Hospital Association Votes nTelagent 2009 Business Partner of the Year

Nashville, Tenn. — nTelagent, Inc., which provides a point-of-service collection solution for the healthcare industry, has been selected as HomeTown Health, LLC’s "Business Partner of the Year" for 2009. Each year, members of HomeTown Health, an association of hospitals located throughout Georgia, vote to honor one of the group’s 50+ business partners with this award.

nTelagent’s Retail Application for Healthcare, built on a cloud computing platform, is the only point-of-service collection solution for the healthcare industry that settles all accounts on the front end – regardless of whether the patient is insured, uninsured or charity.

nTelagent’s web-based solution addresses the challenges providers face every day, such as upfront determination of patient payment due, point-of-service collections, insurance verification, discounting, charity care identification and processing, payment plans, price transparency, medical financing assistance and enrollment, and more.

"As CEO of a rural hospital network, I see firsthand, day after day, how tough things are for both hospitals and their patients. Some would say we’ve hit a perfect storm, with cash-strapped facilities, budget shortfalls, uncertain health reform, potential cuts in reimbursement rates, rising numbers of uninsured patients, and this list goes on," said Jimmy Lewis, CEO of HomeTown Health. "nTelagent has worked diligently to help our hospitals see some bright spots in this difficult economy. By implementing nTelagent’s Retail Application, hospitals quickly can return improved balance sheets, while at the same time ensure all patient accounts are treated consistently and appropriately."

Within a short amount of time, nTelagent clients can increase collections upfront and overall by thousands of dollars. In addition, hospitals can increase cash on hand, reduce days in AR and bad debt, identify missed charity dollars, and know every account is properly handled at the point of service.

Earl T. Winter, founder and CEO of nTelagent, said, "What an amazing honor to be selected Business Partner of the Year by HomeTown Health’s members.

The entire nTelagent team is dedicated to helping hospitals improve their front-end processes, which in turn significantly boosts their financial health and long-term viability. Just as important, we are proud of our work helping hospitals provide their patients with clearer, more accurate and more actionable financial information, including discounting and assistance program eligibility, all at the point of service. We very much enjoy partnering with our Georgia hospital friends, as well as other hospitals around the country, and look forward to future endeavors."

nTelagent was presented with the award at HomeTown Health’s 2009 Fall Conference and 10th Anniversary Celebration, held Nov. 11-13 in Callaway Gardens, Ga. More than 200 hospital leaders and business partners attended the conference.

For more information on nTelagent’s work with HomeTown Health members, see the following case studies at www.ntelagent.com:

• Effingham Hospital’s Front-End Makeover: How One Facility Boosted

Its Upfront Collections by 86 Percent and Reduced AR Days from 103 to 50. BJC Medical Center Sees Exponential Growth in Upfront Collections After Implementing nTelagent’s Point-of-Service Collection System

About nTelagent, Inc.
nTelagent, Inc. has developed the Retail Application for Healthcare, the only point-of-service collection solution for the healthcare industry that settles all accounts on the front end – regardless of whether the patient is insured, uninsured or charity. Similar to applications used in the retail industry at the point of sale, the company’s proprietary, automated system provides healthcare registrars and financial counselors with real-time scripts, telling them exactly what to do and what to say to each patient at the point of service regarding financial responsibilities.

Healthcare service providers experience increased collections, upfront and overall, and increased cash on hand, as well as decreases in bad debt and AR days. Moving workflow to the front end of the revenue cycle, nTelagent helps providers ensure a better patient experience through clearer communication and better, more consistent handling of all patient accounts. Visit www.ntelagent.com for more information.

About HomeTown Health, LLC
HomeTown Health, LLC is an organization of more than 50 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 50 hospital members and 50 business partners. For more information, visit www.hometownhealthonline.com.