2008 Summary Annual Report

HEALTHCARE SAFETY SENTINEL SYSTEM

Through our subsidiary, HealthCore, and in collaboration with leading government and academic institutions, we are pursuing better monitoring of approved drugs and therapies after they enter clinical use. We believe our Healthcare Safety Sentinel System will be capable of detecting safety problems faster than current practices. After launching in late 2009, the system will have the ability to monitor targeted drugs or other health care treatments and report spikes in adverse events – information we hope will allow faster, more informed decision making by health care professionals.

Marcus Wilson, Pharm.D., is president of WellPoint’s research subsidiary, HealthCore, where he collaborates with colleague Rhonda Bohn, MPH, ScD, to develop the innovative Healthcare Safety Sentinel System. The effort’s enormous importance is also attracting the help of nationally recognized institutions and experts, such as Dr. Jerry Avorn of Harvard Medical School.