Devon Health Launches Innovation in Provider Reimbursements.

Partnership with HealthCare Strategies, Inc., Benefiting Providers, Securing Discounts for Clients

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. -- Devon Health today announced the national launch of a new provider reimbursement program that arranges payments for providers while they treat patients. Devon Health Services, Inc., is a National Healthcare Cost Management company and the Northeast's most extensive Preferred Provider Organization (PPO).

Through Devon Health's Pre-Certification Funding program, the company's claims settlement personnel contacts patients' providers immediately within the pre-certification process. Using historical claims data and other benchmarks, fees for upcoming medical procedures are negotiated with the providers and Devon Health can settle those claims immediately. The program offers quick reimbursement for providers and reduces medical costs for clients.

HealthCare Strategies, Inc., a licensed, URAC Accredited medical management company, has been beta-testing the Pre-Certification Funding program with some of the country's top third-party administrators (TPA). Through the partnership, the TPAs' members contact HealthCare Strategies for pre-certification. The pre-certification notifications are sent electronically to Devon Health, who negotiates payment with and pays providers quickly after services are rendered.

"Devon Health's Pre-Certification Funding program has saved our clients substantial amounts of money over the last 10 months. On average provider discounts are the upwards of 30 percent, and have reached as high as 70 percent," says Jan Albert, president of HealthCare Strategies. "For 25 years our goal has been to help clients control healthcare costs and assure the health of their members. Devon Health shares in this goal, and we look forward to expanding our partnership with them to reduce medical costs and improve provider reimbursements."

"As a healthcare cost management company, we are always trying to find innovative ways to combat skyrocketing healthcare costs," says Gerald Young, executive vice president of claims settlement for Devon Health. "The Pre-Certification Funding model allows us to reduce medical costs for clients, but also speeds the timeliness of reimbursements for providers who constantly face challenges in this area. We look forward to developing and launching new innovations to help control the rise of healthcare costs."

The Pre-Certification Funding program is the newest addition to Devon Health's suite of Claims Settlement Services that also includes Advance Funding Negotiations and Claims Negotiation. Both of these negotiations take place after medical services are rendered. Devon Health leverages the ability to wire-transfer, ACH, or overnight funds to providers in exchange for deeper discounts for clients, creating a beneficial solution for providers, payors, and members.

"Providers have been very receptive to these negotiations, as our Claims Settlement team secures discounts about 80 percent of the time across all of our services," says Young. "We have found that the earlier we get involved in the claims process, the deeper the discounts we can secure, and the faster we can pay providers."

Background on Devon Health Services, Inc.

Devon Health Services, Inc. is a National Healthcare Cost Management Company offering complete healthcare benefit packages, including national PPO networks, Pharmacy, Dental, Vision, Worker's Compensation, Motor Vehicle, and Claims Settlement Services. Devon Health was founded in 1991 by John A. Bennett, M.D., an Internal Medicine physician. The company is headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

Background on HealthCare Strategies, Inc.

HealthCare Strategies, Inc. is a full service medical management company offering state of the art technology to support programs such as HealthReach, a predictive population risk management program which has demonstrated dramatic savings for clients by managing risk prospectively. HCS was founded in 1982 by Janice K. Albert, PA, MBA and partner, William P. Keenan, JD. HCS is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland.