APS Healthcare Opens Up Internet Product to Public in Response to Tragedy.

Business Editors, Health & Medical Writers

BETHESDA, Md.--(BW HealthWire)--Sept. 18, 2001

APS Healthcare Bethesda, Inc. (APS) continues to provide emergency crisis response services to assist our clients in coping with the tragedy that has so greatly impacted our nation.

To date, we have arranged hundreds of Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) sessions and responded to thousands of calls for assistance. In an effort to respond to the needs of our clients and the country, APS is making our life management Internet product, APSHelpLink available to both our clients and the general public, free of charge for the next 30 days.

Through APSHelpLink, APS hopes we can assist the country with recovering from this catastrophic event by providing all individuals with access to professional resources, information and support to help facilitate the healing process.

Our proprietary APSHelpLink content was developed in-house by professional clinical and EAP experts, along with professionals who are affiliated with major universities throughout the country. The site is completely confidential, secure and anonymous.

In addition to the comprehensive content that is already available on the site, over the past week we have invested significant time and energy to populate APSHelpLink with information, links and materials that specifically address the wide range of emotions and challenges individuals are experiencing in light of the recent tragedy. This includes:

-- A direct link to our "Ask-a-Pro" feature, which enables individuals to email
questions to licensed clinical professionals at APS.

-- Hot links to information, including:

-- When Disaster Strikes - How to Talk to Your Children;

-- How to Talk to Your Children About Terrorism;

-- Your Emotional Plan - When Disaster Strikes;

-- Coping with Death Due to Violence; and

-- Coping with Disaster, An Employer's Prospective.

-- Updated content in our Workplace Coping and Management/Supervisory areas.

APS continues to add resources and links to our site on a daily basis to ensure we are able to provide individuals with up-to-date information that is useful and reliable.

To access the wealth of resources available via APSHelpLink, individuals can simply log on to our public website at: www.apshealthcare.com. A link to APSHelpLink is provided in the center of our homepage, along with log-in instructions.

For our clients who currently do not have access to APSHelpLink, APS representatives will contact you to provide your organizations with company-specific access codes. All other users may use the company pass code "HelpNow" to gain access to the site.

APS encourages all individuals to take advantage of this valuable resource. We understand that this has been a difficult time for everyone and hope that our Internet services can help our nation move along the pathway of recovery. APS has always been dedicated to the clients we serve.

We now want to extend our dedication and support to the entire country to assist in re-building the strength of our nation.

APS is a privately-owned company that manages the delivery of behavioral healthcare services, which consist of mental health services and substance abuse treatment.

APS also offers employee assistance programs, which typically provide assessment and referral services to assist employees and their dependents in identifying and addressing, at an early stage, potential mental health and substance abuse problems.

APS provides our services to employers, commercial health plans and public sector programs in the United States and Puerto Rico, currently serving approximately 9.3 million covered lives. APS is committed to providing user-friendly, accessible, comprehensive, customizable and innovative behavioral healthcare systems.

For more information, contact Rich Kodora, Executive Vice President Sales & Marketing at 301/571-0633, ext. 3577.