NASHVILLE, TN - HEALTHCARE UPDATE NEWS SERVICE(TM) - OCTOBER 31, 2003: The Healthcare Delivery Solutions Congress and The Consumer Directed Health Care Conference & Expo will highlight healthcare transformation in keynote sessions with top thought leaders in the healthcare industry. Charles Kahn, President of the Federation of American Hospitals, and John Hammergen, CEO at McKesson, are among several executives that will spearhead this initiative with the opening keynote on Strategies for the Transformation of Healthcare. Jim Cooper, US House of Representatives, TN, and Newt Gingrich, Founder and CEO of The Center for Health Transformation, will further address this issue in The Transformation of Our Health System on Tuesday afternoon. Also on Tuesday, Bill Sullivan, Deputy Medical Director, CMS, will share his views in Policy/Government Implications of the Rising Tide of eHealth.

In addition, The Healthcare Delivery Solutions Congress and Consumer Directed Health Care Conference and Expo will tackle a wide range of issues facing the health care industry today with the help of leading experts in the field from across the nation.

• Dana Clay Ackerly, Food and Drug Administration
• Mark Anderson, CEO, AC Group, Inc.
• Nina Antoniotti, Marshfield Clinic Telehealth Network
• Mark Bard, President, Manhattan Research
• David C. Balch, Director, Telemedicine Center/Center for Health Sciences Communication, East Carolina University Forest C. Benedict, Vice President of HRM, Benefits Service Center LSU System
• Stan Bernard, MD, President, Bernard Associates
• George Bishop, Member, Chairman, Waller Lansden
• Robert Bohlmann, Principal, Medical Group Management Association
• Joe Boughknight, Vice President Human Resource, Dan River Inc.
• Eric Brown, Senior Analyst, Forrester Research
• Francis Browning, President and Chief Executive Officer, QualChoice/QCA Health Plan
• James Burkholder, President, TPA Benefits
• Chip Caldwell, President, Chip Caldwell & Associates
• Warren Callaway, President & CEO, Danville Regional Health System
• Joe Clark, CEO, Health Mark Partners Inc.
• Ira Chilton, NCARB, The CFP Group
• Jay Coldwell, Product Director, Wausau Benefits
• Sharon Cole, MD
• Howard Coleman, President, Geneley
• Jon Comola, Chairman, Wye River Group on Healthcare
• Joe Coughlin, Chairman, Director New England UTC, MIT Age Lab
• Colleen Conway-Welch, Dean, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
• John Davies, VP/GM Solutions Group, Intel Corp.
• Ralph Davis, Member, Waller Lansden
• Susan Dimmick, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Radiology, University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine Manager, Research and Evaluation, UT Telehealth Network
• Charles Ditkoff, Managing Director & Head of the Healthcare Services, Group Banc of America Securities
• Jim Donahue, Director Professional Services, Med Aptus, Inc
• Raymond Falci, Senior Managing Director, Bear Stearns & Co., Inc.
• Jim Forbes, Managing Director, Global Healthcare Services, Merrill Lynch
• Thomas Frist, MD, Chairman Emeritus, HCA Inc.
• Larry Frohman, President, University Physician Associates
• Alex Gerwer, Acer America
• Lucille Giddings, CEO, Nantucket Cottage Hospital
• Newt Gingrich, Founder, Center for Healthcare Transformation
• Jeff Goldsmith, CEO, Health Futures Inc.
• Alan Greene, MD, Chief Medical Officer, ADAM, Inc.
• Glenn G. Hammack, OD, MSHI, FAAO, Director, Health Informatics and Telemedicine, UTMB Correctional Managed Care
• John Hammergren, CEO, McKesson Corporation
• Jay Hardcastle, Member, Boult Cummings
• John B. Harkey, PhD, Senior Correspondent, Health Leaders
• Steve Heck, President, First Consulting Group
• Chris Henchey, Co-Founder & COO, Choice Linx
• Bradford J. Holmes, Healthcare Research Director, Forrester Research, Inc.
• Michael Hopson, Director, Patient Service Corporate Compliance
• David Hooper, Vice President, Clinical Operations, Palo Alto Medical Foundation
• Frank Houser, MD, Quality & Medical Director, HCA Inc.
• Joseph C. Hutts, CEO, Surgis
• Harry R. Jacobson, Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
• Curtis James, President & CEO, St. Vincent's Hospital
• Jim Jirjis, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
• Ann Mond Johnson, President, Subimo, LLC
• Stan Kachnowski, PhD, Professor, Columbia University
• Charles N.Kahn, III, President, FAH (Federation of American Hospitals)
• Paul Keckley, MD, Senior Fellow, Vanderbilt Center for Better Health
• James L. Kemp, Manager of Employee Benefits Services, Northrop Grumman
• Howard Koh, MD, Professor of Health Policy and Management, Harvard
• Doug Kronenberg, Chief Strategy Officer, Lumenos
• Joseph Kvedar, MD, Harvard; Director, Partners Telemedicine
• Jim Lackey, President & CEO, PASSPORT Health Communications
• John Larson, PhD, President, Managed Care Options
• David Lenihan, Chairman & CEO, Care Gain
• Michael Leonard, MD, Pediatrician, Children's Hospital of Buffalo
• Ken Linde, President & CEO, Destiny Health
• Jon Linkous, Executive Director, American Telemedicine Association
• Eliezer Rivera Lugo, Buen Samaritano Hospital Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
• Bruce Lynskey, Professor, Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University
• Robert Margolis, MD, CEO, Healthcare Partners
• Theodore Marmor, Professor of Public policy and Management, Yale University School of Management
• Ron Marston, President, HCCA International
• Ned McCulloch, Senior Program Manager, IBM
• Kent McKelvey, MD, Assistant Professor of Cancer Genetics, University of Arkansas
• Stuart McWhorter, Founder and Managing Partner, Clayton and Associates
• Tom Miller, President and CEO, Siemens Medical
• Tony Miller, MD, HMG Founder & Medical Director, Definity Health
• David E. Morgan, President & CEO, Federal Marketing Alliance
• Frank Morgan, Managing Director, Jefferies & Co.
• Chip Nash, AAHP
• Greg Nelson, Vice President, Health Care Practice Group Development Dimensions International
• Lee Newcomber, MD, Executive Vice President & Chief Medical Officer, Vivius
• David Newell, Senior Development Officer, Capital Source
• Dennis Norvet, Senior Vice President, Centex Rodgers
• Bill Novelli, Executive Director & CEO, AARP
• James Nuckolls, Medical Director, Carilion Medical Group
• Jim O'Connell, President, Boston Shelter for the Homeless
• Steve O'Dell, VP & Manager of Health Plan Practice, First Consulting Group
• William Owen, VP of Sales and Marketing, Sun Capital Healthcare Inc.
• Arvind Patel, MD, Director, Maine Telemedicine Network
• Neal Patterson, Chairman & CEO, Cerner Corporation
• Dana Pavey, Director of American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, The Center for Health Transformation
• Lori Price, Healthcare Service Analyst, JPMorgan
• Steve Puckett, Founder & Chairman, OrthoNeuro Corp.,
• Pamela Pure, President, McKesson Information Solutions
• Scott Ransom, DO, MPH, President, American College of Physician Executives
• Lewis Redd, National Practice Leader, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young
• Richard Reece, Pathologist & Editor
• Jack Reed, President & CEO, Pro Health Physicians
• Russ Ricci, MD, Chair, e-Health Initiative
• Emad Rizk, President of Medical Management Services, McKesson Information Solutions
• Jim Rotenberg, Program Manager, Coordinated Prevention Network JWCH/Coordinated Prevention Network
• Margaret Sabin, CEO, Sutter Health
• Michael Sachs, President & CEOSG-2, LLC
• Craig Samitt, MD, Chief Operating Officer, Fallon Clinic
• Daniel Sands, MD, Harvard Medical School
• Greg Scandlen, Director, Center for Consumer Driven Healthcare
• Kirk Schueler, MD, President and CEO, My Doc Online / Aventis
• Paul Schyve, Senior Vice President, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
• Robert Senter, Chief Financial Officer, Universities Space Research Association
• Aaron Shirley, MD, Director, Community Health Services, Chairman of the Jackson Medical Mall Foundation Hinds County Health Alliance
• Alden Solovy, Executive Editor/Associate, H&HN Most Wired
• Fred Steinberg, Sun Capital HealthCare, Inc.
• Robert Stone, Executive Vice President, American Healthways
• Ann Sullivan, CIO, Maimonides Med Center
• Bill Sullivan, Deputy Medical Director, CMS
• Charles R. Sullivan, Executive Vice President, Computerized Screening
• Joe Ternullo, Associate Director Telemedicine, Partners HealthCare System
• Scott Terpstra, Vice President, Veritas Health Systems
• Patrick Terry, Director, Consumer Advocacy and Government Affairs Genomic Health, Inc.
• Sanford Tolchin, MD, Borgess Medical Center
• Neil Trautwein, Director of Employment Policy, National Association of Manufacturers
• Ken Upchurch, Vice President, The Centre For Health Care Planning
• David Vandewater, President and CEO, Ardent Health
• David Veilette, CEO, Indiana Heart Specialist
• Bruce Vladeck, PhD, SVP for Policy & Professor of Health Policy & Geriatrics, Mount Sinai Medical Center
• David Ward, General Partner, Salix Ventures
• Steve Warden, Managing Director, GE Healthcare Financial
• Robert Waters, Esq., MPA, JD Partner, Arent Fox Kintner Plotkin and Kahn; Center for Telemedicine Law
• Allen Wenner, VP of Clinical Application Design, Primetime Medical
• Nancy Whitelaw, PhD, Vice President of Research and Demonstrations, Adjunct Research Scientist, Vital Aging Research Center, National Council on the Aging
• Mitch Work, President, The Work Group
• Tom Wylly, Senior Partner, Brentwood Capital

The Emergent Group, LLC is an event management company offering a full range of management services and partnership opportunities. The company brings years of knowledge and experience to a variety of industries, including healthcare, media, travel, financial, entertainment and sports, and produces several premier industry-specific events including Consumer Directed Healthcare Conference (CDHCC), Healthcare Delivery Solutions Congress (HDSC) and The Emerging Technologies and Healthcare Innovations Congress (TETHIC). For more information, visit www.theemergentgroup.com.

For more information about HDSC, visit www.hcroi.com. For information about CDHCC, visit www.cdhcc.com.

For more information please contact: Fatima Ford at 804-225-7422 or fatima@theemergentgroup.com .