Henry Wei, M.D., senior medical director of Clinical Innovation at Aetna (NYSE: AET), was recognized yesterday as a member of the initial Presidential Innovation Fellows program. Wei is one of 18 Fellows selected from a group of nearly 700 applicants.

Wei will be on sabbatical from Aetna for six months as a member of the three-person team working on the Blue Button for America (@ProjectBlueBtn) project. Blue Button for America will spread the ability for millions of Americans to easily and securely download their own health information electronically, empowering them to take that information with them should they change insurer or provider and share it with their loved ones or doctors if they choose, all while fueling the emergence of time-saving, money-saving, and even life-saving products and the businesses and jobs that those products will support.

In September 2011, Aetna was one of the first national insurers to give members the Blue Button® option through their online personal health record.

"We are extremely proud that Henry has received this prestigious opportunity," said Mark T. Bertolini, Aetna's chairman, CEO and president. "Technology innovations will continue to have a dramatic impact on how we can improve the overall health care system, and we are thrilled that Henry was chosen to work on the Blue Button project."

Before his current role, Wei served as the senior medical director for ActiveHealth Management, an Aetna company, for five years. Prior to that role, he was a consultant at McKinsey & Company. Wei is currently an attending physician at New York Presbyterian Hospital and a clinical instructor in medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. He also recently was a winner in the Health 2.0 Code-a-thon in New York City. Wei received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and his medical degree from Cornell University.

About Aetna

Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 36.7 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities, Medicaid health care management services and health information technology services. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For more information, see www.aetna.com.

Aetna
Ethan Slavin, 860-273-6095
slavine@aetna.com