CompuServe and WebMD Announce Two-Year Strategic Partnership.

COLUMBUS, Ohio and ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 13, 1999--

CompuServe to Become Internet Service Offered to

WebMD Physician Members in 1999

WebMD to Become Anchor Tenant on CompuServe's Health Channel, Giving

Wide Distribution to WebMD Consumer Healthcare Content

WebMD to Offer Special Introductory Price For New Physician

Subscribers And Work Together With Compuserve To Develop

Substantial Co-Marketing Initiatives Aimed

Directly At Healthcare Professionals

CompuServe, a subsidiary of America Online, Inc. (NYSE: AOL) and one of the world's premier Internet services, and WebMD, Inc., a full-service Internet healthcare site, today announced a strategic partnership to deliver best-of-breed dial-up access, content and services to physicians and other healthcare professionals, and trusted healthcare information and other services to CompuServe members.

Under the agreement, CompuServe will become the primary Internet service offered to WebMD subscribers. For a limited time, WebMD will offer an introductory price of $29.95, which is the same as the current basic service, for WebMD's subscriber package for new physicians and other healthcare professionals and the CompuServe service.

WebMD's basic service offers physicians a comprehensive suite of Internet products including a premiere medical information site; a virtual office with real-time insurance verification and referral authorizations, unified messaging and telephone-based patient test results; customized Web sites for physicians; competitively priced supplies and over a hundred Continuing Medical Information courses.

The community of healthcare professionals is a large market with more than 700,000 physicians alone in the United States today and analysts estimate that only 30%-40% are using the Internet in their practices meaningfully.

Together, WebMD and CompuServe will deliver a customized Internet software package that brings physician subscribers to the WebMD portal front page and gives them quick and easy access to both the WebMD content and suite of services as well as CompuServe's best-of-breed service, including its numerous health Forums.

WebMD and CompuServe will also work together to develop substantial co-marketing initiatives aimed directly at healthcare professionals that will be implemented during the course of 1999.

"CompuServe is committed to super-serving the healthcare community, and we have found an ideal partner in WebMD," said Mayo S. Stuntz, Jr., President of CompuServe. "Together with WebMD, we will offer an Internet service customized to meet the unique needs of the healthcare community and are confident that WebMD's innovative services, comprehensive information and valuable distribution partnerships will result in usage by doctors, hospitals, insurers and patients."

Mr. Stuntz continued: "CompuServe's comprehensive professional market solutions represent the best option for any professional group from physicians to airline pilots who need the highly reliable and relevant, end-to-end Internet solution CompuServe represents."

Jeff Arnold, Chairman and CEO of WebMD, Inc. said: "Healthcare professionals rely on WebMD for daily activities, from tools to help to manage their practice to researching medical content to verifying insurance records.

"WebMD needed an Internet service that was fast and very reliable -- traits for which CompuServe has long been known. In addition, we are committed to providing members with superior customer service and CompuServe offered us value adds including a 24-hour dedicated, staffed phone line for WebMD subscribers who use CompuServe."

Mr. Arnold added: "Research among physicians has also shown that among their top priorities when they use an interactive service are ease-of-use and customization of service. Our relationship with CompuServe will take us another step in answering those needs."

As part of the joint service, CompuServe's Instant Messenger Service will provide physicians and other healthcare professionals with the means to set up Contact Lists of their colleagues and communicate with them instantly online, making routine queries a much easier process.

In addition, physicians will be able to participate in CompuServe's 16 medical and healthcare Forums for topical online discussions and events.

For CompuServe, the partnership with WebMD is part of a continuing strategy of providing comprehensive, customized services to key professional markets. CompuServe has had great success in serving specialized markets, including the airline industry where many pilots at major airlines use CompuServe scheduling software to manage their flight plans.

WebMD to Become Anchor Tenant on CompuServe's Health Channel

Also under the agreement, WebMD will become an anchor tenant on CompuServe's Health Channel, both giving CompuServe's membership access to a comprehensive resource for health & wellness information on WebMD's consumer Web site and providing WebMD content with valuable exposure. This anchor tenant site will be accessible by clicking on the Health Channel button on CompuServe's Main Menu and be co-branded.

Mr. Stuntz said: "Access to WebMD content through our Health Channel will give CompuServe users the ability to find the most trustworthy and credible information available on health, medicine, medical conditions, health prevention, treatment and wellness quickly and easily."

Mr. Arnold said: "We make it easy to access the health information people are looking for by combining content from the healthcare field's top information providers with powerful state-of-the-art search technology that deliver targeted results. For us, becoming the anchor tenant on CompuServe's Health Channel will provide valuable exposure and ultimately lead to more joint subscriptions."

About CompuServe

Based in Columbus, Ohio, CompuServe Interactive Services is one of the world's premier Internet services and a wholly owned subsidiary of America Online. CompuServe provides approximately 2 million worldwide members with unparalleled depth and breadth of content, premium services, hundreds of Forums and access to the Internet.

About WebMD

Launched October 5, 1998, WebMD, Inc. (www.WebMD.com) provides a Web-based solution for the administrative, communications and information needs for healthcare professionals and consumers. WebMD is a single point of access to insurance verification and referrals via an electronic data interchange service, enhanced communications services, branded healthcare content and other Web-based offerings.

For healthcare professionals, WebMD's Web site is designed to simplify healthcare practices by integrating multiple administrative, communications and research functions into a single, easy-to-use Internet-based solution. WebMD's Health and Wellness Center provides premium, branded content to assist consumers in making informed healthcare decisions.

WebMD has 32 strategic alliances for content, services and distribution with companies, including HBO & Company (NASDAQ: HBOC), ENVOY Corporation (NASDAQ: ENVY), MedQuist/Transcription Services Ltd. (NASDAQ: MEDQ), DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company (NYSE: JNJ), Physician Sales & Services (NYSE: PSS) and Thomson Healthcare Information Company, Inc.

WebMD physician subscriptions are available by calling (877) GO-WEBMD or accessing the web site at http://www.webmd.com. Consumers can access comprehensive healthcare information and services through a separate web site at the same address.