CIGNA Reaches across Borders to Improve Health Care

PHILADELPHIA, Jun 17, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- CI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- CIGNA is supporting a program that is searching the world for solutions to improving health care. The Global Knowledge Exchange Network (GKEN) was created through an unrestricted grant from the CIGNA Foundation to the Wye River Group on Healthcare (WRGH), a non-partisan group known as a catalyst for constructive health care change. Initially, this three-year program will bring together leaders from government, health care, business, philanthropy and academia to discuss and advance better practices in health care among industrialized nations.

The CIGNA Foundation's one million dollar contribution to create the GKEN underscores CIGNA's commitment to helping to shape the future of affordable, quality health care.

"With a global economy, it is important that groups not work in isolation as they address health care reform. Just as public policy decisions depend on reaching across the political aisles, meaningful study of health care requires reaching across borders," said H. Edward Hanway, chairman and chief executive officer of CIGNA Corporation. "This is an exciting opportunity to better understand the health care financing and delivery systems of other countries as well as our own."

Through this work, the GKEN will explore health care systems around the world to discover what works well and why, and will examine how to replicate successful models that address health care challenges and improve health care quality. Issues to be considered include cost, delivery, administration, public health and the workforce.

Over the three-year period, the GKEN will identify better practices in health care, such as process changes, use of technology, and new roles for doctors and other members of the provider community. This information will form the basis for the health care knowledge exchange and will be delivered through a robust internet site. As examples of better practices are approved by the GKEN, they will be compiled, formatted into case studies, and catalogued for publication and distribution on the GKEN website. The GKEN also will promote these better practices through speaking engagements, printed materials, events and other channels, including the development of an electronic newsletter.

The GKEN will meet twice a year to discuss areas of shared interest among its global members.

"This initiative will build on the strength of existing international exchanges by partnering to promote cross-cultural knowledge exchange among the leadership of nations. We are pleased to have received the support from the CIGNA Foundation and welcome this commitment to creating and maintaining a global communication platform designed to improve health care here and abroad," said Jon Comola, chief executive officer for WRGH.

About CIGNA

CIGNA (NYSE:CI) provides employers with benefits, expertise and services that improve the health, well-being and productivity of their employees. With approximately 47 million covered lives in the United States and around the world, CIGNA's operating subsidiaries offer a full portfolio of medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy and vision care benefits and group life, accident and disability insurance. www.cigna.com

About CIGNA Foundation

CIGNA Foundation, Inc. is a private foundation funded by contributions from CIGNA Corporation and its subsidiaries. The CIGNA Foundation supports organizations sharing its commitment to enhancing the health of individuals and families, and the well-being of their communities, with a special focus on those communities where CIGNA employees live and work.

About The Wye River Group on Healthcare

Wye River Group on Healthcare (WRGH) and its affiliate Foundation for American Health Care Leadership(sm) (FAHCL) are non-partisan, not for profit entities, which serve as catalysts to raise awareness and broaden perspectives to enable constructive healthcare change.

WRGH and FAHCL create an intellectual exchange of fresh ideas in a neutral environment, employing a dynamic process that works to stay ahead of emerging trends. They identify and advance approaches to healthcare finance, delivery, quality and cultural change, with broad application to healthcare policy and the marketplace. This is accomplished through multiple educational outlets. Our most recent initiative is the creation of www.leadinghealthycommunities.com. This resource provides a one-stop-shop for creating community collaboratives while simultaneously offering a repository of community case studies of better practices across the healthcare spectrum.

The Foundation is an affiliate of Wye River Group on Healthcare (WRGH), a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. For more information on WRGH and FAHCL go to: http://www.wrgh.org/

SOURCE: CIGNA

CIGNA Gloria Barone, 215-761-4758 Gloria.barone@cigna.com

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