PITTSBURGH -- (Business Wire)

Aetna (NYSE: AET) announced today that UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside Hospital has been designated as a participating facility in Aetna’s Institutes of Excellence™ Transplant Network.

The Institutes of Excellence (IOE) is Aetna’s participating network for transplants and transplant-related services. The IOE is comprised of hospitals that exhibit successful clinical outcomes; meet quality of care standards; and agree to acceptable contractual terms.

UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside will provide transplant care to adult Aetna members for bone marrow/stem cell, heart, kidney, liver, lung, pancreas, intestine and simultaneous pancreas/ kidney procedures.

“Aetna is extremely happy to add UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside to our national transplant network,” said Patrick Young, Aetna’s president for the Pennsylvania market. “Over the past several months, we’ve developed a strong relationship with UPMC and its participating facilities. We’re pleased that Aetna members in Pittsburgh and other parts of the country will now be able to receive organ transplants and related care at this high-quality facility.”

Aetna members who need transplants receive access on a national level to facilities that have demonstrated success at these highly specialized procedures. Those members and their families are supported with travel and lodging benefits. There currently are 141 hospitals in the Institutes of Excellence network.

“We are very pleased to be a provider in Aetna’s Institutes of Excellence Network as it recognizes the clinical capabilities of our transplant programs. We look forward to working with the Aetna staff on coordinating transplant care for their members,” said Abhinav Humar, M.D., clinical director of the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute and UPMC’s chief of the Division of Transplantation in the Department of Surgery.

About UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside Hospital

UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside is a 520-bed tertiary care hospital that has been serving the residents of Pittsburgh and the tri-state area since 1866. UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside offers primary medical care; physician and nursing education; and a broad range of specialties that include cardiology, oncology, orthopedics, geriatrics, vascular medicine, endocrinology, and more. UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside's medical staff includes nearly 1,000 primary care physicians and specialists, with offices at the hospital and throughout the community.

About Aetna

Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 36.1 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.

Contacts:

Aetna
Media Contact:
Walt Cherniak, 410-401-9490
cherniakjrw@aetna.com

Source: Aetna