American Healthways' Programs Accredited by URAC/American Accreditation Healthcare Commission.

Health/Medical Writers

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BW HealthWire)--Aug. 6, 2002

Second National Quality Designation

Advances Company's Industry Leadership Position

American Healthways (Nasdaq: AMHC), the nation's leading provider of specialized, comprehensive care enhancement services to health plans, physicians and hospitals, today announced that it has earned accreditation for its disease management programs from URAC, one of the nation's most respected independent health care accrediting organizations.

The Company's programs for diabetes (DM), congestive heart failure (CHF), coronary artery disease (CAD) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) received URAC's full two-year accreditation.

"Earning the URAC accreditation is one more milestone in our commitment to continuously set the benchmarks in our industry. We are proud to be the first and only disease management organization accredited by both URAC and NCQA," said Thomas G. Cigarran, Chairman and CEO, American Healthways. "These accreditations provide our health plan customers with a pre-approval for Disease Management standards in their own accreditation process and are another indication for patients, physicians and employers of the quality of our program design and delivery."

URAC is a leader in the accreditation of health and managed care organizations, and continues to develop new standards for health care and revise existing ones to promote national standards and to ensure that all stakeholders, including consumers and providers are protected. URAC has issued over 2,300 accreditation certificates to more than 500 health care programs that provide health care to millions of Americans. During the accreditation process, companies must improve their operations - which include assurances of fundamental protections for consumers and providers.

"As one of the first organizations to earn URAC Disease Management Accreditation, American Healthways has displayed their leadership through a commitment to quality and accountability," said Garry Carneal, URAC president and CEO. "Such a commitment is critical to effective management of chronic diseases, resulting in better health outcomes, earlier intervention and overall better patient satisfaction."

In addition to the distinguished URAC accreditation, on June 10th, 2002, American Healthways also earned the seal of approval from NCQA, making it the first and only Care Enhancement organization to hold both designations. (See the NCQA release at http://www.americanhealthways.com/index.cfm?method=cearrival).

All URAC accreditation programs are developed by expert committees that include representatives from the full range of health care stakeholders, including employers, consumers, providers, regulators and health care organizations. URAC standards are widely circulated for public comment and beta-tested before finalization and an accreditation program is implemented. This broad, inclusive process of all stakeholders ensures that URAC's standards are balanced and address a diversity of needs and concerns.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that 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 Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, investors are hereby cautioned that these statements may be affected by the important factors as described in the Company's reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as by, among other factors, the Company's ability to implement the anticipated number of contracted lives within time frames contemplated by the Company and the ability to maintain the number of covered lives anticipated to be enrolled in the BCBSMN programs. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements.

Nashville-based American Healthways (www.americanhealthways.com) is the nation's leading provider of specialized, comprehensive care enhancement services to hospitals, physicians and health plans. The company's programs are the first and only ones in the nation accredited by both the National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA) and URAC. American Healthways also has contracts to provide disease and care management programs to health plans with members in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The company also operates diabetes management programs in nearly 80 hospitals nationwide.