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San Francisco, CA, April 8 — In an effort to improve patient safety and reduce medical liability, the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) today announced its partnership with the Health Care Notification Network (HCNN). The HCNN is the online product safety Alert network that replaces the widely criticized, slow and decades-old system of delivering Dear Health Care Professional (DHCP)-letters to prescribers via U.S. mail. AAPA, the only national professional association that represents physician assistants (PAs) across all medical and surgical specialties, joins more than one hundred health care industry partners that support the immediate online delivery of drug and medical device warnings via the HCNN.

"The HCNN is an important resource for physician assistants that will help us quickly respond to the nation's growing health care demands," said AAPA President, Cynthia Booth Lord, M.H.S, PA-C. "Since PAs prescribed over 257 million medications to Americans in 2008, a strategic partnership with the HCNN that allows us to get timely updates on drugs stands to dramatically improve patient safety nationwide."

The HCNN was launched one year ago and now reaches more than 250,000 prescribers as a result of the joint efforts of state and specialty medical societies, academic medical centers, medical liability carriers, health plans, consumer advocacy groups, government leaders and industry. The addition of AAPA will bring more than 70,000 physician assistants (PAs) to the HCNN effort and promotes greater compliance of new U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidance for electronic communication of Patient Safety Alerts. Since PAs collectively write millions of prescriptions each year, the AAPA is actively working with the FDA to ensure that PAs also receive these Alerts.

"Modern medicine relies heavily upon the valuable role played by physician assistants in nearly all medical settings throughout the country," explained Nancy Dickey, M.D., former president of the American Medical Association (AMA) and chair of the iHealth Alliance, the not-for-profit board that governs the HCNN service. "Our goal is to have every physician and physician assistant subscribe to the HCNN by year's end."

In addition to the AAPA, the HCNN is supported by the AMA, the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), many liability carriers, and most specialty and state medical societies because it significantly reduces delays in notifying prescribers of important drug Alerts, which dramatically improves patient safety and limits medical liability.

Free to all licensed U.S. physicians and PAs, the HCNN is used solely for Patient Safety Alerts, not for advertising or promotion. Available immediately at www.hcnn.net, it ensures the most rapid and effective delivery of these Alerts. Physicians and PAs may also request that a copy of the online Alerts be delivered to other office staff, further improving patient safety and office efficiency. Physicians and PAs not yet enrolled in the HCNN will continue to receive paper-based DHCP-letters via U.S. mail, typically a few weeks after online delivery via the HCNN.

The HCNN is also a "Green" initiative because it reduces paper and mail, thereby saving trees and fuel.

For more information about the HCNN and online Patient Safety Alerts, visit www.hcnn.net.

About the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA)
The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) is the only national professional association that represents PAs across all medical and surgical specialties in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the armed forces and federal services. Founded in 1968, AAPA works to increase the professional and personal growth of the entire PA workforce by providing comprehensive support and advocacy for physician assistants so that they may, in turn, provide patients with increased access to quality, cost-effective health care.

About the HCNN
The HCNN is the new online service that delivers important product-related, FDA-mandated Patient Safety Alerts to physicians and other healthcare professionals via secure email. Currently, these alerts (also known as "Dear Doctor letters") are sent to physicians on paper via traditional U.S. mail — a slow, error-prone process. The HCNN may also be used to notify physicians in the event of national public health emergencies or bio-terror events. The network is governed by the not-for-profit iHealth alliance with network operations provided by Medem, Inc.

About the iHealth Alliance
The iHealth Alliance is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to protect the interests of patients and providers as healthcare increasingly moves online. The iHealth Alliance governs the Health Care Notification Network (HCNN) and ensures that the network is used only for patient safety alerts. The iHealth Alliance is chaired by Nancy W. Dickey, MD, past President of the AMA, President of Health Science Center and Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs for Texas A&M University. The Board of Directors is comprised of industry leaders from medical societies, liability carriers, patient advocacy groups and others dedicated to protecting the interest of patients and providers.