Leading HMO in Nigeria Selects Ebix for Healthcare Administration System

ATLANTA--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Ebix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBIX), a leading international supplier of On-Demand software and E-commerce services to the insurance industry, today announced that it has signed a contract with Hygeia HMO, one of the largest HMOs in Nigeria, to implement its managed healthcare information administration system.

Hygeia HMO is one of 62 Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) in Nigeria, and has delivered first-class health insurance since 1986 across the Republic. The HMO has a nationwide network encompassing hundreds of hospitals and clinics that are contracted to work with it. The HMO also operates a flagship hospital, Lagoon Hospitals in various cities including Apapa, Ikeja and Victoria Island, Lagos.

Hygeia works closely with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) – the regulating body of HMOs in Nigeria, along with the country’s social security administration, trying to provide affordable healthcare to all Nigerians. The NHIS is a body established in 1999 by the Federal Government of Nigeria to improve the health of all Nigerians at an affordable cost.

The contract with Ebix involves Ebix providing the entire back office managed healthcare information administration system for Hygeia. The Ebix system will enable Hygeia to not only automate their operations nationwide and position them for growth, but also provide much needed connectivity with the NHIS for both regulatory and automation purposes.

Jose A. Lopez, Ebix Vice President – Sales said, “We are excited to be chosen by one of the largest and most prominent HMOs in Nigeria for its back office needs. It is a validation of our strategy to globalize and customize our systems for various geographies. This contract provides us a good reference point to offer our services to other HMOs, insurance companies and brokers in Africa, with insurance delivery and administration automation getting a lot of attention across the continent now.”

Mr. Kola Awokoya, Hygeia HMO - Managing Director, said, “We are committed to fulfilling our mission of being the first choice for healthcare solutions of international standard in Nigeria. We wanted a partner who could deliver proven world-class cutting edge technology to drive our efforts to automate our healthcare administration. Ebix was a natural choice to power our automation efforts since it provided us with the right blend of proven systems, technology excellence and a commitment to service the African healthcare markets.”

Ebix will provide the systems to help Hygeia in its efforts to provide an integrated delivery healthcare system. The concept of the integrated delivery system is to emphasize the delivery of the primary, secondary and tertiary health care services all under one umbrella, the purpose of which is to create a seamless delivery of health care services in Nigeria.

About Ebix, Inc.

A leading international supplier of On-Demand software and E-commerce services to the insurance industry, Ebix, Inc., (NASDAQ: EBIX) provides end-to-end solutions ranging from infrastructure exchanges, carrier systems, agency systems and BPO services to custom software development for all entities involved in the insurance industry.

With 30+ offices across Brazil, Singapore, Australia, the US, New Zealand, India and Canada, Ebix powers multiple exchanges across the world in the field of life, annuity, health and property & casualty insurance while conducting in excess of $100 billion in insurance premiums on its platforms. Through its various SaaS-based software platforms, Ebix employs hundreds of insurance and technology professionals to provide products, support and consultancy to thousands of customers on six continents. Ebix’s focus on quality has enabled it to be awarded Level 5 status of the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity Model (CMM). Ebix has also earned ISO 9001:2000 certification for both its development and BPO units in India. For more information, visit the Company’s website at www.ebix.com.