Equifax To Offer EDI Services To NAMES Members

Exclusive Agreement First to Reach Market

ATLANTA, April 24, 1996 - Equifax Healthcare EDI Services and the National Association for Medical Equipment Services (NAMES) announced today a new marketing agreement making Equifax the exclusive provider of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) services to NAMES members.

NAMES members provide home medical equipment (HME) to individuals nationwide and represent a majority of the revenue generated in the home medical equipment industry. NAMES will market Equifax EDI services to its membership.

Access to Equifax Healthcare EDI Services will allow HME providers to take immediate advantage of business support services such as credit card and check authorizations. Later, immediate on-line healthcare transactions such as claims submissions and eligibility verifications will be available. In addition, pre-employment screening services are available through another Equifax business unit, Equifax Insurance Services.

The move gives Equifax a major in-road to an area of healthcare now using very little automation while also providing the association greater membership benefits.

"This is the first major effort to bring the immediacy and cost savings of automation to the home medical equipment services industry. Our EDI service will make a major impact in speeding transactions and reducing paperwork for HME providers," said Daniel J. Kohl, senior vice president and group executive for Equifax Healthcare Information Services Group. "It’s another example of how Equifax is helping to make healthcare delivery more efficient and less costly."

Bill Coughlan, CAE, NAMES president and CEO, said "Our association is always looking for ways to help our members enhance their business, and the automated services provided by Equifax are prime examples of meeting the needs of home medical equipment providers. I think HME providers will embrace the EDI services as a welcome relief from the current way most providers now accept payment from their customers or process their claims."

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX), committed to Global Information Leadership in the Information Age, is the leading provider of information services that help grant credit, authorize and process credit card and check transactions, insure lives and property and control healthcare costs. Established in 1899 in Atlanta, Equifax today employs 14,000 people throughout North and South America, the United Kingdom and continental Europe. Revenues for the twelve months ended March 31, 1996 were $1.7 billion.

NAMES, headquartered in Alexandria, VA, is the national trade association representing a diversified membership of more than 1,900 home medical equipment providers and rehabilitation technology suppliers, approximately 100 HME manufacturers and 39 State/Regional HME Associations. NAMES mission is to promote access to quality HME services and rehabilitation/assistive technology as an integral part of our nation’s health care system.