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Press Release

HomeTown Health, LLC, Partners with nTelagent, Inc. To Improve Upfront Cash Flow and Overall Profitability

March 5, 2008 (Nashville, Tenn.) --- For rural hospitals throughout the state of Georgia, managing the accounts of uninsured and underinsured patients just became a little easier. Thanks to a new partnership with Nashville, Tenn.-based nTelagent, Inc., hospital members of HomeTown Health, LLC, now have the tools they need to make more intelligent decisions regarding the financial accounts of the uninsured and underinsured patients they serve.

HomeTown Health is an organization of rural and small hospitals located across the state of Georgia. More than 55 hospitals are members of HomeTown Health, and all members will have access to the nTelagent Self-Pay Management System.

nTelagent’s Self-Pay Management System is the healthcare industry’s premier accounts receivable solution, and improves upfront and overall cash flow, receivables and profitability for healthcare providers by reducing bad debt and improving the revenue cycle process for “self-pay” patients. Self-pay is defined as the portion of the medical bill for which the patient is responsible. This includes co-pays and deductibles for insured patients, and the full medical bill for uninsured patients.

"The Self-Pay Management System that nTelagent offers healthcare providers is truly unique, and we are excited to bring this solution to our members and their patients," says Jimmy Lewis, CEO of HomeTown Health. "This one-of-a-kind tool will help both patients and providers in our small and rural communities, as we work to improve the decisions providers make before and shortly after services are rendered to self-pay patients. Everyone involved will benefit, as the system ensures consistency and clear communication across the board."

Just a few of the Self-Pay Management System's core offerings include the following:

• Provides integrated, online scripts for hospital registrars and financial counselors, eliminating the guesswork by listing the exact steps to be taken with each patient. The scripts integrate patient demographic information with each provider's unique business policies and rules.
• Screens for Medicaid/Medicare eligibility, and includes pre-built charity and government forms to determine and document care in a consistent and non-discriminatory manner
• Enables pricing transparency and medical financing options
• Improves communications with patients by creating a proactive dialogue to increase satisfaction and ensure repeat business

"We are thrilled to partner with HomeTown Health and its members," says Earl T. Winter, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of nTelagent. "We look forward to working with the member hospitals and giving them the tools and processes they need to make better decisions concerning patient responsibility accounts. By focusing on this aspect of the business, providers can expect to see increased cash collections both upfront and overall. The system will also lead to improved patient relations and clearer, more consistent administration of charity care policies."

nTelagent's customer base represents various segments of the healthcare industry, including hospitals, physician practices, specialty clinics, home healthcare, emergency room outsourcing and collections companies. nTelagent's Self-Pay Management is an endorsed solution of both the Tennessee Hospital Association and Mississippi Hospital Association.

HomeTown Health, LLC, is an organization of rural and small hospitals, located throughout the state of Georgia, who collectively pursue ways to help our hospitals survive in this environment of tremendous budget cuts from the state and federal level. The mission of HomeTown Health is to ensure that rural healthcare in Georgia is preserved at the local community level wherever possible and that a continuum of care is available to the rural populations of Georgia. What began as a handful of community hospitals 10 years ago has now grown into an organization of over 55 hospital members and almost 50 business partners. For more information, visit www.hometownhealthonline.com.

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.

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