Comprehensive Financial Component Latest Enhancement to Alteer Corporation's Physician Operating System.

Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers

IRVINE, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--Sept. 20, 2000

Becomes First Company in the Industry to Offer Clinical,

Administrative and Now Financial Solutions Via an ASP

Giving physicians the tools they need to make important financial decisions for their practices and seamlessly integrating this capability with administrative and clinical functions is the key benefit of the latest version of Alteer Office(TM).

Developed by Alteer Corporation, an e-health company that deploys physician office operating systems via an application service provider (ASP) model, Alteer Office 4.0 is now available for physician offices and medical groups according to Charles Hearn, president and CEO of the company.

Key capabilities of the financial module include the ability to manage contracts, create and send a variety of reports and access financial information from anywhere and at anytime. Other features include customary billing, collection and accounts receivable management. With this latest version, Alteer Office becomes the only product on the market to offer fully integrated clinical, administrative and now financial capabilities via an ASP.

"Just as physicians need the right information at the right time to treat patients, they need this vital decision-making tool to get the information they need to properly care for their practices," said Hearn. "Physicians and medical groups prefer one-vendor solutions to limit the complexity of IT management. Most importantly, by integrating the financial capabilities with administrative and clinical functions, Alteer Office provides a seamless workflow management approach to a physicians' day-to-day operations."

Many current practice management systems lack the ability to create and distribute highly intuitive, critical financial information to aid decision-making in this competitive market according to many physicians. Integrating clinical and financial systems provides an extra dimension to the available management reporting capabilities.

One of the more unique features of the new system is its ability to produce a wide range of useful reports. Available reports include summary of charges, claims history, payments, adjustments, referral reports and more. Data in the reports can be grouped in multiple levels by physician, location, insurance carrier and other parameters.

Additionally, bar graphs and pie charts can be used in addition to data tables, allowing for a more comprehensive analysis of the results. Reports are generated as PDF files facilitating secure distribution via the Internet daily, weekly, monthly or as desired to accountants, administrators and other physicians within a practice or medical group.

"We believe one of the most important features of the new financial module is that it is easy to use, easy to understand and helps to facilitate communication with key participants in a medical office," said Hearn. "This new system helps them manage and understand the crucial financial side of their practice while giving them more time to spend on actual patient care and growing their business."

Another important capability for physicians today is that of contract management. Through the Alteer Office contract management feature, physicians can better manage contracts to determine profitability and to negotiate future contracts.

For example, the average physician office today has multiple contracts with health plans and managed care organizations (MCOs). Each of these contracts has different rates, requirements and guidelines for reimbursement, billing procedures, etc. With Alteer, the medical practice can build multiple fee schedules into the system to track contracted reimbursement rates and readjust those fees to ensure the proper amount is billed and collected. This provides a powerful management tool for examining current managed care contracts and their individual financial impact on a physician's practice.

Universal access to financial information is another key issue for physicians today. Alteer's Internet-based ASP model allows physicians to have financial information on schedule or on demand. This information can be securely accessed from home or the office and the report parameters can easily be changed and automatically distributed.

"With this feature medical practices can decide whether to do their own billing or to outsource their billing while still having full access and control of the billing process," said Hearn. "They can pull information in real time in a secure manner. This is a tremendous benefit from a time and investment standpoint."

For more information on Alteer Office, contact Steve Rhodes at [e-mail] or call 949/789-0500.

About Alteer Corporation

Alteer Corporation (htttp://www.alteer.com), with headquarters in Irvine, Calif., is an e-health company deploying its solutions as an application service provider ("ASP") for physicians' offices. Alteer utilizes Web-based solutions for its software applications that address the administrative and communications needs of physician practice groups, to improve their operational efficiency and the quality of care. Alteer is the only solution that completely automates the entire workflow in the physician's office -- from scheduling to prescription renewals to billing to eligibility verification and pre-authorization. Alteer re-engineers the workflow, information, documents, and patient flow within the office. A private company, Alteer was founded in 1996. Institutional investors in Alteer Corporation include Edgewater Funds, Kingsbury Capital Partners and Bluestem Capital Company.