Guided by our belief that information can transform the health care system, we continue to strongly advocate the use of health information technology to improve the lives not just of our members and customers, but society as a whole. Part of shaping health care is developing tools and technologies to make the system work better for everyone. Over the past few years, we have made significant investments in technological tools to help members make informed decisions about their health. Among these are our industry-leading health transparency tools, and health and group insurance calculators and cost-comparison tools.

In 2008, we made it easier for customers' employees to access information about Aetna's medical plans through "David," an online interactive benefits advisor. This tool engages employees in an easy-to-understand conversation about their health insurance options, providing them with a personalized benefits experience. It's like talking one-on-one with a friendly, knowledgeable expert. And it's effective. David helped increase enrollment in the Aetna HealthFund^® among one pilot customer by 113 percent. The results were so successful, Aetna will make the tool broadly available during the 2010 enrollment season.

Giving members the ability to keep all of their health information in one place is something that our members have said they want, and we provided it. In 2008, we opened up personal health records to our retiree and small group populations, and surpassed the 7 million mark in members eligible for personal health records. This is an important way for our members to take charge of their own health.

We also continue to encourage the use of electronic medical records (EMRs) and other provider tools by doctors. We are committed to making it easier for doctors to adopt new technologies in an effort to help improve health care quality. For example, through ActiveHealth Management, Aetna's health management and data analytics arm, we are working to incorporate our proprietary clinical decision support system, called CareEngine^®, into these provider tools. This improves health care quality by presenting the physician with highly relevant, actionable information at the point of care. We recognize that funding of meaningful EMRs is an important issue to many doctors and must be considered within the context of health care reform.