Olsten Kimberly Qualitycare And Prudential Sign Exclusive Contract For Home Health Care

Business Wire, Sept 6, 1995

MELVILLE, N.Y.--(HealthWire)--Sept. 6, 1995--Olsten Kimberly QualityCare, North America's leading provider of home health care and related services and a subsidiary of Olsten Corporation (NYSE: OLS), has signed an agreement with The Prudential Insurance Company of America to provide home nursing, infusion therapy, home medical equipment, hospice services and prosthetics to almost 300,000 covered lives in the Greater Houston Metropolitan area.

The contract, an exclusive arrangement effective September 1, will enable Olsten Kimberly QualityCare to manage Prudential's Houston Metropolitan area home care network. Olsten Kimberly QualityCare has arranged for a select group of sub-contractors-- including Option Care for infusion therapy-- to provide various services. Including this new contract, Olsten Kimberly QualityCare now serves more than 26 million covered lives.

"As the national leader in home health care, Olsten Kimberly QualityCare serves as a network manager with the capability to integrate and direct all home health care services for Prudential and other major insurers and managed care companies, " said Robert A. Fusco, President of Olsten Kimberly QualityCare. "We can identify and provide specialized treatment options to home care patients with seamless coordination."

"At Prudential, our goal is to provide our members with the highest quality, cost-effective services available," said Raymond R. Flachbart, Prudential's Vice President, Group Operations. "We look forward to using Olsten Kimberly QualityCare's broad range of services and sharing their expertise as a network manager as we work together to coordinate and manage utilization of home health care among our members."

Prudential currently serves nearly 4.4 million members in various managed care plans across the United States, including the nearly 300,000 members in the Houston Area.

Prudential's health plans in Houston have been granted Full Accreditation Status by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), an organization established for the purpose of reviewing the quality and medical management systems of managed care organizations or similarly organized prepaid health programs.

Olsten Kimberly QualityCare provides managed care organizations with a single source for nursing services, home infusion, home medical equipment, respiratory therapy, rehabilitation therapy, physical/occupational/neurological/speech therapies, pediatrics and perinatal care and hospice services. It is also the nation's leading provider of management services for hospital-based home health agencies.

With more than 600 locations in the United States and Canada, Olsten Kimberly QualityCare in 1994 managed utilization and provided care to over 400,000 patients through its 150,000 caregiver professionals. Olsten recently announced plans to further expand its network through the pending acquisition of Nurse's House Call, the home health care business of Hooper Holmes, Inc. that currently operates a network of 116 offices in 29 states. Olsten Kimberly QualityCare also recently acquired Americare, a fast-growing Wisconsin-based provider of home health care services, home infusion therapy, home uterine activity monitoring and home medical equipment products.

Olsten Corporation is also one of the world's leading providers of staffing services. The Company, primarily through Olsten Kimberly QualityCare and Olsten Staffing Services, operates a network of more than 1,200 offices in North America, South America, Great Britain and Continental Europe providing caregivers for home health care, institutions and occupational health services; management services to hospital-based home health agencies; assignment employees to business, industry and government; and services for the design, development and maintenance of information systems. In 1994, Olsten Corporation employed over 650,000 people and provided services to more than 500,000 client/patient accounts. The Company reported 1994 systemwide sales of nearly $2.6 billion and revenues of nearly $2.3 billion.

CONTACT: Olsten Corp., Melville

David Fluhrer, 516/844-7590

or

Prudential

Warren Murrell, 713/276-3443