Dr. Frisse to

Lead

Center

‘s Regional Health Information Technology Initiatives

NEW YORK and NASHVILLE, Tenn.; January 11, 2005 ñAccenture (NYSE: ACN) and the Vanderbilt Center for Better Health (VCBH) today announced the appointment of Dr. Mark Frisse as the Accenture Endowed Chair, effective immediately.

Vanderbilt and Accenture established the Accenture Endowed Chair in January 2004 as part of a research-based effort to help the global healthcare industry improve the quality, access, and affordability of patient care through transformational approaches that leverage people, process, and technology. The collaboration between Vanderbilt and Accenture focuses on a broad spectrum of healthcare organizations ñ including pharmaceutical and medical device companies, hospitals and health insurers and governments ñ to identify optimal methods for sharing clinical information that can benefit both patients and healthcare organizations.

Dr. Frisse, chosen after an intensive national search, has broad research and consulting experience in both the academic and for-profit sectors.
His research has included early work in Internet-based knowledge management, genome informatics, medication safety and clinical quality.
His applied experience includes management of a large information support facility, development of pay-for-performance measures, and extensive work with health plans and providers in the organization, implementation and management of technologies enabling plan management, clinical care and health care outcomes.

“As an internist with a 20-year history of leadership in medical informatics, Dr. Frisse will aggressively pursue the

Vanderbilt
Center

for Better Health research agenda,” said Harry Jacobson, Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs,

Vanderbilt
University

. “Not only does Dr. Frisse understand the realities of clinical care and how IT can change the way we practice medicine, but he also brings a business savvy that enables him to evaluate the value of healthcare innovation from a wide range of stakeholder perspectives.”

“To ensure that physicians have access to the right medical information at the right time, healthcare companies must focus on the use of information technology both within the organization and across geographic regions,” said Dr. Patricia O‘Brien, a partner in Accenture‘s Health & Life Sciences practice. “We are privileged to support Dr. Frisse and the

Vanderbilt
Center

for Better Health in their mission to conduct research that can lead to technological innovations that will enable healthcare practitioners to make the best and most timely decisions for their patients.”

Mark Frisse, MD, MBA, MSc., is director of regional informatics programs and a professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at

Vanderbilt
University

. On behalf of the State of

Tennessee

, he directs the Volunteer eHealth Initiative Regional Health Demonstration Project funded by the Agency for Health Care Quality and Research (AHRQ). He also leads elements of AHRQ‘s

Health
Information
Technology
Resource
Center

managed by the

National
Opinion
Research
Center

of the

University
of
Chicago

.
In addition, he is a member of the Foundation for eHealth Initiative‘s Leadership Council and co-chairs a group overseeing regional health initiatives funded through the foundation‘s Connecting Communities for Better Health Program. Dr. Frisse received his M.D. and M.B.A. degrees from

Washington
University

and received a master‘s degree in Medical Computer Science from

Stanford
University

.

“With the opportunity ñ indeed, the obligation ñ to understand and transform our health delivery system, we are at a critical juncture,” said Dr. Frisse. “We must align the incentives of various participants and bring to bear a far greater range of expertise to ensure that our health care system meets current and future needs. The research and applied work we do at VCBH identifies relevant innovations from outside the traditional health care sector and seeks to incorporate these innovations into better approaches to health care delivery and financing.”

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills and technologies to help clients improve their performance. With more than 100,000 people in 48 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$13.67 billion for the fiscal year ended
Aug. 31, 2004
. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

About the

Vanderbilt
Center

for Better Health

The

Vanderbilt
Center

for Better Health was launched in June 2002 with a goal of helping doctors and hospitals improve quality and lower the cost of health care. The center uses health care organizations around the country as test beds for improvement initiatives. It has a particular focus on how information technology and biomedical informatics can support innovation and improvement. The center conducts conferences and research and provides advisory and consulting services. The Center is part of the

Vanderbilt
University
Medical
Center

in

Nashville
,
Tennessee

.