Dorland Healthcare Information Debuts As New Name for Leading Health & Managed Care Publisher.

New Name Combines Strengths of Dorland Data Networks

And Center for Healthcare Information

PHILADELPHIA and NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., May 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The Center for Healthcare Information, Inc. and Dorland Data Networks L.P. announced today that they will now both do business under the new name Dorland Healthcare Information.

Dorland Healthcare Information (DHI) is now the nation's largest independent publisher of print and Internet directories, market research, databases and mailing lists for the healthcare and managed care markets, serving nearly 40,000 clients nationwide.

DHI's customers include pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, medical product manufacturers, managed care and insurance companies, hospitals, IPAs and physician groups, alternate-site healthcare providers, and human service organizations.

The Dorland brand name traces back to 1950, when Dorland's Medical Directory was launched. In 1989, Dorland's Medical Directory was acquired by Legal Communications, Ltd., which operated the healthcare publications as a separate division. In January 1998, the Dorland's Directories unit was spun- out as a separate company, Dorland Data Networks.

In 1998, Dorland Data Networks acquired the Center for Healthcare Information, publisher of the well-known Case Management Resource Guide, as well as other data products. In the past year, Center for Healthcare Information successfully launched the Directory of Physician Groups & Networks, as well as several business-oriented web sites for the healthcare and managed care industries.

"This is a very positive move for our company, said Kevin O'Grady, M.D., President of Center for Healthcare Information. "With our integrated directories, buying guides, research reports, mailing lists and databases, we are positioned to offer customers the best breadth and depth of information on healthcare and managed care organizations available anywhere."

Dorland has introduced a multitude of new product and partnership announcements this year. "We are particularly excited about our new Internet publishing ventures, including both free and subscriber-based directory sites," added Dorland President Russell Perkins. New Dorland products include the Managed Care Register, an Internet and print buying guide to products and services for managed care, and a new Dorland's Medical Directory covering Florida. In recent weeks, Dorland has also concluded co-marketing and joint venture arrangements with the American Association of Health Plans, HCIA, Inc. and Detweiler's.

Perkins is one of the nation's leading experts on directory publishing. He founded the industry's only monthly newsletter, now known as the SIMBA Report on Directory Publishing. He also founded the National Directory Conference, the largest annual gathering of directory publishers, and authored Directory Publishing: A Practical Guide, now in its fifth edition. He has served as a consultant to the directory publishing operations of national and international corporations, and has served as the publisher for 22 different directories owned by other major publishing firms.

Dorland Healthcare Information's offices and personnel in Philadelphia, PA; Newport Beach, CA; and Pittsburgh, PA will remain in place with the name change.

Dorland Healthcare Information is a privately held, venture-capital backed entity headquartered in Philadelphia, PA, with offices in Pittsburgh and Newport Beach, CA. Publications include Dorland's Medical Directories, Medical and Healthcare Marketplace Guide, Case Management Resource Guide, Directory of Physician Groups & Networks, Managed Care Register, Detweiler's Directory of Healthcare Professionals, and more. DHI can be reached at [phone] (Philadelphia) or [phone] (California). Additional information on company products is available at www.dorlandhealth.com .