West Virginia University Hospitals Implements Canopy to Streamline Care Management and Denial Management Workflow

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Oct. 29, 2002 -- Canopy Systems, Inc., a leader in providing Web-based solutions for care management, announced today that West Virginia University Hospitals has implemented Canopy, a Web-based case and utilization management system, to improve the organization's care and denial management process.

"Canopy is our communication hub for the clinical care coordination process," said Kathleen Anderson, Director of Case Management for West Virginia University Hospitals. "Through Canopy, we have centralized the documentation of the patient's plan of care which ensures communication among the multidisciplinary team as the patient transitions between all levels of care. With Canopy, completing reviews, communicating reviews to payors, and overseeing the denial management process is more efficient."

Using Canopy, WVU Hospitals has established a central resource center staffed with payor specialists who receive completed reviews from clinical care coordinators and then call in the reviews to obtain authorizations from the payors.

"Canopy has allowed us to streamline our process, which allows our clinical care coordinators and social workers to focus on what they do best - care for patients," said Anderson.

"We are thrilled with the initial success that West Virginia University Hospitals has had in implementing Canopy and streamlining their care management process," said Alan Winchester, CEO of Canopy Systems, Inc. "Canopy is a proven tool for improving communication around care management and subsequently, increasing the hospital's bottom-line by improving productivity and reducing denials."

West Virginia University Hospitals is a 450-bed hospital located in Morgantown, WV. Facilities include Ruby Memorial Hospital, WVU Children's Hospital, Chestnut Ridge Hospital, the Jon Michael Moore Trauma Center and the Rosenbaum Family House. WVUH is part of the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center and offers a full range of medical, dental and optical services - from primary care to sophisticated specialty services. More than 300 WVU faculty physicians and 300 residents and other health professionals see patients at the Health Sciences Center.

Canopy Systems, Inc.(TM), Chapel Hill, N.C., (www.canopysystems.com) is the leader in providing secure, Web-based solutions for care coordination. The Canopy(R) product line utilizes the ASP model to provide utilization and case management applications across the continuum of care. Canopy Systems, Inc. is a subsidiary of The Medical Mutual Group of North Carolina.

--30--mh/ch*

      CONTACT: Canopy Systems, Inc.
               Rodd Padden, 919/929-5993
               Rodd.padden@canopysystems.com