SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Aug. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MedCom USA, Inc. (BULLETIN BOARD: EMED) , a leading provider of healthcare/financial transaction solutions for the healthcare industry announced today that Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers has chosen the MedCom System to electronically process their HIPAA compliant medical Benefit Eligibility, Referrals and self-pay financial transactions at their St. Mary's Hospital in Brooklyn.
This is the first group of MedCom System terminals to be installed and operating in the Saint Vincent system. The terminals will reside within the facility at all of the ambulatory care areas where patients are using services of the hospital. St. Mary's will use the MedCom System to obtain on-site Benefit Eligibility in under 30 seconds and to satisfy the need for collecting self-pay payments from patients at the time of service. These would include co-pays, deductibles and non-covered services.
The Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers is one of New York City's preeminent comprehensive health care systems and a major healthcare provider in the state of New York.
Mr. Bill Williams, President and CEO, MedCom USA stated, "We are pleased to be working with St. Mary's to address and solve some of the major financial challenges facing hospitals today. We have been able to deliver the additional solutions of providing Benefit Eligibility and referrals in one complete system. As we continue to provide these services and grow our capabilities we are hoping to expand the number of terminals placed throughout the Saint Vincent system. The need to verify patient eligibility, with the opportunity to collect payment at the time service, makes the MedCom System a cost effective choice for clinics and hospitals."
Mr. Vincent DiSanti, Vice President of St. Mary's Hospital stated, "The MedCom System terminal provides an efficient and cost-effective method to handle our facilities' traditional daily business procedures. The MedCom Terminal is very reliable and an easy to operate system allowing for rapid employee acceptance and immediate utilization. It will help us to meet our financial objectives while continuing to provide effective healthcare to our patients."
HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 that requires health providers and health plans to adopt standards for electronic administrative and financial transactions.
About Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers
Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers (SVCMC) is one of the New York metropolitan area's most comprehensive health care systems, serving nearly 600,000 people annually. SVCMC was established in 2000 as a result of the merger of Catholic Medical Centers of Brooklyn and Queens, Saint Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center of New York and Sisters of Charity Healthcare on Staten Island. Sponsored by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Sisters of Charity of New York, SVCMC serves as the academic medical center of New York Medical College in New York City.
The system includes eight hospitals: Mary Immaculate Hospital, Queens; St. John's Queens Hospital; St. Joseph's Hospital, Queens; St. Mary's Hospital of Brooklyn; St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan; St. Vincent's Hospital Staten Island; Bayley Seton Hospital, Staten Island; and St. Vincent's Hospital Westchester. The system also operates four skilled nursing facilities, a system-wide home care agency, a hospice and over 60 ambulatory care sites which provide a broad array of medical, psychiatric and substance abuse services. In 2003, SVCMC recorded more than 1,500,000 outpatient visits, 77,000 home care visits and 98,000 inpatient discharges. Its emergency rooms, which include three Level 1 Trauma centers, received 275,000 visits in that same year. SVCMC is the largest provider of EMS services in the New York City Fire Department's 9-1-1 service. In 2003, St. Clare's Hospital, now St. Vincent's Midtown, became affiliated with the healthcare system.
About MedCom USA
MedCom USA, Inc. (EMED) provides innovative solutions for electronically processing transactions within the healthcare industry. The Company's healthcare business unit provides a service package for physicians, clinics and hospitals includes the following services; Patient Eligibility, 100% Paperless Claims Processing, Electronic referrals, patient Easy Pay, Credit/Debit Cards and Check Guarantee; MedCom's Internet address is http://www.medcard.com/.
Certain matters discussed within this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although MedCom USA, Inc. management believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions; it can give no assurance that its expectations will be attained. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include industry, competitive and technological changes; risks associated with international operations and foreign currency fluctuations; the composition, timing and size of orders from and shipments to major customers; inventory obsolescence; market acceptance of new products and other risks detailed from time to time in MedCom USA, Inc.'s SEC reports, including the company's most recent 10-K and subsequent 10Q-s.
MedCom USA, Inc.CONTACT: Kent Barghols of MedCom USA, Inc., +1-515-276-1180,kbarghols@medcard.com
Web site: http://www.medcard.com/
