Aetna's IOE Transplant Network to add UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside Hospital

Aetna (NYSE: AET) announced today that UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside Hospital has been designated as a participating facility in Aetna's Institutes of Excellence™ Transplant Network.    

The Institutes of Excellence (IOE) is Aetna's participating network for transplants and transplant-related services. The IOE is comprised of hospitals that exhibit successful clinical outcomes; meet quality of care standards; and agree to acceptable contractual terms.

UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside will provide transplant care to adult Aetna members for bone marrow/stem cell, heart, kidney, liver, lung, pancreas, intestine and simultaneous pancreas/ kidney procedures.

"Aetna is extremely happy to add UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside to our national transplant network," said Patrick Young, Aetna's president for the Pennsylvania market. "Over the past several months, we've developed a strong relationship with UPMC and its participating facilities. We're pleased that Aetna members in Pittsburgh and other parts of the country will now be able to receive organ transplants and related care at this high-quality facility."

Aetna members who need transplants receive access on a national level to facilities that have demonstrated success at these highly specialized procedures. Those members and their families are supported with travel and lodging benefits. There currently are 141 hospitals in the Institutes of Excellence network.

"We are very pleased to be a provider in Aetna's Institutes of Excellence Network as it recognizes the clinical capabilities of our transplant programs. We look forward to working with the Aetna staff on coordinating transplant care for their members," said Abhinav Humar, M.D., clinical director of the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute and UPMC's chief of the Division of Transplantation in the Department of Surgery.