Dr. Richard Merkin, President and CEO, Heritage Provider Network, Featured on Fox Business News, Bulls and Bears with Liz Clayman and David Asman, Revealing Challenge of $3 Million HPN Health Prize, Saving $30 Billion in Health Care Costs

MARINA DEL REY, Calif., Dec. 8, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Richard Merkin, President and CEO, Heritage Provider Network was featured on Fox Business News, Bulls and Bears with Liz Clayman and David Asman revealing HPN's new challenging $3 million Health Prize to save $30 billion in hospital health care costs.

"We want in on that," Clayman told her audience on "Bulls and Bears," as she introduced Dr. Merkin.

The HPN Health Prize is designed to foster innovative competition through technology engaging individuals and teams to reduce the $30 billion spent in preventable and avoidable hospital stays in the US using analytics and predictive modeling.

"If we can predict the outcome of illness, then we can work to prevent it," Dr. Merkin told Clayman. "And if we can work to prevent it, we can personalize the health care and make it participatory, the four p's, we can go a long way toward better overall health care for individuals while saving billion of dollars," continued Dr. Merkin.

Earlier in the day, Dr. Merkin announced the details of the competition for the compelling HPN Health Prize in a press conference at the Press Club in Washington, DC. Participants in the Health Prize challenge will be given a data set comprised of the de-identified medical records of 100,000 individuals who are members of HPN.  The teams will then need to predict the hospitalization of a set percentage of those members who went to the hospital during the year following the start date, and do so with a defined accuracy rate.  The winners will receive the $3 million prize, which is larger than the Nobel Prize for Medicine.

Joined by Dennis Smith, former Director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations, Dr. Merkin emphasized the need for young, bright whiz kids who fostered and developed creative, innovative internet opportunities to do the same for health care. "Through data mining and predictive modeling we will bring innovative thinking to health analytics that may allow us to solve at least part of the health care cost conundrum," he said.  "Incentivized competition -- one that includes the involvement of those with passionate minds that don't know what can't be done -- is the best way to achieve the radical breakthroughs and innovations necessary to reform our health care system."

"We need innovative thinking to solve one of the biggest dilemmas of our time -- ever-rising health care costs. The Health Prize is an example of what the private sector is willing to do to encourage that type of thinking," said former HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt, supporting the HPN Health Prize.

"Americans spend nearly 20% of their family budget on health care and that's too high for me," said Dr. Merkin. "Hopefully we can challenge bright, smart minds to predict how to bring those numbers way down, save families money, create new jobs in this sector while keeping us healthier."

For more information, and details regarding the HPN Health Prize, visit www.theheritagehealthprize.com

About HPN:

Heritage Provider Network, Inc. (HPN) is on the cutting edge of the accountable care model of health care delivery: coordinated, patient-doctor centric, integrated health care systems that represent the future of health care in the United States. HPN develops programs and services that are responsive to the health care needs of today's patient. HPN designs its networks to offer patients a comprehensive range of medical care in convenient locations.  It organizes and manages medical groups and independent practice associations, integrating with hospitals and ancillary care providers. This system represents a workable, successful business model that has been duplicated with medical groups, IPAs and medical facilities throughout California.  HPN is dedicated to quality, affordable health care and putting patients' wellness first.

SOURCE Heritage Provider Network, Inc.