Nation's Health Leaders View Spiraling Health Care Costs as Industry's Biggest Challenge, New Survey Finds; Measuring clinical performance identified as top priority for addressing quality of care

The survey, conducted in collaboration with Accenture by HarrisInteractive, queried more than 130 U.S. health care executives toidentify the industry's top challenges and priorities, and found thatrising costs was considered the top challenge, selected by 37 percentof respondents, followed by the need for greater accountability andclinical outcome measurements (19 percent) and the need to improve thequality of patient care (15 percent).

When asked to identify their organizations' top priorities foraddressing the quality of care, the greatest number of respondents (50percent) cited measuring clinical performance, followed by educatingpatients (37 percent), investing in clinical information systems (34percent) and developing disease management programs (34 percent).

"As health care costs continue to increase, industry leadersrecognize the importance of addressing the quality of care costeffectively," said Ken Lacey, global managing partner of Accenture'sHealth & Life Sciences practice. "This survey demonstrates how healthcare leaders can contribute to reducing costs and improving thequality of care by creating a patient-centered approach thatemphasizes preventive health programs, improves clinical performancemeasurement and includes the implementation of new technologies, suchas electronic medical records."

When asked to address how three health care stakeholder groups --providers, payers and employers -- could mitigate health care costincreases, respondents said:

-- Providers (hospital/physicians) should increase their use of evidence-based medicine (cited by 62 percent of respondents), implement electronic medical records and e-prescribing systems (43 percent), and provide consumers with cost and quality data about their hospital or practice (35 percent).

-- Payers should provide consumers with more financial incentives (cited by 52 percent), offer wellness and prevention programs (49 percent), and supply consumers with cost and quality data about providers (47 percent).

-- Employers should improve employee wellness programs and health education (cited by 69 percent), provide consumers with more financial incentives (57 percent); and increase participation in disease management (55 percent).

Finally, when asked to identify the pharmaceutical industry's mostimportant priority, nearly one-third (30 percent) of respondents saidit should be keeping prices at a reasonable level, followed bybringing innovative new drugs to the market (cited by 26 percent).

Methodology

Harris Interactive(R) conducted the survey online in the UnitedStates between February 28 and March 20, 2006. It was completed by 134registered attendees of the 3rd Annual World Health Care Congress, 40%of whom work for hospitals, physician practices or health insurers.The majority of the respondents hold senior level positions withintheir own organizations: 20% are Chairman, CEO or President; 13% arein the C-suite (COO, CFO, CHIO, CTO, CMO); 21% (Senior VPs, ExecutiveVPs or VPs); and 33% are Directors. The data are representative ofthose health care professionals who are registered to attend theconference and who participated in the survey.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology servicesand outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenturecollaborates with its clients to help them become high-performancebusinesses and governments. With deep industry and business processexpertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenturecan mobilize the right people, skills, and technologies to helpclients improve their performance. With more than 129,000 people in 48countries, the company generated net revenues of US$15.55 billion forthe fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2005. Its home page iswww.accenture.com.

About Harris Interactive(R)

Harris Interactive Inc. (www.harrisinteractive.com), based inRochester, New York, is the 13th largest and the fastest-growingmarket research firm in the world, most widely known for The HarrisPoll(R) and for its pioneering leadership in the online marketresearch industry. Long recognized by its clients for deliveringinsights that enable confident business decisions, the Company blendsthe science of innovative research with the art of strategicconsulting to deliver knowledge that leads to measurable and enduringvalue.

Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide through its UnitedStates, Europe (www.harrisinteractive.com/europe) and Asia offices,its wholly-owned subsidiary Novatris in Paris, France(www.novatris.com), and through an independent global network ofaffiliate market research companies. EOE M/F/D/V