Bringing Order to Medication Safety; McKesson Sets New Standard that Touches Every Stage of the Process.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

SAN FRANCISCO--(BW HealthWire)--July 19, 2001

To reduce the growing number of medication mistakes that occur in hospitals, McKesson HBOC, Inc. ("McKesson"), today introduced "Solutions for Medication Safety," a comprehensive product line that, when implemented, offers the greatest potential to save lives and healthcare dollars. McKesson Solutions represent the only clinical decision support and medication safety system designed to touch every stage of the medication-use process: prescribing, transcribing, dispensing, administering and monitoring.

Along with the McKesson Solutions, a roadmap is provided that identifies the best offerings to address medication errors in an acute care setting. Working in concert with the hospital, McKesson develops a customized plan that takes a forward look at immediate and long-term patient care and organizational goals, and provides an architecture for improving healthcare delivery and patient outcomes.

McKesson Solutions showcase an unmatched product offering to the healthcare industry. Significant new capabilities have been added to the medication-safety solution with the addition of Horizon Expert Orders, an expert physician order-entry and real-time clinical decision-support solution that engages physicians in the medication safety process. A key component of McKesson's Horizon clinical suite, Horizon Expert Orders goes beyond the current industry definition of physician order entry by providing interactive evidence-based guidelines, treatment advisors and relevant clinical content before orders are placed.

"There is no margin for error when patient lives are on the line," said John Hammergren, McKesson president and chief executive officer. "Our solutions set a new standard for medication safety because they address every stage where medication errors can occur -- from prescribing and transcribing to dispensing, administering and monitoring patients. With the addition of Horizon Expert Orders, we're taking patient safety to the next level by enabling better decision-making before the medication process even begins. This truly can help physicians practice better medicine while enabling them to reduce variability and the cost of care."

McKesson has long been an industry leader in bar-code driven pharmacy and nursing automation and information systems, including bedside scanning that ensures safety and accuracy in patient care. The combination of McKesson Solutions enables clinicians to make the best possible care decisions by reducing errors before the prescribing stage as well as adding a system of checks and balances at every stage of the medication-use process. The successful implementation of the McKesson Solutions has the potential to yield big dividends for hospitals, freeing dollars for innovations to continually improve clinical quality.

The McKesson Solutions offering is complemented by pharmacy management services that include best practices and vast expertise in optimizing pharmacy operations. To support the clinical process, McKesson offers sophisticated pharmacy distribution and consulting services. McKesson has the most comprehensive product portfolio with automated distribution that provides accurate and efficient ordering and fulfillment and consulting services from pharmacy management to reporting of adverse drug events and process management programs to provide efficient and effective patient care.

"As a company with offerings that span the entire continuum of healthcare, it is imperative that McKesson champion the issue of patient safety and work collaboratively with our hospital customers to implement the most appropriate solutions," added Hammergren.

McKesson is the only company that can combine automation, robotics, information technology, clinical consulting, and pharmacy management to eliminate medication errors at each phase in the medication-use process. In addition, we provide the foundation for the entire process through drug distribution, ensuring accurate and timely delivery of medications to the hospital pharmacy to support the clinical process.

McKesson, a Fortune 35 corporation, is the world's largest supply management and healthcare information technology company. More information about McKesson is available at www.mckesssonhboc.com. Visit www.robot-rx.com and www.hboc.com for more information on medication safety.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involves risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These statements may be identified by their use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes," "expects," "may," "should," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "anticipates" and similar words. The most significant of these risks and uncertainties are described in the Company's Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and include, but are not limited to: the resolution or outcome of pending litigation and government investigations relating to the Company's previously announced financial restatement ("Restatement"); the effect of the events relating to, or arising out of, the Restatement on the Company's ability to attract and retain employees and management; the changing U.S. healthcare environment, including potential changes in private and governmental reimbursement for healthcare products and services, the method by which such products and services are delivered, legislation or regulations governing such products and services, or mandated benefits or changes in manufacturer's pricing or distribution policies; substantial defaults in payment or a material reduction in purchases by large customers; the ability of the Company's Information Technology Business to retain existing customers and to attract new customers in light of rapid technological advances, challenges in integrating the Company's software products, or the slowing or deferral of demand for such products resulting from the impact of current or pending government regulations; the timing and amounts of the ongoing customer settlement process; and the Company's ability to successfully integrate and operate acquired businesses, and manage the risks associated with such businesses, including the acquisition that created McKesson HBOC, Inc. The Company assumes no obligation to update information contained in this release.