Aetna, Altoona Hospital Sign New Agreement.PITTSBURGH -- Aetna (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : AET AET Aetna, Inc. AET After Extra Time AET Actual Evapotranspiration AET Alliance for Environmental Technology AET Alpha-Ethyltryptamine AET Applied Extrusion Technologies, Inc. ) announced today that it has reached agreement with Altoona Hospital on a multi-year contract, expanding network access for Aetna members in Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania consists of the western third of the state of Pennsylvania in the United States. Pittsburgh is the largest city in the region, with a metropolitan area of about 2.4 million people, and is the cultural center for Western Pennsylvania. . Altoona Regional includes two acute-care hospitals - Bon Secours, which already was an Aetna provider, and Altoona Hospital, which had not been a provider for several years. The two merged on Nov. 1, 2004. "This agreement is very good news for Aetna members in Western Pennsylvania," said Mike Ungvary, Aetna's head of network operations for Pennsylvania. "As Aetna strives to offer members broader hospital and physician choice, contracts such as this on are helping us to advance that cause." Under the new contract, Aetna's members will be able to access all Altoona Regional facilities for covered in-patient in·pa·tient or in-pa·tient n. A patient who is admitted to a hospital or clinic for treatment that requires at least one overnight stay. and out-patient services, at in-network rates. Aetna plans to complete accompanying agreements with the system's physicians shortly. Aetna provides health benefits to nearly 1 million members in Pennsylvania. The company's Western Pennsylvania members have access to a contracted network of 41 hospitals, 1,594 primary care physicians and 3,249 specialists. "We are happy that Altoona Regional is part of the Aetna network of quality providers," said James W. Barner, president and chief executive officer of Altoona Regional. "We are very pleased that community residents who are Aetna members now have access to both local hospitals." Altoona Regional Health System includes two acute-care hospitals and more than 20 affiliated health care companies. It offers centers of excellence in cancer care, heart care, neurosciences, behavioral health Behavioral health was first used in the 1980's to name the combination of the fields mental health and substance abuse. As an example, an organization serving both mental health and substance abuse clients might refer to its practice as behavioral health or , wound care and much more. The system's Regional Trauma Center trauma center n. A medical facility that is designated to treat severe physical trauma as a result of the specialized training of its staff and the availability of appropriate diagnostic and treatment tools. serves more than 20 counties in Central Pennsylvania. As one of the nation's leading providers of health care, dental, pharmacy pharmacy, art of compounding and dispensing drugs and medication. The term is also applied to an establishment used for such purposes. Until modern times medication was prepared and dispensed by the physician himself. In the 18th cent. , group life, disability and long-term care long-term care (LTC), n the provision of medical, social, and personal care services on a recurring or continuing basis to persons with chronic physical or mental disorders. benefits, Aetna puts information and helpful resources to work for its approximately 13.7 million medical members, 11.9 million dental members, 8.4 million pharmacy members and 13.5 million group insurance members to help them make better informed decisions about their health care and protect their finances against health-related risks. Aetna provides easy access to cost-effective health care through a nationwide network of more than 655,000 health care professionals, including over 390,000 primary care and specialist doctors and 3,937 hospitals. For more information, please visit www.aetna.com. (Figures as of December 31, 2004) |
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