Meridian Healthcare Management Relies On Business Objects to Give Physician Organizations Access to Financial Management Extranet

Business Wire, July 12, 2001

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 12, 2001

Latest Financial Information Available Immediately to Clients,

Allowing Them to Respond Proactively to Business Changes

Business Objects (Nasdaq:BOBJ), the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced that Meridian Health Care Management, Inc. is using WebIntelligence(R), the business intelligence solution for the internet from Business Objects, to power an extranet that allows Meridian's clients access to comprehensive data related to their management and administrative services.

Meridian, a nationwide provider of outsourced managed care technology and administrative services for provider organizations, hospitals, and health plans -- covering 450,000 members -- has integrated products from Business Objects into its own technology solution. Meridian's extranet is available to both its managed care customers, and its Application Service Provider clients. In addition to WebIntelligence, Meridian also relies on BusinessObjects(TM), the integrated query, reporting, and analysis solution for the enterprise from Business Objects for an intranet accessed by Meridian employees.

According to Meridian executives, some 150 medical groups have gone bankrupt, or closed, in the past five years because of financial reasons. Many of these groups might still be in operation today if they had a better grasp of the up-to-date financial information that an extranet provides. Often times, health plans give physician organizations, such as Independent Practice Associations, or integrated delivery networks, a monthly per-member fee for providing care. Health plan officials also delegate to these groups the charge of spending the money, deciding on care, and making payments to physician members. If these groups fail to monitor costs and revenues, stay within a fixed budget, or spend too much, they risk failure.

Meridian's clients rely on the extranet powered by WebIntelligence to manage their business and remain financially sound with real-time data, reports, analysis, and alerts to make important business decisions in the following key areas:

-- Negotiating adequate rates -- Clients access the extranet to learn whether
the money being paid to physician organizations is adequate to provide
healthcare services. With Business Objects solutions, Meridian and its clients
are empowered to negotiate appropriate contract rates and terms.

-- Desirable economies of scale -- Clients use data analysis to understand that
a larger volume of business and contracts does not necessarily result in
economies of scale. In the past, physician organizations signed up with several
health plans, believing that more would be financially better. However, with
the proper tracking and data reporting system provided by Business Objects
solutions, physician organizations can identify the more profitable agreements
and what constitutes a successful contract.

-- Stopping unnecessary losses -- Using the extranet, clients can quickly
detect unnecessary financial losses, such as treating patients not covered by
the health plans or extensive out-of-network referrals to specialists. This
prevents provider organizations from having to absorb substantial losses and
positively affect their bottom line.

-- Making data reporting affordable -- Spending on information technology has
been historically low in the healthcare industry. With the extranet, groups can
access information over the internet without having to buy, license, and
install expensive software programs.

"Better information and data analysis will help physician organizations, hospitals and health plans succeed in a number of ways," said Michael Alper, president of Meridian Health Care Management. "They will be able to obtain timely financial and utilization data to determine whether the costs of the services they provide are in sync with the revenue they receive. By analyzing this information, the physician organizations can obtain information on cost trends, patterns and abnormalities. By using the extranet, our medical group clients can improve management of their business, and improve their bottom line."

Before Business Objects and WebIntelligence

Prior to Business Objects, Meridian had to perform the time consuming task of creating and modifying reports depending on the request, and the customer. The creation of the report, and subsequent hard copy, could take several days to produce, and still many clients required additional access to information. By integrating WebIntelligence into Meridian's technology solution for managed care clients, customized reports with the latest business and financial information are available at moment's notice. Meridian's clients benefit from the faster service by being able to always have a finger on the pulse of their business.

"Business Objects helps clients find and use the vital business intelligence buried in their data," said Joel Weingarten, vice president and general manager of the extranet business unit for Business Objects. "By empowering clients to access managed care information through its extranet, Meridian Health Care Management has enhanced the level of service it offers and has firmly established itself as a leader in managed care technology and consulting services."