SCOTTSDALE, AZ—The American Medical Group Association presented the annual AMGA Distinguished Partner Award to Health Hero Network at its 2007 Annual Conference, February 28 - March 3, 2007 at the Westin Kierland Resort and Spa in Scottsdale. The AMGA Distinguished Partner Award is presented annually to a non-medical group organization for providing excellent service and value to medical groups.

AMGA selected Health Hero Network as its 2007 Distinguished Corporate Partner for this company’s unwavering dedication to improving the lives of individuals with complex chronic illness. Health Hero Network develops and markets the Health Buddy® system for health improvement. The Health Buddy system serves as the interface between patients at home and their care provider, facilitating patient education and monitoring of chronic conditions. The use of the Health Buddy system in the patient’s home allows for daily dialogue with their provider organization including questions about the patient’s condition and vital signs as well as coaching and information about preventive behavior that will keep them healthy.

In 2005, Health Hero Network, along with two multispecialty medical groups and AMGA, was awarded a three year Medicare Demonstration project to test whether a physician directed, technology assisted chronic care management program can help Medicare patients struggling with chronic illness lead happier, healthier, longer lives while reducing health care costs. Up to 1600 Medicare patients are currently having the opportunity to interact with their physicians and care managers on a daily basis to monitor their illnesses and provide early warning if the patient’s condition is at risk of deteriorating.

“The American Medical Group Association applauds Health Hero Network for its vision of better care for the chronically ill through strengthening the relationship between patients and their physicians, and through a patient/physician partnership, helping patients take better care of themselves,” said Donald W. Fisher, Ph.D., AMGA’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

Health Hero Network develops and markets the Health Buddy System for health improvement. The System serves as the interface between patients at home and care providers, facilitating patient education and monitoring of chronic conditions. The System includes monitoring technologies, clinical information databases, Internet-enabled decision support tools, health management programs and content development tools. Through increased communication, behavior modification, and prevention, the Health Buddy System improves patients’ quality of care. Based in Redwood City, California, Health Hero Network’s systems are protected by 57 patents.

The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) represents medical groups, including some of the nation’s largest, most prestigious integrated healthcare delivery systems. AMGA advocates for the multispecialty medical group model of healthcare delivery and for the patients served by medical groups through innovation and information sharing, benchmarking, leadership development, and continuous striving to improve patient care. The members of AMGA deliver health care to more than 50 million patients in 42 states. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, AMGA is the strategic partner for medical groups providing a comprehensive package of benefits, including political advocacy, educational and networking programs and publications, benchmarking data services, and financial and operations assistance. For more information, visit www.amga.org.