May 26, 2005
Universityof Miamiand Humana announce groundbreaking research collaboration
University, health benefits company launch joint Health Services Research Center
MIAMI, FL - May 26, 2005 - The University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine and Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) today announced the creation of a joint Health Services Research Center that will devise new ways to prevent disease and manage chronic illness.
The new center, on the University of Miami's medical campus, will be devoted to innovative health services research involving a number of new strategies to maintain health and improve the management of chronic illness.
The overriding goals of the collaboration are to keep individuals healthy and reduce health care costs.
"This new research center will be one of the first to look at what happens when you introduce a culture of wellness into your workforce," said Laurence Gardner, M.D., chairman of the Department of Medicine and vice dean of the Miller School of Medicine. "In a scientific way, how does encouraging exercise, a healthy diet and weight loss have an impact on health care costs and missed days of work? Those are just some of the outcomes we will be studying."
The School of Medicine's new Wellness Center, set to open next year, will play a unique role in the collaboration. For example, if an employee with type 2 diabetes starts an exercise program at the center, researchers will be able to measure the outcome of that intervention. They will be able to tell if the exercise reduced blood sugar levels and the need for medications.
The unique collaboration will draw on clinical data from the School of Medicine's records, and the information from claims and health benefits from Humana. The company uses several techniques to keep its subscribers healthier, including a Personal Nurse service to support members in becoming active and engaged health care consumers. Nurses guide members to information and resources and help them overcome common gaps in the health care system.
Humana also uses new technology to make sure every subscriber keeps up to date on physician-ordered screening tests. For example, an automated phone system will call a female subscriber if she has gone more than one year without filing a claim for a mammogram to remind her it's time for the test.
"Humana's sophistication in statistical analysis using things such as physician visits, diagnosis codes and prescription records helps us produce models for predicting illness,” said Jonathan T. Lord, M.D., Humana senior vice president and chief innovation officer. "This predictive modeling helps us plan new innovations and technologies for more effective primary care management, wellness and chronic care management programs."
Humana is the University of Miami's employee benefits provider and provides its SmartSuite health benefits package to some 17,000 university employees and their families.
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 44-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.
Humana is one of Florida's largest health benefits providers with more than 350,000 commercial health plan members statewide, including more than 170,000 commercial members in South Florida.
Humana is also Florida's largest private Medicare provider, with nearly 240,000 Medicare members statewide, including more than 130,000 in South Florida.
More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the Investor Relations page of the company's web site at www.humana.com, including copies of:
Annual report to stockholders;
Securities and Exchange Commission filings;
Most recent investor conference presentation;
Quarterly earnings press releases;
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.
For more information, contact:
Mitch Lubitz
Humana Media Contact
Voice: (813) 287-6180
Email: mlubitz@humana.com
Jeanne Antol Krull
UM Media Contact
Voice: (305) 243-4853
Email: jkrull@miami.edu