New Director for Blue Shield of California Foundation Health and Technology Program

Deborah Schwab Will Lead Innovative Program

San Francisco, July 12, 2007 – Blue Shield of California Foundation (BSCF) today announced Deborah Schwab, MS, ANP, will join the nonprofit as director of its Health and Technology program. Schwab will lead the Foundation's efforts to improve the quality of patient care through advances in medical and information technology.

"Deborah Schwab has a long and successful history in leading efforts to innovate and improve health care," said Crystal Hayling, Blue Shield of California Foundation president. "She is a well-respected leader in this field, and the Foundation's Health and Technology program will benefit greatly from her vision and expertise."

Schwab has worked to improve healthcare delivery, services, and products in several different capacities since the 1970s. Schwab has served as a nurse practitioner, hospital administrator, healthcare consultant, and health plan program director. She worked for the Blue Shield of California health plan between 1998 and 2006 in several executive roles, most recently as the director of New Product Development. She also has worked for Tenpo Inc., William M. Mercer, Inc./National Medical Audit, and Interpractice Systems as a consultant. Schwab began her career at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center.

As director of BSCF's Health and Technology Program, Schwab will lead efforts to use Foundation resources to advance knowledge in the field of health technology, as well as experiment, document, and propel changes in health care. Schwab will oversee the distribution of millions of dollars in grants and will work in partnership with grantees to accelerate the use of medical and information technology to improve quality and increase efficiency. She also will spearhead the California Technology Assessment Forum, a panel of medical professionals that promotes evidence-based medicine by using strict criteria to assess new medical devices.

Blue Shield of California Foundation is one of the largest health care grant-making organizations in California. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.blueshieldcafoundation.org. The Foundation was formed by Blue Shield of California, a not-for-profit corporation with more than 3.2 million members, 4,300 employees and 20 offices throughout California. For more information about the company, please visit www.mylifepath.com.