Dear Physician and Office Staff:

Welcome to the first issue of Humana's YourPractice. Through this quarterly magazine, we are working with a company called Physicians Practice (see "Who Is Physicians Practice?"on page 15) to bring you resources for practice management solutions and to keep you updated on Humana news, online tools and other information that should make it easier for you and your patients to do business with Humana.

This first issue features articles from Physicians Practice, The Business Journal for Physicians^SM that examine two efficiencies that you might want to consider in your office — communicating with patients through e-mail and scheduling patient appointments online. As the technology evolves, more and more patients want the option of managing their health care online. These are just two ways that the technology can be used to strengthen your relationships with your patients.

Humana recognizes the growing need for online innovations and is transforming into a technology-enabled health benefits company that focuses on the needs of consumers, physicians and other health care providers. For instance, there are many Web-based solutions that are available on the Humana Web site to save your staff time and satisfy your patients. In fact, physicians and other health care providers completed 42 percent more transactions via the site in 2001 than in 2000. We encourage you to take a few minutes and see for yourself at www.humana.com.

Humana is developing a number of products and services that can be delivered and administered electronically, taking time, complexity and cost out of our systems. One Humana online product is SmartSuite^SM, a Web-enabled health benefits package that allows employees to select from up to six plan designs. It's a complete solution for benefits administration in that it provides communication tools, employee education information and electronic enrollment features.

Another is Emphesys, a wide-ranging suite of health insurance products designed exclusively for the Internet that allows members to complete all important transactions online, including enrollment, changing dependents' information and accessing information about claims and prescription drugs. These interactive features save time, reduce errors and provide a paperless administration for practices.

Smart Select^SM is the newest consumer-driven online product in Humana's portfolio that allows members to tailor their benefits coverage to meet their individual health care needs. A series of Web-based questions help members define their utilization patterns and coverage needs and calculate out-of-pocket expenses. An initial product launch will take place next January, and it will be rolled out to consumers during the first quarter of 2003.

These technology-enabled products are just a few of many Humana has created to guide the change from the old world of managed care to a new model of consumer-directed care. Our e-business solutions are the cornerstone in our commitment to providing more choices, services, speed and flexibility to patients and their physicians.

Again, we invite you to visit our Web site, use our technology tools and tell us how we can continue to improve our interactions with you — on our site or with this new magazine.

Sincerely,

Jack Lord, M.D.
Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Strategy and Innovation Officer