CHARLOTTE, N.C. - CIGNA HealthCare and Novant Health announce that they have finalized a multi-year agreement that continues in-network access for CIGNA customers using Novant Health facilities in North and South Carolina.

The agreement also includes Novant???s 1,100 physicians in its medical group. Through these agreements, CIGNA and Novant aim to further improve care for the thousands of patients both serve.

???We believe that working with hospitals and physicians to achieve our mutual goal of improved health will provide better outcomes in the future,??? said Charles Pitts, president, CIGNA HealthCare for the Carolinas. ???Through our renewed agreement with Novant, we continue to serve our customers with high-quality care and reward physicians who deliver the best patient outcomes.???

???We are pleased to be able to continue as part of the CIGNA network in the Carolinas and provide excellent service to their customers,??? stated Bob Seehausen, senior vice president with Novant Health. ???Novant is committed to quality care and our nationally recognized doctors and hospitals are pleased that we can work with CIGNA to further enhance health care quality for people in the communities we serve.???

CIGNA (NYSE: CI) is a global health service and financial company dedicated to helping people improve their health, well-being and sense of security. CIGNA Corporation's operating subsidiaries in the United States provide an integrated suite of health services, such as medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy and vision care benefits, as well as group life, accident and disability insurance. CIGNA offers products and services in over 27 countries and jurisdictions and has approximately 60 million customer relationships throughout the world. To learn more about CIGNA, visit www.cigna.com. To sign up for email alerts or an RSS feed of company news, log on to http://newsroom.cigna.com/rss. Also, follow us on Twitter at @cigna, visit CIGNA???s YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/cignatv and listen to CIGNA's podcast series with healthy tips and information at http://www.cigna.com/podcasts or by searching "CIGNA" in iTunes.

Novant Health is a not-for-profit integrated group of 12 hospitals and a medical group consisting of 1,102 physicians in 349 clinic locations, caring for patients and communities in North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina. Hospitals include the following: Presbyterian Hospital, Presbyterian Orthopaedic Hospital, Presbyterian Hospital Matthews and Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville in the Charlotte, NC area; Forsyth Medical Center and Medical Park Hospital in Winston-Salem, NC; Thomasville Medical Center, Thomasville, NC; Brunswick Community Hospital, Supply, NC; Rowan Regional Medical Center, Salisbury, NC; Franklin Regional Medical Center, Louisburg, NC; Upstate Carolina Medical Center, Gaffney, SC; and Prince William Hospital, Manassas, VA. Other Novant organizations and programs include nursing homes and assisted living facilities, outpatient surgery centers, medical plazas, rehabilitation programs, community health outreach programs and the national MedQuest organization with 100 diagnostic imaging centers in 10 states. Novant Health is ranked 17th nationally among the 2010 Top 100 Integrated Healthcare Networks, according to an analysis by the SDI health informatics company.

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