(San Francisco, CA) – May 27, 2008 – Over 100,000 U.S. physicians will now be notified immediately via email instead of U.S. mail when important drug safety alerts are sent out from the FDA or manufacturers, and the number is growing fast. Alerts will be sent to physicians via the new Health Care Notification Network (“HCNN”) replacing a widely criticized and decades-old system based upon paper and U.S. mail. The HCNN was launched two months ago and already reaches over 100,000 U.S. physicians as a result of the efforts of U.S. medical society leaders, liability carriers, health plans, consumer advocacy groups, government leaders and industry.
“We are gratified to see the rapid growth of the HCNN,” explained Nancy Dickey, MD, former American Medial Association (AMA) president and chair of the iHealth Alliance, the not-for-profit board that governs the new HCNN service. “Thanks to the outreach and registration activities of medical societies, liability carriers, hospitals and our many other partners we are seeing tremendous adoption of this simple but very powerful service. We encourage all U.S. physicians to take two minutes and enroll today at www.hcnn.net. Physicians and their patients will realize immediate benefit.”
The network is free to all licensed U.S. physicians, and is used solely for patient safety alerts, not for advertising or promotion. It ensures the most rapid and effective delivery of important alerts to physicians, with copies sent to their office staff it they like, thereby improving patient safety and office efficiency while reducing liability and paperwork. Physicians not enrolled in the HCNN will continue to receive the Alerts in paper via U.S. mail, typically a few weeks after the online delivery via the HCNN.
HCNN registration is on track to exceed 300,000 physicians by year’s end; roughly half of practicing physicians. Plans are now underway to provide the HCNN service for pharmacists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners and other healthcare providers. HCNN registration for U.S. physicians is free and available immediately at www.hcnn.net.
For more information about the HCNN and online patient safety Alert services, visit www.hcnn.net.
About the Health Care Notification Network (HCNN) The HCNN is the new online service that delivers important patient safety alerts that are product-related and mandated by the FDA to physicians and other healthcare professionals via 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.