Cogent Healthcare Appoints Two Prominent Hospital Medicine Physicians as National Medical Directors.

IRVINE, Calif. -- Drs. Holman and Goldsholl Join to Support Cogent's Growth and Commitment to Standardizing Best Practices in American Hospitals

Cogent Healthcare, Inc., the nation's premier hospitalist company, has appointed Russell Holman, M.D., and Stacy Goldsholl, M.D., both recognized leaders in hospital medicine, as national medical directors for its inpatient management programs.

"Dr. Holman's lifelong commitment to quality and innovation, and the passion with which he approaches his work, make him a perfect fit for Cogent," said Ron Greeno, M.D, Cogent's chief medical officer. "Dr. Holman is clearly one of the most highly regarded physicians in the rapidly growing hospitalist field, and his vision will undoubtedly be instrumental in helping us fulfill our vision of the future."

"Those of us who have had the privilege of working with Dr. Goldsholl recognize her as an energetic and influential force in our field," adds Dr. Greeno. "Her career has been distinguished by a commitment to innovation, clinical excellence and an unwavering drive to advance the field of hospital medicine. She will be a key asset in leading Cogent to pursue these goals as well."

Drs. Holman and Goldsholl will be responsible for the critical role of managing the quality of Cogent's inpatient management programs. They will also manage programs for physician training and mentoring, physician reporting and decisioning support, and oversee continued improvements to Cogent best practice guidelines and audit programs that identify and remove barriers to high quality and efficient care.

"The commitment to quality care from Cogent's leadership is unsurpassed in hospital medicine," stated Dr. Goldsholl. "This shared commitment aligns Cogent with its hospitals."

Dr. Holman commented, "Cogent's programs are performance-based, data-driven and truly make best practices a reality in American hospitals."

Prior to joining Cogent Healthcare, Dr. Holman served as an associate medical director at HealthPartners Medical Group in Minneapolis, where he founded one of the country's largest hospitalist programs and managed the division of hospital services. Dr. Holman created one of the first hospitalist fellowship programs in the nation, led numerous quality improvement initiatives across the health system, and served on the HealthPartners Medical Board of Governors. He is currently Treasurer of the Board of Directors of the Society of Hospital Medicine, and serves as chair of the leadership development activities for that organization. In 2002, Dr. Holman was presented with the Society of Hospital Medicine's Outstanding Service Award in Hospital Medicine.

Before coming to Cogent Healthcare, Dr. Goldsholl served as the executive director of the hospital medicine program for Covenant Healthcare in Michigan, and had previously developed successful hospitalist programs in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. She has written extensively and is nationally recognized for her highly regarded presentations on the subject of hospital medicine. Recently, she was elected to the Board of Directors of the Society of Hospital Medicine, where she is chair of the Benchmarks Committee. In addition, Dr. Goldsholl has served as a Faculty Scholar for Harvard Medical School and as an advisor to the Clinical Advisory Board.

Hospital medicine is one of the fastest growing trends in health care. A hospitalist physician specializes in the care of the hospitalized patient, providing continuous care from admission to discharge. Hospitalist programs implement best practices and standardize care in order to increase the quality of care and increase patient safety.

Cogent Healthcare is a leader in this rapidly growing new field. Cogent's programs are successful in reducing length of stay, reducing readmission rates, and substantially decreasing cost per case, while achieving satisfaction rates of 98 percent for patients and 95 percent for primary care physicians.

About Cogent Healthcare, Inc.:

Cogent Healthcare, Inc. is a leading provider of services that improve the well being of hospitalized patients. Its vision is to improve care and efficiency by reducing variations in care, establishing best practices, identifying and removing barriers to efficient care, and measuring outcomes. To this end, the company provides comprehensive programs in clinical care staffing, communication, and data management that support the hospitalist physician in the delivery of inpatient care.

Cogent physicians continue to lead the profession by setting best practices for hospital medicine, providing a national mentoring program, and offering the first Internet-based continuing medical educational program for hospitalist physicians, which can be accessed on the company's website, www.cogenthealthcare.com.