EXCELLENT NEWS!!
Friday December 5, 9:00 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: MedCare Technologies, Inc.
MedCare Completes Transition From Development Stage Company to Leading
Vendor of Proprietary Non-Drug, Non-Surgical Treatment Programs For
Urinary Incontinence
MedCare Starts 1997 With 3 MedCare Program Sites, Ends With 12 and is Positioned to Open
4-6 New Locations Each Month in 1998;
Company Has $4.0 Million in Cash, No Debt and Plans For Strong Growth; Small Cap Listing in
Progress
NAPERVILLE, Ill., Dec. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- MedCare Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: MCAR - news), developer of The MedCare
Program, a proprietary non-surgical and non-drug system for treating individuals suffering from urinary incontinence,
today announced its twelfth MedCare Program site. Starting with only three locations in January, 1997, the Company now
has already established or is in the process of opening the following locations in conjunction with leading local medical
professionals:
City, State Medical Associate Affiliation
Norman, OK Dr. Michael M. Blue Private practice
Winter Park, FL Dr. Jake Jacobo Urology Consultants
Denver, CO Dr. Rueven Rosen Denver Urology Clinic
Raleigh, NC Dr. Richard D. Kane Wake Urological Associates, P.A.
Kankakee, IL Dr. Joel Slutsky Kankakee Urological Associates
Houston, TX Dr. Ned Stein Private practice
Kingswood, TX Dr. Robert Rosen Private practice
Toledo, OH Dr. Gregory Haselhahn Center Urology Associates, Inc.
Phoenix, AZ Dr. William Crisp Private practice
New York, NY Dr. Robert Gluck Midtown Urologic Associates
Crestwood, IL Dr. Antonio Noriega First Healthcare Inc.
Fremont, CA Dr. Scott Kramer Women's Health Specialists
''All of our R & D, infrastructure development, and marketing positioning is behind us so that we can now focus on business
development and expand exponentially in 1998 and beyond,'' said Mr. Harmel S. Rayat, Chairman and CEO of MedCare
Technologies. ''We're now positioned to establish between four to six MedCare Program sites every month, along with
researching and pursuing potential new markets such as assisted living centers and managed care, and of course, continue
to operate our business in the best interest of our shareholders. This will include formalizing the listing of MedCare on the
Nasdaq Small Cap market in the very near future.''
Effective marketing and advertising increasing patient traffic
While the majority of MedCare's program sites are relatively new, the Company's more established locations are meeting
and exceeding expectations primarily due to a more effective, recently-developed marketing and advertising program,
which includes newspaper and magazine advertising, radio and TV, direct mail, public relations, and public speaking
seminars. Patient traffic at the Company's one year old Norman, OK, site, for example, is now approaching 70 patient visits
per month, and plans are underway to increase nursing staff to accommodate an ever increasing patient load due to
enhanced public awareness of the Program's availability, high success rate without drugs or surgery, and acceptance by
referring local physicians.
At the Company's two month old site in Raleigh, NC, the advertising and marketing has produced almost immediate success.
''Within a very short period of time, the number of patients being seen for incontinence has increased substantially,''
stated Dr. Richard D. Kane, a highly respected board certified urologist with Wake Urological Associates. ''I was truly
surprised at how fast the MedCare Program took off. Our clinician is booked every day and we are going to need to add
another clinician to see all the patients that our Program is now bringing to our practice. Most importantly, the response
from patients has been excellent. Although the program has been in our office too short a time for me to get a firm
response rate, the initial clinical responses appear to support the success figures given to me by MedCare.''
Physician Interest in The MedCare Program increases
The success and growing popularity of The MedCare Program with patients, along with increased patent traffic and
ancillary business benefits that MedCare affiliated doctors enjoy, has substantially increased physician interest in The
MedCare Program. ''Your 'turn key' pelvic floor rehabilitation program is the piece of the pie we have been searching for to
complete our mission to provide comprehensive care for incontinent women,'' states Dr. Scott Kramer, director of the
Women's Incontinence Center in Fremont, CA. ''After discussing this with my colleagues, we unanimously agreed to
incorporate The MedCare Program into our center. The excitement generated can be best exemplified by giving us the
impetus to move ahead with a related decision to upgrade our urodynamics equipment.''
Dr. Joel Slutsky, a highly regarded physician in Illinois and a recent affiliate of The MedCare Program in Kankakee adds that
''this Program will bring a new dimension to our practice and allow us to help patients with a new protocol which was
previously not available to them.'' At the Denver Urology Clinic in Denver, CO, Dr. Eugene Heller, a board certified urologist
states ''We're proud to be able to provide this quality program to the many Denver area residents who are frustrated and
embarrassed by incontinence. They need not wait to take care of the problem, which only gets worse with neglect. Its time
we brought this problem out into the open and inform the public that they need not suffer in silence.''
''When I first started with the MedCare Program about a year ago, my main motivation, as it is with most doctors, was to
help the hundreds of incontinent patients that I see every month,'' said Dr. Michael M. Blue, Medical Director of MedCare
Technologies. ''The furthest thought in my mind was the tremendous financial benefits that my practice has enjoyed over
the past twelve months. Leaving this aside, I believe there may be another motivation for wise physicians to seek an
alliance with MedCare, and that is managed care. Since drugs and surgery, the main form of prescribed treatment across
North America, have inherent risks, side effects and costs, those doctors who do not first seek and offer MedCare's
conservative, risk free and cost effective treatment program for their incontinent patents before suggesting alternative
options may be subject to scrutiny by their managed care providers. The trend in our predominantly managed care
environment has been, and will continue to be, to provide the best care as economically as possible. This of course, bodes
well for MedCare and all those associated with the Company.''
Corporate infrastructure in place for strong future growth
''We began the year with a few early stage MedCare Program sites,'' said Mr. Jeff Aronin, President and Chief Operating
Officer of MedCare Technologies. ''Today we have a dozen locations with some of the most highly regarded physicians in our
respective markets. But more importantly, over the past several months, MedCare has undergone a tremendously successful
transformation, from a small group who managed a few local incontinence programs with minimal revenues to a
corporation that now has a sophisticated business development division, and a marketing, advertising and public relations
campaign. This campaign is in each site and can roll out nationally. MedCare also has a physician recruitment campaign that
includes everything from direct mail to public relations and even focused recruitment literature. MedCare recently added a
billing division which will ensure optimized, prompt, and accurate collections; dramatically enhancing revenues and cash
flow for MedCare and the physician groups. MedCare has a simplified and more effective scheduling protocol, along with a
clinical division which supports all the nurse's current and future operations and can easily train five to six clinicians per
month. MedCare has also entered new markets. We are now in the nursing home market and the assisted living market,
hospital and managed care markets as well. With regards to managed care, this has been a forward thinking step, and has
allowed us to bring on large groups such as Women's Incontinence Center in Northern California and will also allow
insurance companies to realize significant savings using MedCare's risk free and highly successful treatment program as a
first line treatment method rather than paying for costly conventional treatment options, such as surgery which often
requires hospitalization and has potential risks and complications. This will also allow us to grow our existing practices
and make us less dependent on Medicare. In short, we have an infrastructure and protocols in place to rapidly expand in
1998.''
The MedCare Program does not require FDA approval and is risk free
MedCare Technologies has developed a cost effective, non-drug, non- surgical and non-invasive system for the care and
treatment of patents suffering from urinary incontinence. MedCare's proprietary treatment protocol does not require FDA
approval, is covered by most health insurance plans and results in the reduction or complete elimination of 70% to 100% of
the most commonly found urinary incontinence symptoms. Unlike traditional treatment options, which are costly and often
unsuccessful or inadequate, MedCare's treatment program is completely risk free and has a three year history with a
proven success rate in excess of 85%. MedCare Technologies offers a multi- modality program based on behavioral
techniques and neuromuscular electromyography biofeedback. The MedCare Program is designed to mobilize and strengthen
various sensory-response systems and is based on operant conditioning strategies whereby specific physiological
responses are progressively shaped, strengthened and coordinated. Affecting some 25 million Americans, UI is a $16 billion
market and accounts for almost half of all nursing home admissions. Despite being one of the most prevalent medical
conditions in health care today, with almost half of all women being affected at some point UI remains a vastly
under-serviced and over-looked market place.
This news release contains forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or
performance and underlying assumptions and other statements which are other than statements of historical facts. These
statements are subject to uncertainties and risks including, but not limited to, product and service demand and acceptance,
changes in technology, changes in insurance reimbursement, economic conditions, the impact of competition and pricing,
government regulation, and other risks defined in this document and in statements filed from time to time with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. All such forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, and whether made by
or on behalf of the Company are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements and any other cautionary statements
which may accompany the forward-looking statements. In addition, the Company disclaims any obligation to update any
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. |
