SPRINGFIELD, ILL. (AP) -- An Illinois official has been selected for a prestigious leadership program aimed at improving state Medicaid programs.

Illinois Medicaid Director Theresa Eagleson was chosen as a fellow in the 2011 class of the Medicaid Leadership Institute.

The institute is designed to help Medicaid directors make their state programs national models for high-quality, cost-effective health care.

Medicaid directors from Arizona, New York, Tennessee, Oregon and Pennsylvania also were chosen.

The institute is supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Eagleson says she hopes her participation will help improve the state program by maximizing cost effectiveness and focusing more on patient outcomes.

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Online:

www.medicaidleaders.org

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