AHA Endorses Executive Health Resources to Reduce Clinical Denials and Better Coordinate Patient Care.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 9, 2004

The American Hospital Association (AHA) announced today that it has awarded an exclusive endorsement to Executive Health Resources (EHR) for its "Best in Class" suite of clinical solutions for revenue cycle management. EHR is a company of physicians that provides hospitals and health systems with day-to-day operational services and infrastructure to improve appropriateness of payment by insurers and better coordinate patient care. EHR's physicians work with hospitals across the country to reduce clinical denials and underpayments from insurers and manage clinical services more efficiently.

Hospitals today are faced with the challenge of managing their limited resources, while continuing to deliver the highest standard of care. According to health care experts, the cost of clinical denials to individual healthcare organizations averages $3.3 million annually. However, many hospitals do not have the resources or the expertise needed to avoid unpaid days at the end of admissions and lead the denial-appeals processes. Additionally, managing what happens when a patient is in the hospital--the clinical aspect of the patient's stay--is vital to ensuring appropriate reimbursement for services rendered and managing the cost of caring for each patient.

"Hospitals should get reimbursed for the services they deliver, yet every year, medically appropriate services are not paid for because of inadequate denial-management and prevention practices by hospitals," stated Tony Burke, president and CEO of AHA Financial Solutions. "Hospitals must direct resources towards working with their attending physician staff to address these problems. This is where EHR sets itself apart--EHR's physicians work every day at the point of care with attending physicians on a doctor-to-doctor level, to appropriately decrease denials and improve the patient care process."

EHR's physician team is trained not only in clinical medicine, but also in managing the care process, physician education and utilization management. They provide the operational infrastructure and experience to dramatically reduce the financial impact of clinical denials. EHR's physicians appeal clinical denials while the patient is still in the hospital, avoiding the expensive and time-consuming process of retrospective appeals. Collaborating with attending physicians and case management, EHR's physicians ensure that a plan of care is established and documented early in a patient's stay and make sure that the plan is implemented and supported. EHR helps ensure that patients get the care they need and that hospitals get paid for delivering appropriate care.

After a thorough market assessment, AHA selected Executive Health Resources because of its unique "point of service" model, and its experience at successfully implementing this methodology in hospitals across the nation. This exclusive endorsement recognizes EHR's dedication to uniting the business agenda of AHA member hospitals with AHA's mission: to advance the health of the individuals and communities that depend on them.

EHR's "Best in Class" services include:

    --  MedForce: EHR physicians appeal clinical denials while the
        patient is in the hospital. This minimizes the impact clinical
        denials have on accounts receivable and holds payors
        accountable. If the concurrent approach is unsuccessful, EHR
        manages the entire retrospective appeals process. The goal of
        MedForce is to guarantee the hospital is reimbursed
        appropriately for all services rendered.

    --  GEMS (Goals for Effective Management Strategies): This unique
        approach to the patient care process combines detailed
        analysis with problem identification and avoidance. Through
        GEMS, EHR physicians work every day with attending physicians
        to efficiently manage the inpatient process, appropriately
        manage inpatient days per admission, and make beds available
        for incoming and existing patients on a timely basis. The
        results are a better patient experience, lower costs, fewer
        delays and more efficient resource utilization.

    --  Physician Education: EHR physicians work with attending
        physicians and staff on a peer-to-peer and case-by-case basis
        to help align the practice patterns of physicians with best
        practices for efficiently delivering high quality of care
        against the realities of running a hospital. Many studies show
        that physicians learn by case anecdote. EHR provides the only
        program that combines this with effective, evidence-based
        education. Interactions focus on documentation and
        communication as well as coordination with case managers.

"We are honored to have our products and services endorsed by the AHA," said Robert R. Corrato, MD, MBA, founder and CEO of Executive Health Resources. "Our clinical approach to managing the care process and interacting with insurers not only solves problems as they occur on a day-to-day basis, but also allows the hospital to better identify and address systemic issues that contribute to decreased efficiencies over the long term. Many hospitals approach these problems using a single physician with no formal training in this area. Our approach is that of an expert team dedicated to achieving results. In addition, our programs deliver a significantly positive return on investment to our hospitals, which in turn provides additional resources to care for patients and improve the care process."

For further information about the endorsed EHR offerings, please contact Amy Goble, assistant vice president for AHA Financial Solutions, at 800-242-4677, or visit our Web site at www.ahafinancialsolutions.com.

About the AHA

The American Hospital Association is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals committed to health improvement of their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which include 4,800 hospitals, health care systems, networks, and other providers of care, and 27,000 individuals. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information, visit the AHA Web site at www.aha.org.

About AHA Financial Solutions, Inc.

AHA Financial Solutions, Inc. (AHA-FSI) is the subsidiary of the American Hospital Association that collaborates with companies to create strategic financial, technology, regulatory, employee benefit, and insurance products and services for health care professionals. It functions as a resource agency to AHA-member hospitals and other health care organizations. For more information, contact AHA-FSI at 800-242-4677 or visit the AHA Financial Solutions Web site at www.ahafinancialsolutions.com.

About Executive Health Resources

Founded in 1997, and now one of the largest, fastest-growing physician business groups in the Philadelphia area, EHR is owned and staffed by physicians and nurses who function as advisors and negotiators on behalf of hospitals and other healthcare entities. EHR physicians use their medical experience, business acumen and knowledge of healthcare reimbursement to create, implement, and maintain solutions that allow hospitals to become more profitable and increase the quality of patient care. For more information, visit EHR's Web site at www.ehrdocs.com.