The SSI Group Announces Purchase of Physicians' Clearinghouse

    MOBILE, Ala., May 17 /PRNewswire/ -- The SSI Group, Inc. (SSI) today
 announced that it has acquired National EDI Systems Corporation (National
 EDI).  Based in Dallas Texas, National EDI is an innovative healthcare EDI
 (electronic data interchange) company that utilizes proprietary tools and
 cost-effective processes that enable electronic financial transactions between
 payors and individual medical providers, medical groups and/or billing
 services.
     Commenting on the purchase, Bobby E. Smith, Chief Executive Officer and
 President of SSI, said, "Our Company is focused on becoming increasingly
 essential to the financial operations of our clients.  Our payer and hospital
 clients asked us to expand our capability of serving the individual provider's
 "end-to-end" electronic financial processing needs.  More than
 125,000+ medical providers still send out paper claims.  More than
 500,000 "allied" health professionals such as physical therapists and
 psychologists still send out paper.  With National EDI joining us, we can now
 effectively meet the business requirements of these underserved professionals.
 National EDI helps us expand SSI's ClickON(TM) technology's capability.  SSI
 will now better automate the revenue cycle, and re-engineer what happens
 between the health insurer, physician and hospital."
     Perry Baty III, Chief Executive Officer of National EDI Systems
 Corporation, states:  "Electronic communications to and from the individual
 medical provider is healthcare's last frontier in terms of eliminating paper
 from the billing process.  From day one, National EDI has primarily focused on
 helping these providers convert to, and use, EDI.  They are the foundation of
 the Nation's healthcare industry.  But Medicare and others are adding major
 new penalties -- as well as some incentives -- to get them to submit
 electronically.  By joining SSI, we greatly increase our capability to serve
 them better.  We will now be able to leverage one of healthcare's most proven
 and capable EDI teams and one of the largest and most sophisticated
 payor/provider networks.  We will now significantly expand our relationship
 business built on service and support."
 
     About The SSI Group, Inc.
     The SSI Group, Inc. offers a comprehensive national network of essential
 services that is changing the way its healthcare clients send, receive and
 process financial information.   SSI links healthcare provider organizations
 such as hospitals, medical groups of all sizes and their technology partners,
 with virtually all of the nation's leading payer organizations.  Established
 in 1988, SSI's more than 350 employees process nearly 68.5 million
 transactions annually totaling in excess of $108 billion, all within the
 Mobile Alabama corporate headquarters.  Additionally, more than twice that
 volume is processed directly to and from payers by provider clients using SSI
 ClickON Direct technology.
     SSI is changing the way its clients exchange financial information.  The
 SSI Group data driven services are a broad and deep array of communications,
 commerce and processing services.  They bring all transaction sets together in
 single-source claim solutions integrating all of the applications in relation
 to the patient encounter.  With three billing options (clearinghouse/direct to
 payers/Internet portal) and our 167,000 built-in edits, we efficiently enable
 all-payer access.
     SSI remains focused on becoming increasingly essential to the financial
 operations of clients.  As part of its ongoing commitment to enhance each
 client's ability to universally connect, SSI offers services that include all
 facets of revenue cycle management through claim and remittance processing.
 The services include secondary billing, claims status, audit, posting,
 compliance, eligibility, document management, contract/denial management,
 collections and workflow consulting.  SSI is a HIPAA certified vendor by
 Claredi.  The company maintains branch facilities in Dallas Texas, Clearwater
 Florida, Denver Colorado and Chesapeake Virginia.  Please visit our website:
 www.thessigroup.com .
 
 

SOURCE  The SSI Group, Inc.