February 28, 2008 (Nashville, Tenn.) --- Today Nashville-Tenn.-based nTelagent, Inc. reported that its proprietary front-end business solution, the Self-Pay Management System (SPMS), offers a one-stop solution for healthcare providers wanting to offer fair and consistent discounting policies to the growing number of self-pay patients they serve. nTelagent enables healthcare providers to revolutionize the way they interact with patients regarding patient responsibilities at the point of service and pre-registration, including offering price transparency and medical financing options.

For more information about discounting policies, download the Issue Brief "Using a Self-Pay Management System to Apply Fair and Consistent Discounting Policies" from nTelagent's website, www.ntelagent.com.

In today's healthcare system, insurance companies negotiate with healthcare providers for lower prices. Uninsured and underinsured patients, who do not have the same negotiating power, often pay full "sticker price" for healthcare services. Over the past several years, federal and state lawmakers and consumer advocates have taken action to ensure that low-income uninsured and underinsured Americans are charged fair (e.g., discounted) prices for their care and are protected from aggressive debt collection practices. Many healthcare providers are struggling to determine and implement proper, consistent processes for applying these discounts and sharing these prices at point of service.

According to Earl T. Winter, Chairman and CEO of nTelagent, "As the number of self-pay patients rises, it is critical that hospitals and other providers embrace policies and procedures for providing appropriate discounts across the board. Implementing our Self-Pay Management System can enable healthcare providers to apply such discounting policies, leading to assistance for those truly needy patients, as well as the complete, accurate documentation and delivery of financial policies."

After implementation of nTelagent's Self-Pay Management System, service providers can offer discounts at the point of service, taking into account a patient's current capacity to pay, total account balance and type of service. This enables fairness and consistency in the discounting process, as truly needy patients are identified, compared with those patients who simply choose to go without health insurance, even if they have the financial ability to obtain it.

"The Self-Pay Management System provides registrars and financial counselors with interactive scripts that integrate patient demographic information with a provider's unique business rules. The system can automatically screen patients through an online interface at the point of service, requiring no additional staff to process cases," continues Winter. "Our solution allows healthcare providers to be advocates for truly needy patients, helping them to obtain all possible assistance in covering their healthcare costs."

nTelagent, a Nashville, Tenn.-based company, enables healthcare service providers to revolutionize the way they interact with patients regarding patient responsibilities at the point of service, including offering price transparency and medical financing options. The company's Self-Pay Management System increases upfront cash and overall collections by providing registrars and financial counselors with interactive scripts that integrate patient demographic information with each provider's unique business policies and rules. The system automatically identifies discounting and charity care options when applicable, and helps to ensure that patient financial accounting--for both insured and uninsured patients--is handled appropriately and in a non-discriminatory manner. For healthcare providers, nTelagent's system improves upfront and overall cash flow, receivables and profitability by reducing bad debt and improving the revenue cycle process for patients who must pay a portion of the bill through payment requirements, such as co-pays, co-insurance and deductibles. Visit nTelagent online at www.ntelagent.com to learn more.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Laura Campbell
CEO, Laura Campbell & Associates
laura@laura-campbell.com
615-579-6599