Access Health Elects Systems Integrators CEO to Board of Directors.

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 21, 1996--Access Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACCS) has announced the election of Frank Washington, chief executive officer of Systems Integrators Inc., to the company's board of directors.

Washington, 48, in July joined Systems Integrators, a provider of publishing solutions based in Sacramento. He previously was a principal participant in a number of entrepreneurial ventures, including a cable service for the home personal computer audience. He also previously served as the general partner in several cable television limited partnerships located throughout the nation.

In 1995, Washington successfully negotiated one of the largest cable system transactions, the $2.3 billion purchase of Viacom's cable system. The transaction was later canceled, however, when Congress retroactively repealed the Federal Communication Commission's minority tax certificate, upon which the deal was conditioned.

"We are pleased to have someone with Frank's distinguished background and experience join our board of directors," Chief Executive Officer Thomas E. Gardner said. "Frank's strategic insight will be most useful to our board at a time when we are experiencing rapid growth in a fast changing marketplace."

Washington's professional background also includes serving as vice president of Electronic Communications for McClatchy Newspapers in Sacramento, where he also was a member of the company's board of directors. He also has worked for Los Angeles-based Times-Mirror Co., where he developed and headed Videotex America, a computer information services business and launched Spotlight, a premium cable TV service eventually acquired by Showtime.

Washington also has worked for the White House Office of Telecommunications Policy, the Federal Communications Commission and the Washington D.C. law firm of Arnold and Porter. He is a graduate of Cornell University and Yale University School of Law.

Other members of Access Health's board of directors include Gardner, Kenneth B. Plumlee, chairman of Access Health; Richard C. Miller, executive vice president of Access Health; Joseph P. Tallman, executive vice president of Access Health; John R. Durant, executive vice president of the American Society of Oncology; Ed Rygiel, president of MDS Health Ventures; Brent T. Rider, general partner of El Dorado Ventures; and Kinney L. Johnson, principal of Capital Health Venture Partners.

Access Health is the leading provider of membership-based personal health and care management services designed to help improve quality of care, reduce costs and improve member satisfaction. The company's flagship product, Personal Health Advisor, is a membership-based personal health management service that provides consumers with immediate access to a broad range of health information and counseling services. Members can receive information 24 hours a day, seven days a week via the telephone, the Internet, printed materials and cable TV through its partnership with America's Health Network. The company has a total membership of more than 16 million people nationwide.

Access Health is headquartered at 11020 White Rock Road, Rancho Cordova, Calif., 95670. The phone number is 916/851-4000, the fax number is 916/852-3890 and the corporate World Wide Web address is http://www.access-health.com.

Certain statements contained in this release, including the company's rate of growth, are forward-looking statements and therefore are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ and such differences may be material. These statements involve risks and uncertainties. These risks are detailed in the Company's Form 10K or 10K/A filed for fiscal year 1995 and reports filed on Form 10-Q for the first, second and third quarters of fiscal year 1996.

CONTACT: Access Health

Jan Emerson, 916/864-4784

or

White & Co.

Molly Prescott, 415/274-8127