Aetna Licenses Bridges to Excellence(TM) to Help Improve Quality Health Care; New Programs to Reward Physicians for Performance.

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Aetna (NYSE:AET) announced today that it has entered into a licensing agreement with Bridges to Excellence(TM). The Bridges to Excellence program encourages high quality health care by providing financial rewards to health care providers who demonstrate that they deliver safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable and patient-centered care.

Bridges to Excellence, founded in 2002, is a non-profit multi-stakeholder coalition of physicians, health plans, quality experts, and some of the nation's major employers. As a licensee, Aetna plans to join employers and other health plans to implement Bridges to Excellence in various markets across the country.

"The Bridges to Excellence program is a very effective way to identify physicians who care for patients consistent with high standards of care. By engaging physicians to monitor their own performance, the program has recognized potential in improving quality and increasing efficiency of care, which benefits consumers, their employers and doctors," said Charles M. Cutler, M.D., Aetna's national medical director, Quality Management. "We are pleased to participate in this program, which supports our continuing efforts to encourage improvements in the quality and safety of care delivered to our members."

Bridges to Excellence is based upon physician recognition programs designed by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and its partners, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. The pay-for-performance programs operated by Bridges to Excellence are Diabetes Care Link, Cardiac Care Link and Physician Office Link. Both Diabetes and Cardiac Care Links focus on meeting approved high standards for treating chronic conditions, while Physician Office Link provides incentives for improving patient information processing and data management.

"What makes Bridges to Excellence unique is that we are using standard measures of quality for comparative purposes so physicians have a common definition to draw from," says Francois de Brantes, co-founder of Bridges to Excellence. "The rewards help doctors to reinvest in themselves and their practices to adopt the kinds of support systems necessary to deliver truly top-notch care."

Aetna participates in existing Bridges to Excellence markets in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Louisville, Ky., and anticipates joining collaborative efforts in additional markets. Aetna is incorporating Bridges to Excellence methodology into its pay-for-performance strategy and programs.

"In addition to using measures and methodology recognized by physicians and other organizations, Bridges to Excellence provides the flexibility to work with physicians and employers to implement programs that address the specific needs of local markets," Cutler said.

To participate in Bridges to Excellence and be eligible for financial rewards, physicians must meet NCQA's criteria for its recognition programs: office practice performance assessment program, the Diabetes Physician Recognition Program (DPRP) or the Heart/Stroke Physician Recognition Program (HSRP). In January 2003, Aetna was recognized by the NCQA as the first health plan to highlight recognized physicians in its on-line provider directory, DocFind(R).

To date, Bridges to Excellence has distributed more than $4.7 million in rewards to more than 1,600 recognized physicians in five market regions including Ohio, Kentucky, Upstate New York, Massachusetts and the D.C./Maryland area.

About Aetna

Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 27.9 million unique members 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 Bridges to Excellence

The Bridges to Excellence coalition is a not-for-profit organization created to encourage significant leaps in the quality of care by recognizing and rewarding health care providers who demonstrate that they deliver safe, timely, effective, efficient and patient-centered care. Bridges to Excellence participants include large employers, health plans, the National Committee for Quality Assurance, MEDSTAT and WebMD Health, among others. These organizations are united in their shared goal of improving health care quality through measurement, reporting, rewards and education.

For more information on Bridges to Excellence or to find out how to participate as an employer or a physician, visit the program's web site at http://www.bridgestoexcellence.org/.