Axolotl Releases Standalone Prescription Management System; New Workflow Tool for Physicians and Staff Utilizes Clinical Messaging.

Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--April 10, 2000

Building on its success with the Prescription Writer currently incorporated into the Elysium Clinical Messaging system, Axolotl today announced the release of a complete prescription management workflow tool that operates independently of its other products.

Initially available for desktop systems, a release for use on handheld devices is imminent. The desktop product and prototypes of the new handheld product will debut this week at the annual HIMSS conference and trade show in Dallas.

The prescription ordering process requires the combined efforts of physicians and their staff. With that in mind, Axolotl included the same group of workflow tools into Elysium Prescription Writer that are built into their suite of clinical messaging product so that physicians working alone, in small groups, or in large delivery systems can now manage the prescription order and refill process over the Internet.

"We've experienced increasing physician demand for automated prescription management since Axolotl released the first version of Prescription Writer a year ago. Now that we've made Prescription Writer available as a standalone system, we can immediately offer this proven workflow tool to the combined 50,000 physicians using AccentHealth's waiting room TV programs and the base Elysium Clinical Messaging offering," stated Ray Scott, president of Axolotl's Professional Division. "Prescription Writer can be a physician's first step into e-health and is the first of many tools from Axolotl to take advantage of the satellite Internet connectivity that comes with AccentHealth's system."

With Prescription Writer, refill requests generated by office staff appear in the physician's "awaiting action" view for approval or modification by the physician. Drug, age, and sex interactions are noted along with formulary compliance with the patient's insurance plan. Physicians working together in an office or across the community can check drugs against those prescribed by other physicians.

"What has been missing in prescription tools to date is the ability for physicians to work with their staff and colleagues in the prescription management process," commented Bob Keet, MD, a practicing internist and medical director at Axolotl. "Automating the refill process is key to improving office efficiency, and workgroup tools are critical to physicians who collaborate with other physicians in the care of their patients."

Because it incorporates standard clinical messaging tools, physician offices using Prescription Writer can progressively add workflow tools including data lookup and management; lab ordering; eligibility and authorization; and data-based care management tools. Elysium Prescription Writer gives physicians access to:

--  Medications prescribed for a patient by other participating
    physicians in the community
--  An expert database of drug-drug, drug-age, and drug-sex
    interactions
--  A quick price reference for drugs
--  Drug lookup by name or diagnosis
--  The specific formulary applicable to the patient's benefits plan
--  Any protocols developed by the physician, the group, or the
    community that apply to the given set of problems and medications
--  Full patient education information in English and Spanish
--  Automatic refill management

About Axolotl

Axolotl Corp. is a leader in multimedia e-health communications and patient care management solutions. Axolotl's Professional Division provides Web-based clinical messaging products, known as Elysium, for secure clinical communication between physicians, hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies, radiology centers, and medical groups.

AccentHealth, the Media Division of Axolotl, provides healthy lifestyle television programming, produced in conjunction with CNN, to approximately 20 million patients per month. This information is expanded and enhanced on the www.accenthealth.com consumer Web site that delivers a broad database of health topics, tools, and communities to waiting room network visitors and health-conscious consumers daily.

Through a strategic alliance with Gilat Satellite Networks, Inc., Axolotl has the exclusive right to distribute Gilat's two-way broadband satellite communications network in the healthcare market.

Statements in this press release concerning the Company's business outlook or future economic performance, anticipated profitability, revenues, expenses or other financial items, and service offering growth, together with other statements that are not historical facts, are "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined under the Federal Securities Laws. Any forward-looking statements are estimates, reflecting the best judgment of the party making such statements based upon currently available information and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated in such statements.