APACHE Announces Results of Joint Commission Review: APACHE Systems in Compliance With All Current Criteria for Use in the Accreditation Process.

MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 11, 1998--APACHE Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSI), a leading provider of clinical outcomes measurement and performance improvement services, today announced that two of the Company's core products have been "found to be in compliance with all current criteria" for ORYX use by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. The two systems covered by the Joint Commission's recent review were the Critical Care Series(TM) and the Acute Care Voyager+(TM) products. Each of these capabilities had been included in the Joint Commission's list of systems acceptable for hospital performance reporting. The recently-conducted compliance audit is a standard part of their established ORYX requirements process. Overall, APACHE now offers 28 different measures which can be used by healthcare facilities for ORYX reporting.

"The Joint Commission's emphasis on formal performance measurement and improvement within the accreditation process raises the stakes for hospitals and health systems," said Peter Gladkin, APACHE President and CEO. "Administrators and clinicians are redoubling their efforts by selecting and using modern outcomes management tools like APACHE that are both clinically important and statistically sound. Since ORYX reporting is a key requirement of our customers, we are naturally very pleased that APACHE has reached this important milestone."

An independent, not-for-profit organization, the Joint Commission evaluates and accredits more than 18,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. Since 1951, the Joint Commission has developed state-of-the-art, professionally based standards and evaluates the compliance of health care organizations against these benchmarks. ORYX is the name of the Joint Commission's initiative to integrate performance measures into the accreditation process.

According to the Joint Commission, their accreditation process "will become data-driven and more continuous. The use of outcomes-related data in accreditation activities will serve as a greater stimulus for health care organizations to examine their processes of care and take action to improve the results of care. The long-range goal of the ORYX initiative is to establish a data-driven, continuous survey and accreditation process to complement the standards-based assessment." (See www.jcaho.org for more information.)

APACHE Medical Systems, Inc. is the recognized leader in the development of risk-adjustment models, clinical decision support tools and quality improvement programs for the care of high-risk, high-cost patients. The Company's products and services enable health systems, hospitals and providers to apply an evidence-based approach to achieve clinical performance excellence, reduce cost and compete effectively under managed care. The Company's programs are today helping providers to better manage the clinical, financial and patient satisfaction outcomes of high-risk, high-cost patients in critical, acute, cardiovascular, HIV/AIDS and sub-acute care.

Statements in this press release which are not historical facts are forward-looking statements under provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. The Company wishes to caution readers that the following important factors, among others, in some cases have affected, and in the future could affect, the Company's actual results and could cause its actual results in fiscal 1998 and beyond to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of the Company.

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include but are not limited to the Company's having sufficient sales and timely collections to meet cash requirements and achieve profitability; ability to attract and retain key employees and to successfully replace its chief financial officer; success of its strategy to concentrate its product offerings on high-risk, high-cost patients; ability to timely develop new products and enhance existing products; ability to compete in the competitive and rapidly evolving healthcare information technology industry; ability to correctly estimate and manage its Year 2000 costs and liabilities; success of its marketing and consulting efforts and ability to effectively utilize its direct sales force; ability to protect proprietary information and to obtain necessary licenses on commercially reasonable terms; and ability to comply with and adopt products and services to potential regulatory changes. -0-

                 APACHE(R) Severity-Adjusted Measures
             Accepted by JCAHO for Use in ORYX Initiative


Acute Care Patient Outcome Measures

The 22 acute care measures accepted for use in the ORYX initiative
are:

Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) - hospital LOS ratio
CHF - hospital mortality ratio
Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) - hospital LOS ratio
AMI - hospital mortality ratio
Large bowel resection - hospital LOS ratio
Large bowel resection - hospital mortality ratio
Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) - hospital LOS ratio
CABG - hospital mortality ratio
Pneumonia - hospital LOS ratio
Pneumonia - hospital mortality ratio
Stroke - hospital mortality ratio
Stroke - hospital LOS ratio
Obstructive airway (OBA) - hospital LOS ratio
OBA - hospital mortality ratio
Acute gastrointestinal hemorrhage - hospital LOS ratio
Acute gastrointestinal hemorrhage - hospital mortality ratio
Lung resection - hospital LOS ratio
Prostatectomy - hospital LOS ratio
Laminectomy - hospital LOS ratio
Hysterectomy - hospital LOS ratio
Vascular - hospital LOS ratio
Reduction of fracture - hospital LOS ratio

Critical Care Patient Outcomes Measures

The six critical care measures accepted for use in the ORYX initiative
are:

Active Treatment Ratio for ICU patients
PA-Line (Swan Ganz catheter) ratio for ICU patients
Ventilator days ratio for ICU patients
Hospital mortality ratio for ICU patients
ICU mortality ratio
ICU length of stay ratio