Posted on Wed, May. 07, 2008

WASHINGTON, May 7 -- The Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC) has named John Agwunobi, MD, senior vice president and president of health and wellness for Wal-Mart, and David Nace, MD, vice president and chief medical officer at McKesson Health Solutions as co-chairman of its Center for eHealth Information Adoption and Exchange. In that capacity, Agwunobi and Nace will lead more than 30 Center members representing business, insurers, consumers and primary care organizations in the effort to evaluate use and application of health information exchange to support and enable the development and broad adoption of health information technology in private practice and among community practitioners.

The multi-stakeholder PCPCC is organized and financed to provide better outcomes for patients, more efficient payment to physicians and better value, accountability and transparency to purchasers and consumers.

Up-to-date data to inform the decisions of primary care health providers is a key support mechanism for the patient centered medical home concept. The work of the Center is to assure that an individual's relevant health data can be made available when needed at the primary care level from various sources, including pharmacies, PBMs, clinical labs, nurse practitioners in retail clinics, hospitals and other medical practices.

"Developing working systems and practices that primary care providers can use to get the information they need from these diverse sources and across communities is essential to both the quality and efficiency goals of the patient centered medical home," said Edwina Rogers, PCPCC's executive director and vice president of health policy, The ERISA Industry Committee. "The Center for eHealth Information Adoption and Exchange will interact with the PCPCC's other Centers by offering direction for implementation of health information technology systems in demonstration projects, as well as keep PCPCC members up to date with industry standards, protocols and best practices."

Along with his medical degree, Agwunobi holds an MBA from Georgetown University and a master's degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University. In his capacity with Wal-Mart, he oversees the company's health and wellness business unit, including pharmacies, vision centers and health care clinics. Prior to joining Wal-Mart, he was the assistant secretary for health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and an admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. Agwunobi served as Florida's Secretary of Health from 2001 to 2005. He is a Fellow with the American Academy of Pediatrics and a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the American Medical Association, the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, the American College of Preventive Medicine, the American Association of Public Health Physicians, and the State and territorial Health Officers Alumni Association.

David K Nace M.D. is vice president and chief medical officer of McKesson Health Solutions, a business unit of McKesson Corp., the world's largest health care services and information technology company. Prior to McKesson, Nace was national chief medical officer for Aetna and United Health's employer behavioral health businesses. He has served as chairman of the Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness, and the National Leadership Council. He has advised numerous organizations including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics of the Wharton School of Business, United Nations Business Council, World Federation on Mental Health, World Health Organization, and the International Labor Organization. Nace is the author of papers and articles on issues ranging from health promotion and wellness to chronic disease management approaches, and is a nationally recognized speaker on managed care, workplace oriented programs, benefit plan design, health promotion, and work life balance.

For more information about PCPCC's Center for eHealth Information Adoption and Exchange go to http://www.pcpcc.net/content/center-ehealth-information-exchange-and-adoption.

About the Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative

The Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative is a coalition of more than 40 major employers, consumer groups, organizations representing primary care physicians, and other stakeholders who have joined to advance the patient-centered "medical home." The Collaborative believes that, if implemented, the patient-centered medical home will improve the health of patients and the health care delivery system. For more information on the patient-centered medical home and a complete list of the PCPCC members, please visit http://www.pcpcc.net/.

SOURCE Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative

Karla Hurter of PCPCC, +1-703-319-0957, khurter@health2resources.com,