ALARIS Medical Expands Its Guardrails Safety Software Suite with Continuous Quality Improvement Analysis Capabilities.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 10, 2003

First IV System to Measure Effectiveness of Hospitals' Safety

Practices

ALARIS Medical Systems Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of ALARIS Medical Inc. (AMEX: AMI), announced today that it has expanded its standard suite of proprietary software applications for the Medley(TM) Medication Safety System with the addition of the Guardrails(R) Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Standard Software.

The Medley(TM) Medication Safety System is a modular point-of-care computer that integrates infusion, patient monitoring and clinical best practice guidelines in a single platform. The Guardrails(R) Safety Software suite helps protect against entry errors by checking the accuracy of the input before the information is transferred to the infusion system. Clinicians are alerted if a programming error is made.

"IV medication administration errors are typically underreported," said Jake St. Philip, vice president and general manager of ALARIS Medical Systems' North American Business Unit. "For example, a 1995 study published in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) found that administration errors account for 38% of errors and only 2% of these errors are intercepted(1)." Also, the Sept. 9, 2002 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine published an article entitled "Medication Errors Observed in 36 Health Care Facilities" that suggested that medication errors occur in nearly 1 of every 5 doses given to patients in the typical hospital. This study confirms the findings from earlier reports such as the 1999 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report. Specifically, the IOM report revealed that medical errors result in more than 50,000 deaths annually, making it the 8th leading cause of death in the U.S.

The Guardrails(R) Safety Software suite provides hospitals and health systems with a complete total quality management (TQM) tool for improving the safety of intravenous (IV) medication administration. It supports hospitals in designing, implementing and analyzing clinical best practices as another Medication Safety at the Point of Care(TM) innovation available only from ALARIS Medical Systems. Specifically, the new Guardrails(R) CQI Standard Software combines the Guardrails(R) CQI Event Tracker database and the Guardrails(R) CQI Event Reporter, which provide analysis capabilities to measure effectiveness of hospitals' safety practices.

The Guardrails(R) CQI Event Tracker monitors programming alerts issued and records the steps leading to an alert as well as the subsequent programming of the infusion device. The Guardrails(R) CQI Event Tracker is designed to store up to one year of Guardrails(R) Software related alerts.

This data can be transferred and archived in the Guardrails(R) CQI Event Reporter database, and further provides a standard package of HTML reports for viewing and analysis. Hospitals and health systems can utilize this data to analyze their medication and quality improvement processes and to monitor clinical point-of-care programming, which occurs outside of their best practice guidelines.

"The Guardrails(R) CQI Event Tracker significantly lowers the chances of inaccuracies in tracking errors as the data underlying these reports is generated by the infusion device itself," St. Philip continued. "The Guardrails(R) CQI Standard Software continues to supply health care providers with an accurate and objective tool to analyze and improve the quality of medication administration."

The Guardrails(R) Safety Software suite provides up to 1,000 drugs and 10 care applications and is unmatched in its ability to customize drug delivery limits by care area profile. It utilizes an extensive and dynamic library of drug dosing parameters, which is configured to meet the needs of the hospital or health care system, and can be easily modified as necessary by the institution supporting best practices. Once the Pharmacy and Nursing teams are trained on the use of the Guardrails(R) Safety Software suite, the safety system can be implemented rapidly and without disruption in clinical routine.

About ALARIS Medical Inc.

ALARIS Medical Inc. (AMEX: AMI), through its wholly owned operating company, ALARIS Medical Systems Inc., develops practical solutions for Medication Safety at the Point of Care(TM). The company designs, manufactures and markets intravenous (IV) medication delivery and infusion therapy devices, needle-free disposables and related monitoring equipment in the United States and internationally. ALARIS Medical's proprietary Guardrails(R) Safety Software, our other "smart" technologies and our "smart" services help to reduce the risks and costs of medication errors, help to safeguard patients and clinicians and also gather and record clinical information for review, analysis and transcription. The company provides its products, professional and technical support and training services to over 5,000 hospital and health care systems, as well as alternative care sites in more than 120 countries through its direct sales force and distributors. Headquartered in San Diego, California, ALARIS Medical employs approximately 2,900 people worldwide and operates manufacturing facilities in the United States, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

This news release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Persons reading this release are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including the effect of legislative and regulatory changes affecting the health care industry, the potential of increased levels of competition, technological changes, the dependence of ALARIS Medical upon the success of new products (including its proprietary Guardrails(R) Safety Software and the Medley(TM) Medication Safety System) and ongoing research and development efforts including obtaining regulatory approvals, restrictions contained in the instruments governing the company's indebtedness, and the significant leverage to which the company is subject. Such risk factors are detailed in the Securities and Exchange Commission filings of ALARIS Medical Inc. and ALARIS Medical Systems Inc., including Forms 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2002, and other filings. The company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events or developments.

(1)Leape LL, Bates DW, Cullen DJ, et al. Systems analysis of adverse drug events. JAMA.1995;274:35-43