Puget Sound Development Co. announces the start of pilot program with the State of California.

ANAHEIM, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 2, 1996--Puget Sound Development Co. (PUSD) through its wholly owned subsidiary Integrated Health Care Inc., a managed care organization and medical software development company, is pleased to announce the start of a pilot program with the State of California, Department of Social Services, Disability Evaluation Division.

The company feels that this program will lead to a contract for District 9 for the Social Security Disability Division which includes the States of California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii and Guam.

People who receive disability payments under Social Security must produce supporting evidence from a doctor or hospital. Since the Disability Evaluation Division rarely receives an objective report from a treating doctor, they request a consultative examination from a disability evaluation specialist. The Social Security Administration plans to review the cases of more than 1.4 million Americans receiving disability benefits to determine who should be dropped from the program.

Three clinics will be opened in the Greater Los Angeles area between Sept. 1 and Dec. 1, 1996 and the project will be expanded to Phoenix, Las Vegas, Honolulu and Guam City. These clinics will evaluate alleged disabilities in Internal Medicine, Psychiatry, Neurology and Orthopedics. Each disability evaluation clinic will also address the issues of disability in the areas of Workers Compensation and Personal Injury.

Based on 500 examinations per day at all of the clinics, the first stage of this project should show gross revenues of approximately $20 million with a net revenue of 55%.

Integrated Health Care is poised to become the number one medical cost containment company that utilizes a computer-based patient record system that incorporates its proprietary "data cleansing software" to screen all medical data before it is incorporated into the computer record. This proprietary software, the first of its kind to be applied in the healthcare industry, simultaneously checks for eligibility, credibility of the medical claim, credibility of the medical examination and insurance fraud.

The company markets a unique proprietary claims management and cost containment service to insurance companies, self-insured employers and medical providers. The service is made possible through the company's comprehensive software and network programs, which are capable of reducing the overall cost of Disability and Workers' Compensation coverage by as much as 50%.

CONTACT: Puget Sound Development Co.

714/534-3888 or 800/303-5209