Atherotech Partners With HEALTHSOUTH to Improve Cardiac Care; Company's Expanded Cholesterol Test to be Gold Standard for Screening in the HEALTHSOUTH Heart College Program.

Business Editors and Health/Medical Writers

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--(BW HealthWire)--June 5, 2001

Atherotech, Inc., a leading medical diagnostic company, today announced a partnership with HEALTHSOUTH Corporation (NYSE:HRC), the nation's largest provider of outpatient surgery, diagnostic imaging, and rehabilitative healthcare services, whereby Atherotech's next-generation cholesterol test will be used to improve cardiac care for patients enrolled in HEALTHSOUTH's Heart College. The VAP(TM) (Vertical Auto Profile) Test initially will be rolled out in HEALTHSOUTH's Birmingham facilities and then across its national network.

Similarly priced to traditional cholesterol tests and reimbursed by most insurers, the VAP Test measures HDL, or "good" cholesterol, LDL, or "bad" cholesterol, and total cholesterol. But, unlike traditional tests, the more-sophisticated VAP Test also provides direct measurements of 21 cholesterol subclasses that play important roles in the development of cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease. This additional and more-accurate information allows physicians to identify up to 50 percent more people at risk for heart disease.

According to Richard M. Scrushy, HEALTHSOUTH's chairman of the board and chief executive officer, the innovative HEALTHSOUTH Heart College program, which includes sessions with cardiologists, exercise physiologists, nutritionists, and smoking cessation counselors, helps patients develop and maintain lifestyles that promote heart health. The benefits include improved cholesterol, better heart function, lower blood pressure, improved self-image, and weight management.

"We are particularly excited about the VAP Test, which will change the way cardiac care is delivered by allowing earlier detection of risk and putting the emphasis on prevention, where it belongs," Scrushy said. "By identifying patients at risk for heart disease who otherwise might have gone undetected, we can improve quality of life, reduce expensive invasive procedures and, most importantly, save lives. Putting the patient first is the top priority of HEALTHSOUTH."

Roseanne Varner, president and chief executive officer of Atherotech, said, "It is a privilege to partner with HEALTHSOUTH, an organization dedicated to delivering the highest quality patient care. This partnership validates our patented VAP technology and is another step in the VAP Test becoming the standard of care for cholesterol screening and monitoring. With the VAP Test, everyone wins -- the patient, the physician, and the healthcare delivery system -- through improved healthcare and reduced costs."

Heart disease remains the No. 1 killer of men and women in the United States. The risk of heart disease increases with elevated levels of total blood cholesterol and LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol. Abnormalities in a variety of cholesterol subclasses also increase heart disease risk, but traditional cholesterol tests do not provide the detailed information physicians need to adequately evaluate this risk. For this reason and because many at-risk individuals do not exhibit the risk factors traditionally associated with heart disease, such as advanced age, obesity, and smoking, the VAP Test is becoming a key tool in the fight against the disease.

Anderson M. Morris, M.D., FACC, medical director of the HEALTHSOUTH Heart College, said, "Preventive medicine relating to cardiac care has jumped light years with the creation of the VAP Test. Physicians now have a better tool to fight heart disease -- much less expensive than the surgeon's scalpel and infinitely safer for the patient. I am very excited about this new technology and its expected profound impact on cardiac care."

HEALTHSOUTH is the nation's largest provider of outpatient surgery, diagnostic imaging, and rehabilitative healthcare services, with more than 1,900 locations in all 50 states, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Puerto Rico. HEALTHSOUTH can be found on the Web at www.healthsouth.com.

Atherotech, a leading medical diagnostic company and specialty reference laboratory based in Birmingham, Ala., is dedicated to improving the early diagnosis of heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases that kill nearly 1 million people each year. The company's proprietary technology, the VAP Test, is an expanded cholesterol test that identifies twice the number of people at risk for heart disease and provides physicians with a powerful new tool to create individualized treatment plans. The VAP Test meets the new National Cholesterol Education Program guidelines, positioning it as the replacement for the traditional cholesterol test. All tests are processed at Atherotech's state-of-the-art laboratory in Birmingham. For more information, call 800/719-9807 or visit the company's Web site at www.atherotech.com.

Statements contained in this press release concerning HEALTHSOUTH which are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Without limiting the generality of the preceding statement, all statements in this press release concerning or relating to estimated and projected earnings, margins, costs, expenditures, cash flows, growth rates, and financial results are forward-looking statements. In addition, HEALTHSOUTH, through its senior management, may from time to time make forward-looking public statements concerning the matters described herein. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily estimates reflecting the best judgment of HEALTHSOUTH's senior management based upon current information, involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. HEALTHSOUTH's actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including those identified in this press release and in the public filings made by HEALTHSOUTH with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including HEALTHSOUTH's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000 and its Quarterly Reports on form 10-Q, and forward-looking statements contained in this press release or in other public statements of HEALTHSOUTH or its senior management should be considered in light of those factors. There can be no assurance that such factors or other factors will not affect the accuracy of such forward-looking statements.