Colorado Springs, Miami – September 17, 2003 – FONEMED Medical Call Centers released today the results of pilot programs in Labrador and Brazil that improved access to health information and advice while reducing costs to providers.

In August 2002, the Community Clinics division of Health Labrador Corporation and the Rural Health Academic Centre initiated a pilot project arrangement with FONEMED, a call triage center, as a solution to helping health care professionals manage after hours care in the community of Churchill Falls, Labrador.  It was proposed that the project would allow the organization to evaluate a call triage system for expansion throughout the Health Labrador region, based on effectiveness and cost efficiency.

Regional Director, Andrea White RN, reported that “the evaluation revealed that the call center service not only offers clients an accessible and viable option to get trusted and reliable advice on what to do, it also provides a practical and positive adjunct for the Health Labrador Board in delivering health care to remote and isolated communities."

The FioPrev’s Fio-Saúde managed care system of Brazil is also experiencing early positive results from using the FONEMED System, even though it is still in pilot operation. The innovative project started operations in early December 2002 after FioPrev health plan identified FONEMED, a pioneer in the area of healthcare call centers, as an appropriate solution for its beneficiaries. The objective of the contract with FONEMED is the provision of healthcare orientation, assistance, and counseling by telephone to the employees of FioCruz, a large public foundation linked to the Ministry of Health of Brazil.

The FioPrev Executive Directory reported that "FONEMED brings together the convenience of medical orientation and counseling to the beneficiaries of the Fio-Saúde health plan and is also advantageous to the plan operator, as a consequence of the reduction of care cost.  We estimate savings for the 14,800 beneficiaries in the pilot program at over $220,000 for the year.”

FONEMED President and CEO Ken Bleakley commented: “FONEMED is committed to working with our partners around the globe to use telephones and Internet to bring better access to health information, services and products. We are gratified by these early results of projects to serve those who most benefit from improved health access.”

About FONEMED

FONEMED, with offices in Colorado Springs and Miami, offers health information and advice from experienced registered nurses by phone and Internet, serving medical practices, insurers and individuals throughout the world. It provides qualified partners with a complete business package drawing on its accumulated know-how that includes all aspects of establishing, marketing and operating a Health Information Center. FONEMED operates a state-of-the-art medical call center accredited by URAC in St. John’s, Newfoundland, with remote agents in the U.S., serving all of its North American customers.  See www.fonemed.com for further information about FONEMED and for abstracts of the referenced projects.

About Health Labrador Corporation and Churchill Falls

Health Labrador Corporation, as part of its regional activities, operates a primary health care clinic in the community of Churchill Falls.  The nurse and physician share after hours on-call duties, with the RN working in the expanded role of Regional Nurse assessing, diagnosing, treating and prescribing medications. Churchill Falls is an industrial community located in the heart of Labrador.  With only a gravel highway extending to the remote communities of Happy Valley-Goose Bay on one end and Labrador City and Wabush on the other, it is virtually isolated from a health care point of view. Without the benefit of extended families in close proximity, and lacking the advantage of a wide array of health related community resources, Churchill Falls residents telephone the on-call primary care practitioner because it is often their only option to get the health information they need.

Contact: Andrea White RN

Regional Director (Community Clinics Services)

Health Labrador Corporation

Ph.: 709-897-2260

Email: awhite@hlc.nf.ca

About FioCruz

FioCruz is a public foundation located in the City of Rio de Janeiro and linked to the Ministry of Health of Brazil. It is a large organization encompassing the National School of Public Health, the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (biomedical research), FarmaManguinhos (industrial production of pharmaceutics), BioManquinhos (vaccine production) and INCQS biologicals, food and drug quality laboratory and two specialized hospitals (pediatric and communicable diseases).

Contact: FIONEWS-Infomativo Mensal FioPrev

Instituto Oswaldo Cruz de Seguridade Social

Av. Brasil 4.036 Grupos 300a 316

Rio de Janeiro-RJ

Brasil-Manguinhos-CEP 221,040-361