HARTFORD, Conn., January 18, 2006 – Aetna (NYSE: ΑET) announced today that it has appointed Troyen A. Brennan, M.D., 50, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, as chief medical officer. He joins Aetna on February 21 from Brigham and Women’s Physicians Organization, where he has been president and CEO. Dr. Brennan will report to Aetna President Ronald A. Williams, who will be Chief Executive Officer at that time.
"Dr. Brennan joins Aetna as a nationally respected expert in quality of care with specific expertise in the health insurance industry, and as a practicing internist," said Williams. "Beyond impeccable credentials, he has displayed a passion and talent for creating a partnership between the insurance industry and the medical community. I am extremely pleased that Dr. Brennan has chosen to continue his career at Aetna, where he can put his experience and thought leadership to work for our nearly 15 million members nationwide."
"Our relationships with physicians have improved significantly, and we are confident that this will continue,” said Aetna Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John W. Rowe, M.D. “I am thrilled that Dr. Brennan has agreed to join Aetna, and know that he will be a phenomenal addition to our team. He is widely regarded as an expert in clinical quality, and has focused on opportunities to reduce medical errors. Through his work as leader of the Brigham and Women’s Physicians Organization and as past chairman of the board of the American Board of Internal Medicine, he has a deep knowledge of issues facing physicians, as well as how health plans can best interface with the clinical community."
Dr. Brennan takes over from Dr. Charles Cutler, who has been serving as interim chief medical officer. "I want to thank Dr. Cutler for an excellent job over the past few months," said Williams. "He will continue as Aetna’s national medical director for quality management."
Dr. Brennan’s career with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, located in Boston, Mass., began in 1987. In 1992, he became director of quality measurement and improvement. In 1997, he became president and CEO of Brigham and Women’s Physician Hospital Organization, a position he held through 2005, and also assumed the additional responsibility of president and CEO of Brigham and Women’s Physicians Organization. In his various roles at Brigham and Women’s, he was responsible for managed care contract negotiations, designing both primary care and specialty medical management and incentive programs, and overseeing the merger of seven specialty physician foundations and eight hospital departments into a single physician organization. Dr. Brennan also served as a practicing internist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
In his academic work, he has served as professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School since 1995, and professor of law and public health at Harvard School of Public Health since 1992. Since 1987, he has published 230 peer-reviewed papers and four books. He is also a frequent presenter on health care policy, ethics and law.
Dr. Brennan received his M.D. and M.P.H. degrees from Yale Medical School, his J.D. degree from Yale Law School, and his M.A. degree from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.
As one of the nation’s leading providers of health care, dental, pharmacy, group life, behavioral health, disability and long-term care benefits, Aetna puts information and helpful resources to work for its approximately 14.65 million medical members, 13.03 million dental members, 9.34 million pharmacy members and 13.68 million group insurance members to help them make better informed decisions about their health care and protect their finances against health-related risks. Aetna provides easy access to cost-effective health care through a nationwide network of more than 700,000 health care professionals, including over 418,000 primary care and specialist doctors and 4,231 hospitals. For more information, please visit www.aetna.com (Figures as of September 30, 2005)
