TriZetto Offers Five Strategies to Improve Contract Renewals and Provider Satisfaction

TriZetto`s Rachael Jones Available for Reporter Interviews
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
Conducted successfully, provider contract negotiations enhance a health plan`s
relationships with physicians and facilities and optimize its contracted rates
for member care. Conversely, unsuccessful negotiations can compromise the
competitiveness of both a healthcare payer`s provider network and its contracted
discounts.

"Fortunately, there are five concrete strategies payer organizations can take to
improve contract renewals," said Rachael Jones, director of product management
for The TriZetto Group, Inc., in her presentation at the recent World Research
Group 10th Annual Network Contract Optimization Conference in Orlando, Fla.

TriZetto`s five strategies for health plans seeking a better contract renewal
process, said Jones, are:

1. Shorten the contract renewal process to spend less time negotiating;

2. Configure contracts to net the best mix of payments and terms to yield the
lowest medical costs;

3. Minimize risk and add transparency to contracting and claims management;

4. Track performance - the health plan`s - and negotiate from a stronger
position with key providers in the network; and

5. Prioritize contracts and contract terms that have the most impact.

"Healthcare payers should take advantage of TriZetto`s network management
software solutions to implement these five strategies," Jones explained.

She cited the company`s NetworX Modeler® application, which forecasts costs to
help payers negotiate the best provider contracts, and TriZetto`s NetworX
Pricer® application, which automates claims pricing to enhance the efficiency of
contract administration. Analysts agree that the right complement of processes
and systems is critical.

"To respond successfully to healthcare market business and performance mandates,
healthcare payers must manage their provider relationships with greater care,
efficiency and agility than ever before," wrote analyst Janice Young in a Health
Industry Insights report.* "As a result, homegrown and disconnected information
systems and fragmented business processes provide many chances for healthcare
payers to miss critical business opportunities."

Integrated Healthcare Management (IHM), TriZetto`s industry vision, is a
systems-science approach that aims to overcome disconnected systems and
fragmented processes by converging benefits administration, care management and
constituent engagement for vastly improved information-sharing and incentive
alignment. The greater the convergence through IHM, explained Jones, the greater
the opportunity to enhance the cost and quality of care for U.S. consumers.

To speak with TriZetto`s Rachael Jones and learn more about specific elements of
each of the five strategies for improved contract renewals, contact Schwartz
Communications at 781-684-0770 or trizetto@schwartz-pr.com.

About TriZetto

Founded in 1997, TriZetto is a privately held healthcare information technology
company in the U.S. With its technology touching half of the U.S. insured
population, TriZetto is Powering Integrated Healthcare ManagementTM. TriZetto
provides information technology solutions that enable health insurance payers
and other constituents in the healthcare supply chain to improve the
coordination of benefits and care for healthcare consumers. The company's
offerings include enterprise and component software, hosting and business
process outsourcing services, and consulting.

* Health Industry Insights, an IDC Company, Healthcare Payer IT Strategies
Report, "Healthcare Payer Transparency Initiatives: Managing Provider Data,"
August 2007, Doc # HI208117, Janice Young.

Media Contact:
Schwartz Communications
Melissa Bruno, 781-684-0770
trizetto@schwartz-pr.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009