FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Med Advantage Purchased Colorado's Largest CVO

Orlando July 2, 2001 -- In a transaction announced today, Orlando, Florida-based Med Advantage, a nationwide credentials verification organization (CVO), has purchased Gadrian Corporation, Colorado's largest CVO.  Terms of the agreement, effective June 28, 2001, were not disclosed. With the purchase, Gadrian's credentials verification operations will transition to Med Advantage offices in Orlando, Florida.  Med Advantage will retain a customer service presence in Colorado until the transition is complete. It is estimated that the transition of operations will be complete by August 31, 2001.

 CVO’s verify a health care practitioner's educational and professional background -- for example, whether a physician did in fact graduate from medical school or whether a practitioner has any sanctions against his or her license to practice.  Health plans and hospitals are required to obtain such checks before adding practitioners to their networks or granting hospital privileges; they are also required to perform these checks periodically thereafter. 

"This acquisition enhances Med Advantage's leadership in the medical credentials verification field and reflects our expertise and commitment to the health care market as a means to enhance quality of care and to control costs," said John C. Barrett, senior vice president of Med Advantage.  "Both Med Advantage and Gadrian are committed to ensuring a smooth transition for Gadrian customers," added Barrett.  "Our processes are very similar and should require few accommodations from Gadrian's current clients and their affiliated practitioners," he said.  "Customers will soon receive information to explain the transition and ensure that they receive the data they need to meet their credentialing deadlines." 

"After working diligently for the past six years, we believe we have achieved our initial goals of streamlining the credentialing process and reducing the resource costs associated with redundant collection of credentials information for health plans, hospitals and practitioners in Colorado," said Gerry Lewis-Jenkins, senior vice president of business development for COPIC Trust, which currently owns Gadrian Corporation.  "Our analysis tells us that we have made as much impact as possible in this market."

"A changing business and regulatory environment -- over which Gadrian has no control -- was a significant factor behind the decision to accept a purchase offer," she added.  "With the ongoing consolidation of health plans into national systems, it became clear that Gadrian's long-term viability would be jeopardized by its niche strategy of concentrating on the Colorado market."

 Gadrian Corporation (http://www.gadrian.com) is owned by COPIC Trust, which also owns COPIC Insurance Company, COPIC Financial Service Group, Ltd., and Practice Quality, L.L.C.  COPIC Insurance Company is Colorado's leading provider of medical professional liability insurance.  COPIC Financial Service Group is an independent all-lines insurance brokerage and financial services consultancy.  Practice Quality performs office site visits and medical record reviews as another component of health care practitioner credentialing. 

Med Advantage (http://www.med-advantage.com), a subsidiary of ProAssurance Corporation, (NYSE: PRA) is considered one of the largest CVO’s in the country.  Med Advantage is certified by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)* for 10 out of 10 credentials verification elements and was one of the first CVO’s accredited by URAC**.  Med Advantage's database currently holds approximately 900,000 providers and has over 4.3 million elements verified according to the standards of both NCQA and The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).

* The National Committee for Quality Assurance, located in Washington, DC, is an independent, non-profit organization that certifies credentials verification organizations and accredits managed care organizations.  

  ** The American Accreditation HealthCare Commission / URAC is a non-profit entity founded in 1990 to establish accreditation standards for managed health care organizations.