Latest Patient Satisfaction Survey Gives American Specialty Health Plans High Marks for Access and Care for Chiropractic Services

San Diego, CA (July 10, 2001) - Better than 97 percent of American Specialty Health Plans of California (ASHP) patients rated the chiropractic services they received as "excellent" to "good" according to the latest patient satisfaction survey released today. ASHP's parent company, American Specialty Health, is the nation's leading health services organization providing affordable, quality complementary healthcare to members of health plans and employer groups.

The latest results mark the third consecutive year that the health plan has scored 95 percent or better, rising from 95 percent in 1998 to 96 percent in 1999 to 97 percent in 2000. Also, for the third consecutive year, better than 9 of 10 members said that they would recommend ASHP to family or friends.

"The results are particularly meaningful as we only survey patients who have sought services from an ASHP provider," said Dr. Douglas Metz, senior vice president of health services for ASHP. "Many health plans typically survey members, of which a sub-set actually saw their physician during the past year. We are interested strictly in patient-provider encounters and the interaction between health plan and patient."

Of particular importance, 99 percent of the respondents gave ASHP high marks in both "ease of making appointments for chiropractic care" and in "length of time needed to wait between making the appointment and a visit." In other key questions concerning access, 96 percent responded favorably to the convenience of the location of a chiropractor's office and better than 9 of 10 responded positively regarding the ease of choosing a chiropractor.

ASHP's network of participating providers is significantly larger than what is required in California for a plan of its size. That allows the network to provide members a broad choice of chiropractors near work or home. The average distance between an ASHP member and the nearest participating chiropractor is 2.4 miles in Northern California and 2.1 miles in Southern California. On average, members have a choice of five participating chiropractors within 5.2 miles in Northern California and within 4.3 miles in Southern California.

In all healthcare indicators, ASHP rated 95 percent or higher. Questions included thoroughness of treatment received, the chiropractor's explanation of the patient's problem, attention given to what the patient had to say, and how much the patient was helped by the care received.

"The survey results tell us that our patients feel good about the care they are receiving and good about how both ASHP and our providers respond to their needs," said Dr. Metz. "It also reaffirms that our credentialing process is helping to assure that professional, qualified and caring providers are conveniently available to take care of our members."

An independent market research company that is certified by the National Committee on Quality Assurance conducts the annual survey. The questions asked are a blending of the industry-accepted HEDIS survey with that of CAHPS.

According to Dr. Metz, ASHP views the survey results over time to determine trends and to look for opportunities for improvement. He says that the Company uses the findings to help guide its quality improvement measures and to help assure that patient needs are being met and continuously improved. These results are shared annually with health plans that are clients of ASHP.

Based in San Diego, California, American Specialty Health and its affiliates provide complementary healthcare network access, affinity discount and benefit plan programs nationwide to health plans, insurance carriers, employer groups and trust funds. Currently, American Specialty Health affiliates provide full-risk administration of complementary healthcare benefits for 5.8 million health plan members. Through its affinity programs offered through American Specialty Health Networks (ASHN), about 55 million individuals have access to one or more of ASHN's services.

Since its national expansion two years ago, ASHN has experienced a 500 percent growth in the size of its provider network. Today the ASHN network includes 19,000 acupuncturists, chiropractors, dietitians and massage therapists, among others. It is the largest such network in the country. The Company has been awarded full accreditation by the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission/URAC for the quality of its healthcare operations.

Further information on ASH may be obtained by calling 1-800-848-3555.