PHOENIX, Ariz. & and ST. LOUIS, Mo. - March 11, 2003 - Quality Care Solutions, Inc., (QCSI®), a leading provider of information technology software and services for healthcare payers, announced today that Mercy Health Plans (MHP), headquartered in St. Louis, has chosen QCSI's QMACS®, aQDen®, aQHealth™ and aQTrans™ solutions as its new core benefits administration systems.  MHP, which is a regional health plan with 220,000 members in Missouri, Texas and Illinois, will be implementing the QCSI solutions immediately across all of its 12 lines of business, including commercial, Medicaid and Medicare.

MHP selected QCSI's software solutions over its current mainframe system based upon QCSI's advanced n-tier architecture and flexibility functionality.  "QCSI's applications and technologies are truly the 'standard for the future' for claims payer systems," said Michael Murphy, COO for Mercy Health Plans.  "This product suite will empower us to automate our business and claims adjudication so we can focus on our long-standing mission to consistently improve the health and quality of life of communities we serve."

Using QCSI's enterprise claims administration solutions to manage claims processing, member eligibility, provider contracting and customer service, MHP will achieve a significant increase in operating flexibility, while positioning itself for the future with leading-edge technology.

Designed exclusively for healthcare payers, QMACS and aQDen automate and simplify operations such as medical and dental claims processing, provider administration, employer benefit plan administration and member services management.  QCSI's aQHealth solution is Web-enabled, empowering health plans to administer member services, eligibility, policies, benefits and claims over the Internet.  QCSI's HIPAA solution, aQTrans, combines the best practices for integration, healthcare Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) processing, and technology advancement to assist health plans with preparation for HIPAA.

"Mercy Health Plans has turned to QCSI to transform its healthcare information systems by automating its business process and improving participant loyalty," said Dave Engert, CEO at QCSI. "MHP recognized that QCSI's enterprise package solution has the lowest total cost of ownership, freeing funds to drive its primary mission to improve health outcomes."