Heritage Provider Network Announces at the Milken Institute Global Conference That Official Competition for the $3 Million Dollar Heritage Health Prize is Open for Entries

MARINA DEL REY, Calif., May 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Richard Merkin, President and CEO of Heritage Provider Network, announced at the Milken Institute Global Conference that the official competition for the $3 million dollar Heritage Health Prize is now accepting entries as of May 4, 2011. The prize is the world's largest for predictive modeling.(www.milkeninstitute.org)

Dr. Merkin developed the innovative prize to challenge thinkers in data mining and analytics to create an algorithm to predict avoidable hospitalizations, which will save $30 billion in current health care costs. In his remarks at the conference, Dr. Merkin emphasized the importance of consumers taking control of their own healthcare, empowering them to interact with physicians, preventing serious illness and avoidable hospitalizations.(www.heritagehealthprize.com)

"This prize offers an opportunity to change the world," said Dr. Merkin. "If we can learn to predict and prevent costly hospitalizations, we can improve global health care delivery at a price that is affordable for everyone."

Dr. Merkin also said the leader boards for the prize will also become active so teams will be able to see where they stand against each other in the competition, and that an extra two years' worth of data will also be released.

Participants in the challenge will be provided with a data set consisting of the de-identified medical records of patients covering the specific time period, and then will be required to predict who from that patient population went to the hospital during the following year, and how long they spent there. HPN will award the $3 million dollar prize to the team with the highest level of accuracy after the two year competition phase concludes, assuming they meet the required threshold. There will also be progress prizes awarded along the way.

For more information on the HPN Health Prize go to: www.heritagehealthprize.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 healthcare 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. (www.heritageprovidernetwork.com)

ABOUT THE MILKEN INSTITUTE

The Milken Institute is a nonprofit, independent economic think tank whose mission is to improve the lives and economic conditions of diverse populations around the world by helping business and public policy leaders identify and implement innovative ideas for creating broad based prosperity. It is based in Santa Monica, California. (www.milkeninstitute.org)

SOURCE Heritage Provider Network, Inc.