WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire - March 10, 2011) - The National Business Group on Health, a non-profit group of more than 300 large U.S. employers, today honored Health Affairs with its inaugural Health Policy Innovation Leadership Award in recognition of the journal's enormous contribution to advancing objective, data driven analysis and dialogue on the most important and urgent health policy issues. The award was presented to Health Affairs' founding editor John Iglehart, and to the journal's editor-in-chief, Susan Dentzer, at the Business Group's Health Agenda Conference in Washington, D.C.
"Health Affairs has long stressed the importance of employers and purchasers in health policymaking and system reform," said Martín Sepúlveda, MD, FACP, IBM Fellow and Vice President of Integrated Health Services, and Chair of the Business Group Board of Directors' Award Committee. "This is the first award recognizing outstanding contributions to health policy innovation, and we applaud Health Affairs for making such a big impact in our health policy world."
Health Affairs was founded in 1981 by Project HOPE, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to achieve sustainable advances in health care worldwide through health education programs and humanitarian assistance. Project HOPE's founder, Dr. William Walsh, appointed as the journal's first editor-in-chief John Iglehart, who was at the time a widely admired health policy journalist for the National Journal and the New England Journal of Medicine. In May 2008, Ms. Dentzer, then on-air Health Correspondent for the PBS NewsHour and also a veteran print journalist focused on economics and health, was appointed editor-in-chief of the journal. Since then, she has taken Health Affairs to new heights of impact and penetration in the policy process by increasing the frequency of publications, policy forums, and changing the format and style to facilitate use by busy policymakers, providing balanced insights and analysis and "intelligence" for those already familiar with data overload.
"Health Affairs is by far, the most important, objective and comprehensive voice for civil discourse on all tough and complicated health policy and health care issues. It is the journal in which everyone wants to publish to reach policy decision makers," said Helen Darling, President and CEO of the National Business Group on Health. "We congratulate Health Affairs and especially John for creating the most trusted and widely-read journal by everyone engaged in health policy and Susan for taking Health Affairs to new heights over the past few years."
About the National Business Group on Health
The National Business Group on Health is the nation's only non-profit, membership organization of large employers devoted exclusively to finding innovative and forward-thinking solutions to their most important health care and related benefits issues and to being the voice for large employers on national health care issues. The Business Group, whose 320 members include 66 of the Fortune 100, identifies, develops and shares best practices in health benefits, disability, health and productivity, related paid time off and work/life balance issues. Business Group members provide health coverage for more than 55 million U.S. workers, retirees and their families. For more information, visit www.businessgrouphealth.org.
Contact Information:
Contact:
Ed Emerman
Eagle Public Relations
609-275-5162
eemerman@eaglepr.com