TELUS Health Solutions to provide Great-West Life with Canada's first
national e-Claims solution for extended healthcare providers

e-Claims exchange service will enable extended healthcare providers such as physiotherapists, chiropractors and visioncare providers, and others, to electronically submit claims directly to the insurance company, or their designated payors, on behalf of their clients

TORONTO , Feb. 5 /CNW/ - TELUS Health Solutions today announced that it has been selected by The Great-West Life Assurance Company for the development and implementation of an e-Claims exchange service for extended healthcare providers. The initial service will be introduced in 2010 for select providers such as physiotherapists, chiropractors and visioncare providers. Over time, it is expected that this will be broadened to include the wider range of providers which provide services covered by group benefit plans.

Today, many people enjoy the convenience of the electronic point-of-sale claim service available for dental and drug services. This level of convenience has not been available for other extended healthcare benefits.

"We are pleased to be able to work with TELUS Health Solutions to bring this important new service to our customers and their employees," said Mike Schwartz , senior vice-president of Group Benefits at Great-West Life. "For the first time, the extended healthcare provider community will be able to submit electronic payment reimbursement requests directly to us right at their point of service, offering significantly increased convenience and flexibility for plan members."

The e-Claims exchange service will be the first of its kind in Canada . While Great-West Life is the first insurance company to collaborate with TELUS on this initiative and has played a key role in supporting its development, the e-Claims solution will be made widely available to other benefit insurers, and over time, to a wide range of healthcare providers. This will enable the extended health provider community to streamline the claims and reimbursement process for their services on behalf of patients. Using their own patient/practice management system or through a portal within a website created and managed by TELUS Health Solutions, providers will be able to submit electronic claims quickly and efficiently allowing them to better manage their billing and receivables activities, trim down the paperwork involved in manual preparation and submission of receipts or insurance forms, reduce costs and give them more time to take care of their patients.

"The eClaims solution is a key expansion of our claims exchange portfolio, which will bring to the healthcare community a complete suite of services, supporting the seamless capture and routing of electronic claims from health professionals to insurance companies," said Marc Filion , chief operating officer and general manager of TELUS Health Solutions. "At TELUS, we're delighted to be a part of this industry first with Great-West Life. As Canada's largest healthcare claims transaction processor, we are constantly looking for new ways to equip our insurance customers with tools that will allow them to support employers and plan members in their journey to manage health proactively, conveniently and efficiently. "

About Great-West Life

Founded in Winnipeg in 1891, Great-West Life has long been a leader in the group benefits marketplace. The company has established this position over many decades, through its commitment to quality customer services and through a comprehensive selection of cost-effective benefits plans. Great-West Life offers effective benefit solutions for large and small employee groups of any size. The company serves the needs of more than 33,000 plan sponsors and their plan members and handles 50 million group health and dental claims for its plan members and their dependents each year.

About TELUS Health Solutions

TELUS Health Solutions, backed by Emergis, represents a unique set of technology, expertise and resources to help transform how information is used in the healthcare industry. TELUS Health Solutions has years of expertise in successfully implementing healthcare applications and information communication technology processes through industry leading solutions and consulting services to customers in Canada and around the world. It is backed by more than 1,500 TELUS Health Solutions team members including healthcare professionals. For more information, please visit telushealth.com.

About TELUS

TELUS (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) is a leading national telecommunications company in Canada , with $9.6 billion of annual revenue and 11.9 million customer connections including 6.4 million wireless subscribers, 4.1 million wireline network access lines and 1.2 million Internet subscribers and more than 100,000 TELUS TV customers. Led since 2000 by President and CEO, Darren Entwistle , TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services including data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, entertainment and video. In support of our philosophy to give where we live, TELUS, our team members and retirees have contributed $158 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered more than 3 million hours of service to local communities since 2000. Nine TELUS Community Boards across Canada lead TELUS' local philanthropic initiatives. TELUS was honoured to be named the most outstanding philanthropic corporation globally for 2010 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, becoming the first Canadian company ever to receive this prestigious international recognition. For more information about TELUS, please visit telus.com.

Forward looking statements

This news release contains forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are not based on historical facts, but rather on current expectations, TELUS assumptions and projections about future events, and are therefore subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward looking statements. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations. Company assumptions and risk factors are listed from time to time in TELUS' reports, public disclosure documents including Management's discussion and analysis, Annual Information Form, and in other filings with securities regulatory authorities in Canada and the United States.news release or any other forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by it or on its behalf.

For further information: For media inquiries, please contact: Janice Murray, TELUS Health Solutions, [phone], [email protected]; Marlene Klassen, APR, Assistant Vice-President, Communication Services, Great-West Life, [phone]