PFS POWER RANKINGS REPORTS PATIENT FINANCIAL SERVICE DEPARTMENTS PERFORMANCE DROP AFTER TWO MONTHS

DEKAYE Consulting, Inc., a Long Island, New York, based firm specializing in healthcare financial operations released its first comparative data reports from its PFS POWER RANKINGS(sm).

November 4, 2002

PFS POWER RANKINGS REPORTS PATIENT FINANCIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENTS PERFORMANCE DROP AFTER TWO MONTHS

DEKAYE Consulting, Inc., a Long Island, New York, based firm specializing in healthcare financial operations released its first comparative data reports from its PFS POWER RANKINGS(sm). The scoring system is designed to help hospital financial managers measure and track the performance of their Patient Financial Services (PFS) departments. These areas are responsible for most hospital's billing and collection of insurances (such as Medicare, Medicaid, Commercial and HMOs) and patient balances.

According to DEKAYE Consulting, Inc.'s President and CEO, Allan P. DeKaye, MBA, FHFMA, "Total Scores" dropped from 20.3 to 16.1 for the reporting periods, September 2002 to October 2002 (for the A/R data in August 2002 and September 2002, respectively). With a monthly top attainable score of 30, this drop warranted closer examination."

In an analysis Mr. DeKaye issued to the subscribers, he cited some of the factors contributing to the negative performance. "The most notable elements to drop in point value score during this period were in the Strength Category where "total A/R decrease," and to a lesser extent "total cash goal met" contributed to the scoring decline. He went on to add, "The Consistency Category was also affected, as the points scored for achieving two consecutive months of meeting cash goals and decreasing overall A/R weren't maximized."

Based on responses to 14 YES or NO questions about PFS performance, hospitals are ranked nationally in real time. The system also provides a recasting of the data into regional and bed size categories. In addition to providing an analysis of the trends, subscribers can ask questions and provide insights as to how they achieved improved performance by posting messages to a Bulletin Board. Both the rankings and Bulletin Board postings are "id and password" protected which provides for hospital anonymity.

Mr. DeKaye expects the participation in PFS Power Rankings to continue to grow as a national marketing campaign is now underway. "Hospitals will finally be able to answer the question, ?So how is my PFS department doing?'" Mr. DeKaye noted. "Using both their own individual profile and the comparative data, hospitals will be able to identify and remedy the production problems in their own revenue cycle to achieve their ?personal best' in terms of performance."

Mr. DeKaye, whose national consulting practice focuses on hospitals, physicians, other healthcare providers and corporations, is also author of The Patient Accounts Management Handbook (Aspen), and is viewed as an expert in the field. For more information, and to join PFS Power Rankings visit their web site at: www.pfspowerrank.com, email to: pfspowerrank@aol.com, or call (516) 678-2754