D., the company's chief innovation officer and head of the
Innovation Center. "We have brought together in the Innovation Center experts
from fields as varied as space aeronautics and spy-catching to develop ways
that identify and ameliorate disease states with unprecedented accuracy,
leading to fewer critical-care episodes for people with chronic conditions and
measurable cost savings for the companies that employ them."
The "Innovation in Health Care" center at the Forum is jointly sponsored
by the Wharton School's Center for Health Management and Economics, which has
partnered with Humana on a variety of initiatives since 2002. Dr. Lawton
Robert Burns, director of the Wharton Center and professor of health care
systems and management, is a Forum attendee.
"We have just completed a two-year study of successful innovation in a
segment of the health care industry that is resistant to change and not known
for innovation -- payers and providers," said Dr. Burns. "By comparing
Humana's initiatives with those of a few other vanguard firms, we have
distilled the ingredients for innovation long-awaited in this industry. The
Humana-Wharton Center partnership, which has allowed Wharton faculty and
students unique access to proprietary corporate data and extended access to
senior executives, illustrates how the Wharton Center can produce findings of
direct interest to industry. The Wharton Center for Health Management and
Economics is ready to work with Humana as it develops strategic partnerships
with companies around the world."
As part of the continuing expansion of its Innovation Center initiatives,
Humana and the University of Miami in Miami, Fla., recently signed a
memorandum of understanding by which the two groups will collaborate in
clinical initiatives. Details of that collaboration are still to be finalized.
"A global crisis in health care demands innovative solutions that will
deliver better health at lower cost," said Laurence Gardner, M.D., professor
and chairman of the Department of Medicine and vice dean of the School of
Medicine at the University of Miami. "We are eager to see where Humana's
innovations in prediction and consumer decision support, linked to
collaborative innovations in care delivery, will take us."
Earlier this year, Humana's Innovation Center filed applications for five
patents in pharmacy and health metrics -- evidence of Humana's continued
leadership in the health benefits industry. All five of the patent
applications are for Humana's use of innovative information technology
applications to engage consumers in choosing and using their health benefits
with confidence. The pending patents represent Humana's growing ability to use
predictive modeling to help anticipate future costs and clinical events.
About Humana
Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of the nation's
largest publicly traded health benefits companies, with approximately 7
million medical members located primarily in 15 states and Puerto Rico.
Humana offers a diversified portfolio of health insurance products and related
services -- through traditional and consumer-choice plans -- to employer
groups, government-sponsored plans, and individuals.
Over its 43-year history, Humana has consistently seized opportunities to
meet changing customer needs. Today, the company is a leader in consumer
engagement, providing guidance that leads to lower costs and a better health
plan experience throughout its diversified customer portfolio.
More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the
Investor Relations page of the company's web site at http://www.humana.com ,
including copies of:
- Annual report to stockholders;
- Securities and Exchange Commission filings;
- Most recent investor conference presentation;
- Quarterly earnings press releases (including detailed description of
unusual items, where applicable);
- Audio archive of most recent earnings release conference call;
- Calendar of events (includes upcoming earnings conference call dates,
times, and access number, as well as planned interaction with
institutional investors);
- Corporate Governance Information.
About the Wharton Center for Health Management and Economics
The Wharton Center for Health Management and Economics,
< http://hcmg.wharton.upenn.edu/chme/ >, seeks strategic partnerships with
health care companies and offers corporate members access to applied research,
customized executive education programs, and assistance with recruiting within
the Wharton Health Care MBA program. The Center's core mission is to stimulate
important applied and theoretical research in the areas of health management
and economics.
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania,
< http://www.wharton.upenn.edu >, is recognized around the world for its
academic strengths across every major discipline and at every level of
business education. Founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school in
the United States, Wharton has approximately 4,600 undergraduate, MBA, and
doctoral students, more than 8,000 participants in its executive education
programs annually, and an alumni network of more than 80,000 worldwide.
About FORTUNE
FORTUNE, the leading biweekly business magazine, is known for its
unrivaled access to industry leaders and decision-makers throughout the world.
FORTUNE's annual ranking of the 500 largest corporations, the FORTUNE 500, is
the ultimate benchmark of business success. Founded in 1930, FORTUNE has
grown to a worldwide circulation of more than 1 million and a worldwide
readership of nearly 5 million. The website, fortune.com, which averages
10 million page views per month, keeps visitors ahead of the business curve by
providing up-to-the-minute information and analysis of the people and trends
driving business innovation. The FORTUNE Conference Division extends the
magazine's editorial mission into live settings, hosting a wide range of
annual conferences for top-level executives, including the FORTUNE Global
Forum, the Most Powerful Women Summit, and Brainstorm. The FORTUNE Group at
Time Inc., a division of Time Warner, is comprised of FORTUNE, FSB: FORTUNE
Small Business and Business 2.0 and is part of Time Inc.
SOURCE Humana Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.humana.com
http://hcmg.wharton.upenn.edu/chme
http://www.wharton.upenn.edu
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Company News On-Call:
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CONTACT:
Tom Noland, Corporate Communications of
Humana Inc., +1-502-580-3674, or tnoland@humana.com
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