June 7 , 2006

FirstCarolinaCare Outperforms Insurers in the South

PINEHURST – FirstCarolinaCare, a locally owned health insurance company based in Pinehurst, North Carolina, ranked higher than competing health insurance companies in the South in a first-ever review of industry performance. According to the study released by athenahealth, a provider of Web-based software for medical practices, FirstCarolinaCare ranked first in reimbursement practices and performance.

“We are very proud of the findings in athenahealth’s survey,” said Ken Lewis, president of FirstCarolinaCare, “however, this is something that my team and our customers have always known, that we provide quality services. We continuously look for ways that will allow us to enhance our effectiveness -- whether we are working with our members, our clients or our physicians.”

“FirstCarolinaCare may be considered a small player in the market,” Lewis continued, “but we ranked first in the 12 Southern states that were surveyed, and we also ranked first in comparison to the seven national payers. This study is further evidence that a not-for-profit health care provider can own a health insurance company and deliver results as good or better than stand-alone health insurance carriers. When you mix our cutting-edge technology with a provider friendly atmosphere, you come out with a distinct and unique product that benefits physicians and members.”

The PayerView study, which was unveiled last week on athenahealth’s Web site, www.athenapayerview.com, gives the public a rare look at the performance of health insurance companies and their payment practices. The study looks at payer performance based on several categories, which combine to provide an “ease of doing business with the insurer” score that illustrates an insurer’s ability to pay claims efficiently and appropriately.

“FirstCarolinaCare has always been one of the most accommodating and straightforward payers that we work with,” said John W. Byron, M.D., of Southern Pines Women’s Health Center and Chairman of the FirstCarolinaCare Board. “FirstCarolinaCare is committed to providing unparalleled service to its customers and to its community. Not only does FirstCarolinaCare provide great service to our group, but it also makes unprecedented efforts in trying to cover the uninsured in this region. The mission of the organization is to care for people, and this is demonstrated at the hospital and at the insurance company. I am proud to be affiliated with both.”

The data used for the rankings come from athenahealth’s experience in dealing with individual payers during the fourth quarter of 2005. Insurance companies are compared on financial performance, administrative performance and medical policy compliance.

About FirstCarolinaCare
FirstCarolinaCare, a wholly owned subsidiary of FirstHealth of the Carolinas, is headquartered in Pinehurst, North Carolina, and serves nearly 11,000 members in a six-county service area. It offers a range of small and large group health benefit plans. FirstCarolinaCare received the 2006 Honor Roll For Coverage Award from the Health Care Leadership Council, which recognizes exemplary community programs that have distinguished themselves as leaders in providing access to health coverage for uninsured Americans. FirstCarolinaCare has also been given a financial safety rating of B "or good" by the respected Weiss Ratings Inc., which is noted for its objective and accurate insurance company evaluations.

About athenahealth
athenahealth provides the only physician revenue and clinical cycle management offering that integrates web-based practice management and EMR software, continually updated payer knowledge, and back office processing specialists into a single service. The results are faster payment at lower cost, improved patient care, higher revenue retention and less hassle for the more than 7,000 providers using athenahealth nationwide. The company collects nearly $2 billion on behalf of its clients annually. athenahealth is dedicated to helping providers make optimum use of their time, ultimately improving the quality of service delivered and the financial reward for it. For more information about athenahealth, visit their Web site at www.athenahealth.com or call 1-888-652-8200.