API To Implement Entire Product Suite Throughout Ministry Health Care.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

HARTFORD, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 16, 2003

API's Labor Resource Management Solutions Will Manage Employee

Information for 7,000 Employees across Ten Facilities

Automating Peripherals Inc. (API) announced today that Ministry Health Care, headquartered in Milwaukee, WI, will be implementing API's suite of labor resource management solutions throughout the entire organization, impacting over 7,000 employees. The suite includes Payrollmation(R) time and attendance, ActiveStaffer(R) staff scheduling, EdTrack(R) education management, Navigator(R) human resources and SecurALL(R) access control.

"We at Saint Joseph's Hospital have been working with API for over a decade, and they have continuously supplied us with the most comprehensive, technologically advanced labor resource management solutions available," said Steve Pelton, chief information officer for Saint Joseph's Hospital, the largest facility within Ministry Health Care. "Now all our facilities will benefit from API's applications with access to real-time information that allows us to manage our labor costs and outside agency costs, improve budgeting and enhance employee communication."

With labor expenses accounting for as much as 60 percent of a healthcare organization's budget, managing employee data is a critical component to success in a very competitive marketplace. API's open applications utilize industry-standard Microsoft technology and are developed to work together to provide healthcare organizations with real-time employee information that helps every level of employees -- from clinical and administrative workers to managers and executives -- make better informed business decisions. API's integrated labor resource management product line is the most comprehensive available. API's philosophy is that truly integrated systems are essential to real-time information, and real-time information is the key to organizational success and profitability.

Payrollmation automates and simplifies the time and attendance data collection and calculation process, streamlines time card management, improves employee morale and helps the organization to control labor costs. ActiveStaffer simplifies the time-consuming, labor-intensive manual processes involved in scheduling employees, maximizing resources, controlling labor costs and retaining qualified staff. Navigator automates the process of obtaining, tracking, updating and managing employee information, which maximizes staff resources across the enterprise. SecurALL give healthcare organizations the power to automatically track and regulate access throughout the organization. By maintaining a detailed database of all employee education information, EdTrack quickly and easily monitors employee education requirements and scheduling of classes.

"We've always appreciated our long-term partnership with Saint Joseph's Hospital, and are pleased that we can now grow the relationship to work with all of the Ministry Health Care organizations," said Luis Garcia, API president and CEO. "Having API's entire labor resource management suite throughout such a large organization will really streamline the processing of employee-related information and positively impact the bottom line for Ministry Health Care."

About Ministry Health Care

Ministry Health Care is a values-driven health care delivery network of aligned hospitals, clinics and other providers, based in Wisconsin and Minnesota. With over 12,000 employees including physicians and health professionals, Ministry also offers home health, hospice, long-term care facilities, dialysis services, a health plan and many other services.

Ministry's 14 hospitals include Saint Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield, Saint Michael's Hospital in Stevens Point, Sacred Heart-Saint Mary's Hospitals in Tomahawk and Rhinelander, Door County Memorial Hospital in Sturgeon Bay, Victory Medical Center in Stanley, Saint Clare's Hospital in Weston, Mercy Medical Center in Oshkosh, Calumet Medical Center in Chilton, St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton, Flambeau Hospital in Park Falls, Howard Young Medical Center in Woodruff, Eagle River Memorial Hospital in Eagle River, and Saint Elizabeth's Medical Center in Wabasha, Minn.

In addition, Ministry Medical Group, Ministry's physician corporation, includes locations in Crandon, Eagle River, Laona, Rhinelander, Tomahawk, Woodruff; Rice Medical Center (Stevens Point), and Victory Medical Group (Stanley). Ministry Health Care also employs physicians at North Shore Medical Clinic (Sturgeon Bay) and several other clinics.

The Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, who have sponsored health care in the region for over 110 years, founded Ministry Health Care in 1984. Ministry's mission as a Catholic health care system is to further the healing ministry of Jesus by continually improving the health and well-being of all people, especially the poor, in the communities we serve. The organization's Web site address is www.ministryhealth.org.

About API

API is a leading provider of time and attendance, staffing/scheduling, payroll, human resource, productivity management, education tracking and access control software for healthcare organizations. Founded in 1982, API has more than 400 installations in the United States, with customers ranging in size from 500 employees to more than 30,000 employees. The company's Payrollmation product is a 2002 Best In KLAS Performance award recipient in the specialty niche category. API has a strategic alliance with Microsoft Corporation and is a Microsoft Certified Solution Provider. The company's Web site address is www.api-wi.com.