AMERICAN HEALTHCORP'S DIABETES TREATMENT CENTERS OF AMERICA ANNOUNCES NATIONAL, THREE-YEAR AGREEMENT WITH AETNA U.S. HEALTHCARE.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 17, 1997--Thomas G. Cigarran, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American Healthcorp, Inc. (Nasdaq/NM: AMHC), today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Diabetes Treatment Centers of America, has entered a new three-year agreement with Aetna U.S. Healthcare to provide outpatient diabetes education services to Aetna U.S. Heathcare's members diagnosed with diabetes.

Among the services in DTCA's diabetes educational self- management and maintenance programs will be evaluation of members' awareness and education level of diabetes, classes about diabetes, and motivational support through DTCA's Diabetes Access(TM) program. DTCA's services will be provided upon referral from a member's physician and will be delivered through many of DTCA's more than 80 facilities across the country, as well as other community-based sites convenient to Aetna U.S. Healthcare's membership, in accordance with a mutually agreed-upon implementation plan.

Mr. Cigarran commented, "We are extremely pleased to announce this new agreement with Aetna U.S. Healthcare, one of the leading health and related benefits organizations in the country. This agreement is one of the first in the diabetes educational services industry that is national in scope, and it is one that we believe DTCA is uniquely qualified to implement. We believe that the expanded contract will provide further evidence of the clinical and financial benefits of intensified educational efforts on diabetes. The Diabetes Access(TM) program was developed as part of DTCA's ongoing product development efforts to address market demand for comprehensive management of diabetes. This agreement will further strengthen DTCA's leadership position in the industry. Implementation of DTCA's programs has begun, and we expect to begin to provide educational services to Aetna U.S. Healthcare's diabetic members in the initial Atlanta, Georgia, market by October 1, 1997. We hope to be working with all markets in which both companies have an existing presence by the first of the year. DTCA is also developing plans for provision of educational services in Aetna U.S. Healthcare markets it is not currently serving and will work with those markets to implement services by the end of the first calendar quarter."

"We are excited to extend additional diabetes educational programs to our members," said Joseph R. Carver, MD, medical director for Aetna U.S. Healthcare. "Aetna U.S. Healthcare has been an industry leader in following national clinical guidelines on diabetes; we were the first health benefits company to following guidelines endorsed by the American Diabetes Association for testing members beginning at age 45 for diabetes."

This press release contains forward-looking statements which are based upon current expectations and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. In order for the Company to utilize the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995, you are hereby cautioned that these statements may be affected by the important factors, among others, set forth below, or in the Company~s periodic filings with the S.E.C., and, consequently, actual operations and results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. These important factors include: the number of Aetna members who participate in DTCA's programs during the term of the agreement and the timing of their entry into the programs.

Aetna U.S. Healthcare, the health business unit for Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET), has a total health enrollment of more than 14 million members.

American Healthcorp, Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiary, Diabetes Treatment Centers of America, Inc., is the nation's leading provider of specialized services for people with diabetes. Through its majority ownership of AmSurg Corp., the Company also develops, acquires and manages physician practice- based ambulatory surgery centers and specialty physician networks in partnership with surgical and other group practices. The Company wholly owns Arthritis and Osteoporosis Care Centers, Inc. which operates two comprehensive treatment centers for individuals with arthritis and osteoporosis.

CONTACT: American Healthcorp, Inc., Nashville

Henry D. Herr, 615/665-1122