Dr. René Vega, MD. Joins American Specialty Health As Vice President, Medical Services

SAN DIEGO, CA (July 31, 2002)- Dr. René Vega has joined American Specialty Health as the Vice President of Medical Services. As a Board Certified Family Medicine physician, he brings an extensive 15 years experience in both clinical and administrative medicine with various clinical and medical organizations. Dr. Vega is a Diplomat and Fellow of the American Academy of Family Practice. Currently, he also serves as an Associate Clinical Professor in Family Practice at the University of California at San Diego Medical Center.

As Vice President of the Medical Services department at American Specialty Health, Dr. Vega is responsible for acupuncture services, nutrition services, guided imagery and naturopathy along with the clinical project consultants. He oversees the quality committees associated with the department and participates on related peer review committees.

Prior to joining American Specialty Health, Dr. Vega was the network medical director with Aetna in their San Diego office. His responsibilities included oversight of the quality management and network management of delegated medical groups and of an independent provider network. He was a key member of NCQA work group resulting in a 3 year Excellent NCQA Accreditation for the San Diego market for both the commercial and Medicare products. He also chaired the Aetna National Pharmacy Quality Advisory Committee, was a physician member of the Aetna National Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee. In addition, he served as a consultant to the National Transplant Unit for Aetna.

Previously, he was medical director for Prudential HealthCare, serving in various capacities, including a stint as Chief Medical Officer, Western Region. His responsibilities ranged from quality management, utilization management, NCQA project lead culminating in a successful 3 year Commendable NCQA Accreditation. Additionally, he served on the Prudential National Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, the Medical Technology Evaluation Committee, and was a key consultant to Prudential's Institute of Excellence and Transplant medical unit.

Dr. Vega graduated from Stanford Medical School. He completed a Pediatric Internship at the UC San Francisco/Fresno Valley Medical Center, then completed a Family Medicine residency at UC San Diego. His clinical experience includes serving in the National Health Service Corps, working for several large multi-specialty medical groups in San Diego, and teaching in the Family Residency programs at both the UC San Diego and Sharp Memorial Medical Centers.

American Specialty Health has over 550 employees and covers more than 9 million members in covered benefits and over 60 million members in affinity discount programs nationwide. Based in San Diego, American Specialty Health and its affiliates provide specialty benefit plans, educational programs and affinity discount programs nationwide to health plans, insurance carriers, employer groups and trust funds. Its services include quality management, member and provider services, claims, clinical services management, and credentialing. The American Specialty Health network includes over 24,000 chiropractors, acupuncturists, dietitians and massage therapists, among others. It is the largest such network in the country. Its affiliate American Specialty Health Plans® of California, Inc (ASH Plans) is the nation's first and largest specialty health plan for chiropractic and acupuncture services, operating in California.