Exhibit 99.1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


                         CONTACT:  John F. Lawler, Jr., Vice President and Chief
                                   Financial Officer (800) 367-1095

                RAYTEL ANNOUNCES FILING OF AMENDED SCHEDULE 13-D
               DISCLOSING REVISED BID FOR THE COMPANY BY EXPANDED
            STOCKHOLDER GROUP; ALSO RECEIVES ADDITIONAL CONFIDENTIAL
                             EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

SAN MATEO, CA/December 18, 2001 -- Raytel Medical Corporation (Nasdaq: RTEL)
(the "Company") announced today that investors who previously filed a Schedule
13-D on October 1, 2001 have amended their filing. The investors include Richard
F. Bader, the Company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Albert J. Henry,
an investor and former director of the Company, and RT Acquisition Group, Inc.
("RTA"), an entity formed by Mssrs. Bader and Henry in order to evaluate the
feasibility of entering into discussions with a Special Committee of the
Company's Board of Directors regarding a possible acquisition of the Company by
them.

The amended Schedule 13-D disclosed that Balfour LLC, an entity controlled by
Mr. Rory Riggs, a stockholder of the Company, has agreed to act in concert with
the other filing stockholders for the purposes of submitting to the Special
Committee's financial advisers a non-binding proposal regarding a possible
acquisition of the Company by RTA. The filing also disclosed a proposal by RTA
to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of the Company not
owned by Mssrs. Bader, Henry, and Riggs and RTA and Balfour LLC (collectively,
the "RTA Bidding Group").

Raytel's Board of Directors, on the recommendation of the Special Committee and
with Mr. Bader abstaining, has granted to the RTA Bidding Group a limited waiver
of the Rights Agreement dated as of August 14, 1998 between the Company and
BankBoston, N.A. to the extent necessary to permit the RTA Bidding Group to
evaluate, prepare, negotiate and finance a potential acquisition of the Company.
The waiver from the Rights Agreement is conditioned upon the RTA Bidding Group
and its affiliates both holding less than 25% of the beneficial ownership of the
outstanding common stock of the Company and not acquiring additional securities
of the Company. For stockholders outside of the RTA Bidding Group, or in the
event that the RTA Bidding Group violates the conditions to the limited waiver,
the triggering level under the Rights Agreement remains ownership of 15% or
greater of Raytel's outstanding shares without the prior approval of the
Company's Board of Directors.

In addition, on December 6, 2001, the Special Committee of the Board of
Directors and RTA entered into a letter agreement under which the Company has
agreed to advance $75,000 to RTA to reimburse RTA for certain expenses incurred
by RTA in connection with a potential transaction, including the expenses of
RTA's financial advisers and counsel. The expense reimbursement is refundable by
RTA to the Company only in the


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event that RTA acts in concert with another party who is in the Company's
industry, or an affiliate of such party.

As previously announced by the Company, the Company's Board of Directors has
appointed a Special Committee consisting of independent directors Gene I. Miller
and Allan Zinberg to act on the Board's behalf. The Special Committee has
engaged Houlihan, Lokey, Howard & Zukin Capital, Inc. to advise the Special
Committee with respect to the proposal and any potential alternative
transactions and has engaged counsel for the Special Committee.

The Special Committee has advised the Company that its financial advisers have
recently received additional confidential non-binding expressions of interest to
acquire the Company from unaffiliated third parties who, unlike the RTA Bidding
Group, are not subject to the beneficial ownership disclosure requirements under
federal securities laws applicable to stockholders or groups of stockholders who
hold in excess of 5% the Company's outstanding common stock and who,
accordingly, have not made public their expressions of interest. The Special
Committee has also advised the Company that it is undertaking a review of all
the expressions of interest, which are subject to various conditions.

There is no present agreement between any member of the bidding parties and the
Company. There can be no assurance that the Special Committee will recommend to
the Board any acquisition proposal, or that any acquisition proposal, if
recommended by the Special Committee and approved by the Board, will be
consummated.

In the absence of any subsequent event that would cause the Company to make a
different determination, the Company does not currently intend to announce the
outcome of the Special Committee's deliberations until either a definitive
agreement has been entered into or the Special Committee has discontinued its
work.




ABOUT RAYTEL

         Raytel (www.raytel.com), headquartered in San Mateo, Calif., is a
leading provider of services and efficient dissemination of technical
information to physicians and patients utilizing telephone technology and the
delivery of diagnostic information over secure Internet links, as well as
ambulatory diagnostic imaging facilities for general as well as cardiac imaging.

         Annually, Raytel provides cardiac testing and pacemaker monitoring
services to over 175,000 patients who are referred by approximately 10,000
physicians. Using Raytel's Patient Management Database, some these physicians
access their patient test results. Raytel has a database of more than 500
different pacemaker models, which it relies upon in the preparation of this
information. Raytel's imaging operations include MRI, CT, Cardiac
Catheterization, Nuclear Cameras and other radiological exams provided in
convenient, state-of-the-art facilities. The imaging operations also include a


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network with over 550 multi-modality diagnostic imaging facilities located
throughout the East Coast. The network provides services to over 600,000
beneficiaries participating in occupational injury and management programs and
group health plans.


SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995

         The statements contained in this press release that are not purely
historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of
the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements
regarding Raytel's expectations, beliefs, intentions, or strategies regarding
the future. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which
could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These
risks include that the Special Committee may not recommend any acquisition
proposal and that any acquisition proposal, if recommended by the Special
Committee and approved by the Board, may not be consummated. Other risks
relating to Raytel's business are described in more detail in Raytel's Form 10-K
Report for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2000, its Form 10-Q Report for
the quarter ended June 30, 2001, and other reports filed from time to time with
the Securities and Exchange Commission.


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