Amedisys Selects Authentica's Secure Messaging Software to Address HIPAA Privacy Regulations.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 4, 2003

Leverages Investment In Trend Micro InterScan Messaging Security Suite

To Automatically Secure Patient Information Contained in E-mail

Authentica, Inc., the premier provider of content security software for protecting corporate intellectual property and confidential business information, today announced that Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED) has selected its SafeRoute secure messaging software to ensure compliance with HIPAA privacy regulations.

Amedisys, a leading multi-regional provider of home health nursing services, will use SafeRoute to ensure that it meets HIPAA Privacy Rule requirements for the protection of personally identifiable health information that is transmitted across the Internet.

Amedisys faces the same challenges that all insurers, healthcare providers and other healthcare organizations face: how to use the Internet to speed and simplify their business processes while also protecting patient information in compliance with federal HIPAA Privacy Rule requirements.

"Our goal is to enable patients to improve their quality of life by delivering outcome driven health care services at home. Our messaging infrastructure is central to our ability to effectively deliver these services by allowing us to communicate with our providers, patients, and business partners in the most efficient manner possible," said Peter Hartley, senior vice president of IS of Amedisys. "SafeRoute will enable us to protect outgoing e-mail containing personally identifiable health information in a way that is transparent to our employees and does not require any extra training or steps on their part."

"We have over 1,500 internal users connected to our Microsoft Exchange messaging system," said Michael Allison, senior network administrator of Amedisys. "We'd deployed Trend Micro's InterScan Messaging Security Suite to protect against viruses and spam, but we still needed a way to secure specific e-mail in order to comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rule. SafeRoute integrates seamlessly with our existing infrastructure and automatically protects outgoing e-mail based on centralized policies we have established."

"We are very pleased that Amedisys is deploying SafeRoute to comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rule," said Victor DeMarines, director of marketing at Authentica. "As the April deadline gets closer, it becomes even more important for healthcare organizations to adopt proven solutions that can be quickly and easily integrated into their existing messaging system."

SafeRoute gives Amedisys an easy-to-use, point-to-point solution for securely delivering messages and attachments to individual members using only a Web browser. It also provides the flexibility and power to maintain total control over how this information is accessed and used after it has been sent.Unlike other approaches to content security, SafeRoute offers Amedisys:

-- Ease of Use/Adoption: Senders can easily and securely communicate by e-mail with both internal and external users without requiring them to have additional software beyond a standard Web browser.

-- Content Scanning Integration: SafeRoute works with Trend Micro InterScan Messaging Security Suite (and all major content scanning products) to automatically scan, encrypt and protect sensitive outgoing e-mail in one seamless process.

-- Strong Content Security and User Authentication. SafeRoute provides 128-bit data encryption, data integrity verification, and user authentication to protect e-mail, and leverages user authentication and policy information contained in existing enterprise directories, including Active Directory, Windows NT Domain, Microsoft Exchange, RSA SecurID and any LDAP V3 compliant directory, reducing deployment time and administrative overhead.

-- Activity Tracking and Auditing: Organizations can audit and track information including when and how often content is accessed.

-- Flexible Policy Management/Enforcement: Amedisys can centrally enforce e-mail security policies or allow individual users to protect and manage their own messages.

-- Flexible Protection Options: Amedisys can choose between two e-mail protection levels; Secure Delivery for point-to-point message protection, and Secure Content for control of e-mail both during and after delivery.

About Amedisys

Amedisys, Inc. is a leading multi-regional provider of home health care nursing services. The Company operates 63 home care operating locations in the southern and southeastern United States. Amedisys was incorporated in Louisiana in 1982. In 1994, the Company became public and currently trades on The Nasdaq Market under the symbol "AMED".

About Authentica

Headquartered in Waltham, Mass., Authentica, Inc. is a leading provider of content security software for protecting valuable and confidential information shared within and beyond corporate boundaries. The company's suite of enterprise-ready products combines patented dynamic rights management capabilities with industry standard encryption, authentication and access controls. Designed for a wide range of applications, Authentica's products ensure the secure delivery of information and provide continuous control over content even after it's delivered to recipients. Authentica provides its product suite to the healthcare, manufacturing, financial and legal industries as well as government agencies. Authentica investors include 3i US, Canaan Partners, Greylock, Intel 64 Fund, JP Morgan, North Bridge Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, Symantec Corporation, and Venrock. For additional information, please visit www.authentica.com or contact us at [phone].

Authentica is a registered trademark of Authentica, Inc. All other brand or product names are or may be trademarks of, and are used to identify products or services of, their respective owners.