Aetna Joins RxHub ePrescribing Payer Community

Aetna (NYSE:AET) and RxHub today announce a new agreement that provides authorized physicians with access to prescription eligibility, formulary and medication history information for consenting Aetna members at the point of care through the RxHub network. This information helps connected physicians to make informed prescribing decisions that promote patient safety and manage costs associated with healthcare delivery. Aetna has been certified and is an active participant of The RxHub National Patient Health Information Network™. "Aetna’s decision to connect to RxHub and provide member specific prescription eligibility, benefits, formulary and medication history to physicians at the point of care provides added value for the ePrescribing industry as a whole,” stated JP Little, RxHub Chief Operating Officer. "The addition of Aetna’s coverage of nearly 11 million members in all 50 states bolsters the value to all participants connected to the RxHub network which currently receives almost five million requests for clinical decision support information on a monthly basis.” Prior to this announcement, Aetna had been providing its formulary to RxHub. Through this enhanced relationship, Aetna and its customers will benefit by providing access to clinical decision support information to connected physicians and prescribers at the point of care. According to a recent Gorman Health Group study released by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA), approximately 70 percent of the safety and savings advantages of ePrescribing result from doctors being given immediate access to patient medication histories, safety alerts, preferred drug options, and pharmacy options so that they can better counsel patients on safe and affordable choices before prescriptions are transmitted to the pharmacy. "A significant percentage of hospital admissions are related to adverse drug events, and many can be prevented by allowing physicians to communicate electronically with pharmacies. Aetna Pharmacy Management is now able to send messages directly to doctors at the point-of-care before the prescription is transmitted to the pharmacy allowing physicians to see a complete drug record for their patients based on Aetna’s available pharmacy benefit claims records. We believe this has significant safety benefits for our members and medical cost savings for employers," said Mark Rubino, Chief Pharmacy Officer for Aetna Pharmacy Management. About Aetna Aetna is one of the nation’s leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 34.9 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, behavioral health, group life, long-term care and disability plans, and medical management capabilities. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans and government-sponsored plans. www.aetna.com About RxHub LLC RxHub (www.rxhub.net) manages the RxHub National Patient Health Information Network™ which electronically routes up-to-date patient-specific medication history and pharmacy benefit information to caregivers at every point of care. Our end-to-end solution enables physicians to prescribe the most clinically appropriate and cost effective prescription for the patient and allows the prescription to be sent electronically to the patient’s pharmacy of choice. Operating as a cost recovery business model, RxHub partners with stakeholders in the prescribing industry to improve patient safety, increase workflow efficiency and reduce the overall cost of health care delivery. For more information on RxHub Certified Partners, please visit: http://www.rxhub.net/partners.html.