Establishment of Atlas Public Health Division Announced by Atlas Development Corporation.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 6, 2003

Atlas Development Corporation today announced the establishment of Atlas Public Health as a new operating division.

The move formalizes the company's commitment to the field of public health and positions it for "significant planned expansion of products and services to be offered in this critical healthcare sector," said Robert D. Atlas, Atlas Development president and chief executive officer.

Already a leader in product offerings designed for the public health sector, the company is a co-developer with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services of the Visual CMR system, one of the nation's most advanced communicable disease reporting and tracking systems. Through a groundbreaking public/private sector partnership, Atlas is the County's exclusive Marketing Representative for Visual CMR and has developed a suite of complementary solutions for public and private sector laboratories and healthcare providers that are seeking to comply with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) mandate for a Public Health Information Network (PHIN).

Visual CMR manages the investigative cycle of a disease or outbreak from onset to final resolution. It is at the core of the Atlas Public Health Information Network (PHIN) Suite. The Atlas PHIN Suite combines Visual CMR's state-of-the-art electronic communicable disease incident tracking and case management with automated electronic laboratory reporting and Internet-based submission of incident reports from infection control practitioners and the wider healthcare provider community.

Visual CMR was developed prior to September 11, 2001, and played an active role in mobilizing public health officials throughout Los Angeles County at the time of the World Trade Center attacks. With the increased focus on homeland security over the last two years, the importance of a rapid-response and outbreak management system like Visual CMR has become increasingly apparent, according to Atlas.

"Our company has been providing this critical component of L.A. County's disease detection and early warning infrastructure for more than three years," he said. "Now more than ever before, we must live with the possibility of chemical and biological terrorism. Add West Nile, SARS, Monkey Pox and the bugs we don't know about yet to the list, and you realize the critical role that our public health officials are playing every day," Atlas said.

"The Atlas PHIN Suite will greatly assist officials in providing the first line of defense against these very real threats."

The reach of the Atlas Public Health Division will be national, according to Atlas, "Visual CMR and the other components of the Atlas PHIN Suite were developed in consultation with public health practitioners with an eye toward making it available to local and state health departments across the country." Atlas noted that there are excellent synergies with Atlas' other business units as well. Drawing on the expertise of its sister division, Atlas Medical Software, he said, Atlas Public Health will employ tools and technology to link private sector laboratories, many of which are current Atlas customers, to local and state public health departments. Incident tracking and reporting capabilities also will be integrated with Atlas LabWorks(TM), the country's premier software system connecting physicians to clinical laboratories for lab test ordering and reporting, Atlas said.

More information about the Atlas PHIN Suite and an online demonstration of the Visual CMR system can be accessed at www.atlasmedical.com.

About Atlas Public Health: An operating division of Atlas Development Corporation, Atlas Public Health is dedicated to the development and deployment of advanced technology-based early warning, tracking, case management and reporting solutions designed to aid public health officials in protecting the nation's men, women and children from outbreaks of communicable disease.

About Atlas Development Corporation: Atlas Development is an award-winning, nationally recognized developer of high performance database applications for health care and financial services industry leaders. Under a partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, it is the exclusive Marketing Representative for the County's Visual CMR disease tracking and case management system. In addition to Atlas Public Health, operating divisions of Atlas Development include Atlas Medical Software and Atlas Consulting.