The SSI Group, Inc. President and CEO Bobby Smith Announces Retirement

MOBILE, Ala., July 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The SSI Group, Inc. (SSI) today announced the retirement of Founder, Chief Executive Officer and President, Bobby E. Smith after 24 years with the company. Included in his announcement that was sent to the SSI employees, Smith also announced that SSI's Board of Directors has appointed James M. Lyons, the current Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, as the new President and CEO effective August 1, 2012.

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Over the past two decades, Smith's vision has helped SSI grow from a 20 employee start-up company to the nationally recognized leader in healthcare software that it is today. SSI currently employs over 400 people and has a national customer base of over 2,400 hospitals and healthcare providers. The company processed approximately $700 billion dollars in billed electronic claims revenue for its providers last year.

Smith has been admired as a leader in the healthcare field because of his vision and ability to lead by example. His ambition has driven him to seek out and help his employees hone their talents, many of whom have been with him for over 20 years.

During his career, Smith believed in taking risks to overcome obstacles. He began his career as a teacher and professor of mathematics, co-authoring a book on calculus. From teaching, he went on to work in information systems management for the city of Portsmouth, Va. and then became the Chief Operating Officer for the company Hospital Data Center.

When Smith moved to Mobile, Ala. to work as the Vice President of the Information Systems for Spring Hill Hospital, his vision for healthcare technology's future led him to establish SSI. The company was originally founded in September 1988 under the name "Sophisticated Software." It was renamed "The SSI Group, Inc." in 1993 as it began to unite a group of its affiliated companies.

"We owe Bobby Smith a great deal of gratitude for his vision, wisdom, leadership and friendship over the years," said future CEO, Lyons. "His extraordinary leadership has taken a small Florida-based company with a couple of employees to a national healthcare technology company with many of the nation's top healthcare systems as customers."

SSI offers a wide range of services, technologies and information management capabilities. The company is currently one of the nation's largest electronic hospital data exchange providers. Their products run on client servers, operate on Web-enabled networks and utilize cloud-based technology, much of which was envisioned by Smith in the early 1980s. Today, SSI includes two wholly-owned subsidiaries: MedCore, Inc., which provides collection services; and MedWorth, LLC, which provides analytical services.

Smith, who resides in Fairhope, Ala., will continue his involvement with the company as a member of the Board of Directors. He also plans to travel and enjoy retirement with his wife, Barbara, their children and grandchildren.

About The SSI Group, Inc.
Established in 1988, the company helped pioneer the concept of healthcare EDI and today is an established leader in developing and providing revenue cycle management solutions to the U.S. healthcare market. SSI operates the nation's second largest institutional healthcare claims clearinghouse, which is certified by EHNAC. SSI's proprietary ClickON® Technology has more than 200,000 built-in edits; delivers HIPAA-certified transactions from Claredi and MHCC; has more than 800 direct payer connections for both hospitals and physicians; and 1,200-plus gateway payer connections for both hospitals and physicians. SSI technology processes in excess of 350 million transactions annually (including claims, eligibility, remittances and claim statuses) totaling approximately $700 billion dollars in billed electronic claims revenue for its providers. The company maintains corporate headquarters in Mobile, Ala., and field facilities in Clearwater, Fla.; Denver, Colo. and Chesapeake, Va. SSI has over 400 employees and 2,400-plus customers nationwide. For more information about SSI and its offerings, visit www.thessigroup.com.

SOURCE The SSI Group, Inc.