CapTech Ventures, Inc. Delivers Interactive Application to Better Serve Health Care Providers.

RICHMOND, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 23, 1999--

Uses Sun's NetDynamics(tm) Application Server to

Build Innovative Application for the Health Care Industry

CapTech Ventures, Inc., an innovative management consulting and systems integration firm, today announced the launch of an interactive system for health care providers engineered for Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield, a leading managed care company in the mid-Atlantic.

The Web-based system, built on Sun's NetDynamics(tm) application server platform, is named Point of Care and is designed to closely link provider and managed care operations. The system will be piloted to approximately 500 physicians at 10 practices over the next three months. CapTech provided strategic consulting and technology expertise to design and implement the Point of Care system and expects the Sun-based solution to help dot-com CapTech's role in the health care industry.

A significant portion of phone calls to a managed care company's provider service call center concerns eligibility or claims status. By automating inquiries through a health care portal, managed care companies can streamline physician communication, lowering the costs of internal operations, as well as reducing the administrative workload for practice managers. CapTech Ventures, Inc. created Point of Care as an easy to use, web-based application that empowers practice managers to:

-- Check eligibility

-- Determine claims status

-- Perform error checking on claims

-- Email managed care provider service

-- Submit claims

-- Validate claims in real time

-- Appeal claims

-- View and download managed care publications and administrative guidelines 

-- Link to other physician-oriented web sites

Point of Care is Trigon's first initiative using an application server. CapTech worked with Trigon's senior IT executives to introduce the application server, Java(tm) programming language, platform, and tools to their developers. Tab Bass, Trigon's Director of Electronic Commerce, said, "Our relationship with CapTech Ventures, Inc. allowed us to use an innovative approach to link to legacy data which in the past had been difficult to access and supply directly to a physician's desktop. Their analysts and project managers are strong team players who understood Trigon's business strategy and they delivered results with Sun's NetDynamics." In introducing two new technologies to Trigon, the application server and Java, CapTech provided knowledge transfer and technology sharing, which will facilitate the co-development planned for future stages.

CapTech was engaged to design the technical architecture for the web-based system, which included evaluating application transaction servers for integration with multiple data sources. As an experienced E-commerce solutions provider, CapTech recommended the Sun Microsystems's NetDynamics application server as the best platform, due to its superior integration to DB2 databases on legacy mainframe systems and Microsoft(R) Windows NT(R) servers.

"CapTech leveraged the capabilities of the NetDynamics application server and their experience with the health care industry to create a robust, innovative web-based solution," said Steve Zocchi, director of NetDynamics marketing at Sun Microsystems.

Because Point of Care has no client side requirements beyond a basic web browser, all future application upgrades will require only one installation at the server level. Server side installation means that Trigon will have reduced application deployment, development and support costs for Point of Care. "We needed to be sure our application launch occurred smoothly, with minimal disruption of services to our providers and with minimal training required. Relying on standard browser technology allows us to get practice managers up and running quickly," Bass said.

CapTech helped Trigon prioritize application components and designed the system to use existing hardware and expertise where possible. Point of Care connects practice managers with the managed care company's administrative operations via a private network. Practice managers access the same mainframe data as the insurer's call center. To enhance the application's speed, Point of Care uses server side Java. Optional JavaScript that can run from the browser or the server checks queries in real time before submitting them to the transaction server. Email services are provided by the ISP that hosts the private network.

Given a successful pilot, Trigon and CapTech plan to expand Point of Care in the future by developing additional functions, including benefits information, referrals, pre-certification for procedures and admissions, pre-authorization for drug formularies and physician medical management reports. Other future functions will be based on lessons learned about the communication and administrative needs of health care providers who practice in Trigon's managed care environment. Trigon's ultimate goal in developing Point of Care's potential is to enable affiliated physicians to transform their administrative processes so that their practices can improve the quality and efficiency of patient service.

About Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield

Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield is the trade name of Trigon Insurance Company, an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Trigon is Virginia's largest managed health care company, providing a broad range of health, wellness and health care financing programs and services to approximately 1.8 million members.

About CapTech Ventures, Inc.

CapTech Ventures, Inc. is an innovative business management consulting and information systems development firm located in Richmond, Virginia that provides advanced Internet-based solutions for the healthcare and financial services industries. CapTech's mission is to transform information technology services by providing quality solutions to leading financial services, insurance, and health care companies. CapTech is a Sun Microsystems NetDynamics Business Link Implementation Partner.

Sun, Sun Microsystems, Java, NetDynamics, and "the Network is the Computer" are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc, in the United States and other countries.

For more information

Contact Sandy Williamson at CapTech Ventures, Inc. at 804-355-0511, extension 101, or contact Alexis Pruitt at, extension 102, or visit CapTech Ventures, Inc.'s web site at http://www.captechventures.com.