AJMC Co-Editor among "Most Influential Healthcare Professionals"

For Immediate Release

AJMC Co-Editor, A. Mark Fendrick, MD, among “Most Influential Healthcare Professionals”

The

American Journal of Managed Care

Plainsboro, NJ- January 8, 2010// A. Mark Fendrick, MD, Co-Editor-in-Chief of , has been named one of the nation’s top 20 healthcare leaders by HealthLeaders Media.

Center for Value-Based Insurance Design

Dr. Fendrick, who is also co-director of the University of Michigan’s and professor of Health Management and Policy in the School of Public Health, was honored for his work on value-based insurance design (VBID), which lowers costs on the most beneficial drugs and services for those who need them the most. VBID also includes tenets that pay physicians more for their services when they are providing evidence-based care.

For an audio feature of Dr. Fendrick go to: http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/audio/content/242917/HealthLeaders-20-A-Mark-Fendrick.html#player.

AJMC

The American Journal of Managed Care

Wall Street Journal

Fendrick and Co-Editor-in-Chief, Michael Chernew, published the first iteration of the VBID concept in a 2001 article. But it wasn’t until the reported on Pitney Bowes’ pioneering VBID work in May 2004 that the larger healthcare industry took notice. According to Fendrick, the VBID concept can be used to simultaneously address quality improvement and healthcare cost containment, the main—and elusive—goals of healthcare reform. “Value based Insurance Design does away with the archaic ‘one size fits all’ benefit programs that fail to acknowledge that different health care services produce varying levels of health,” Dr. Fendrick said. “By eliminating barriers to high-value services, and by reducing access to services of low value, we can produce more health at any price point.”

Dr. Fendrick is often quoted in national publications for his views on the healthcare reform debate, and has successfully worked with Congressional leaders and the White House to integrate VBID concepts into national reform bills.

It was a good month for Dr. Fendrick, who was also named one of the “Top 5 Coolest People in Healthcare” by the website choose.org. That article can be found at http://healthcare.change.org/blog/view/top_5_coolest_people_in_healthcare_2009_coolest_value-monger.

About

The American Journal of Managed Care

The American Journal of Managed Care

is an independent, peer-reviewed publication dedicated to publishing original research in healthcare outcomes and creating a forum for scientific communication in the ever-evolving field of healthcare delivery. The journal is indexed in MEDLINE/PUBMED.

For more information, contact Lyn Beamesderfer, Editor, at 609.716.7777, or at lbeamesderfer@ajmc.com.