MARINA DEL REY, Calif., April 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Richard Merkin, President and CEO of Heritage Provider Network, will moderate a panel discussion entitled "Getting from Care to Cure" at the Milken Institute Global Conference on Tuesday May 1, 2012 at 8 am pdt at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, California.

The "Getting from Care to Cure" panel discussion moderated by Dr. Merkin, will focus on improving the efficiency and quality of our healthcare delivery system, developing successful models to reduce costs, making better use of data from the health-care system for research purposes and improving treatment outcomes to free up funding for research to develop cures. Panelists include Aneesh Chopra, former Assistant to the President and U.S. Chief Technology Officer; Francis Collins, Director, National Institutes of Health; Steve Hemsley, CEO, UnitedHealth Group; and Michael Leavitt, Founder and Chairman, Leavitt Partners, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, twice serving as Governor of Utah.

Dr. Merkin has championed numerous innovative healthcare initiatives transforming global healthcare delivery from care to cure including the prestigious $3million Heritage Health Prize contest for predictive modeling. The Heritage Health Prize is the world's largest predictive modeling contest, challenging data miners to create an algorithm that predicts how many days a patient will spend in the hospital. The goal is to decrease the number of avoidable hospitalizations, saving the country $32billion in avoidable hospitalization costs, re-directing the savings from care to research to develop cures. The prize is larger than the Nobel Prize for Medicine and the Gates Health Prize. "Fast Company" Magazine recently named HPN one of the global 10 most innovative companies in healthcare for 2012, based in part on the prize. (www.heritagehealthprize.com).

The prestigious Milken Institute Global Conference convenes hundreds of CEOs, elected leaders, Nobel Prize winners, scientists, educators, philanthropists and global decision-makers to bring their expertise and ideas to offer solutions to the urgent challenges facing the world — from the economy and health care to energy and education.

About HPN:
Heritage Provider Network, Inc. (HPN) is on the cutting edge of the accountable care model of healthcare 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

A nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank, the Milken Institute believes in the power of capital markets to solve urgent social and economic challenges. Its mission is to improve lives around the world by advancing innovative economic and policy solutions that create jobs, widen access to capital and enhance health.
www.milkeninstitute.org

SOURCE Heritage Provider Network, Inc.