McKessonHBOC Information Technology Business and PricewaterhouseCoopers Provide Consulting Services to Industry.

Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 7, 2000

The Information Technology Business (ITB) of McKesson HBOC, Inc. (McKessonHBOC)(NYSE: MCK) announced today that it has signed a five-year agreement with PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the world's largest professional services organizations, to provide consulting services that will help healthcare organizations increase the benefit they get from information systems. McKessonHBOC's exclusive relationship with PricewaterhouseCoopers spans the areas of revenue cycle management and decision support.

The McKessonHBOC and PricewaterhouseCoopers alliance provides revenue cycle management to reduce accounts receivable (A/R), streamline business processes, improve collections and cash flow, and reduce costs. The service also provides timely and accurate medical record coding. The decision support consulting service is designed to help organizations change the processes necessary to improve the effectiveness of their decision support systems.

These areas - and others such as regulatory compliance and medical and disease management - are ripe for consulting services, according to Bob McNeill, McKessonHBOC's group president of the Strategic Services Group. McNeill cites industry statistics that report a 16 percent annual growth rate for healthcare consulting. "Healthcare organizations are still reeling from the Balanced Budget Act and continue to seek new ways to maximize their return on investment while reducing expenses," he said. "Feedback from our customers indicated a strong desire to purchase consulting services from us, and the partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers enables us to deliver the total solutions package the industry wants and needs."

The alliance between McKessonHBOC and PricewaterhouseCoopers is designed to offer value-added services to healthcare organizations, stated Andy Ward, PricewaterhouseCoopers Partner and Healthcare Management Consulting Leader. "This agreement provides tremendous synergy," he said. "Consulting boils down to three components: expertise, processes and resources. McKessonHBOC provides its product expertise and IT resources. PricewaterhouseCoopers brings its expertise in consulting, its structured tools and methodology and more than 800 employees in the healthcare consulting business. Building on the industry presence of both organizations, together, we'll help customers maximize their business performance."

PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwcglobal.com) is the world's largest professional services organization. Drawing on the knowledge and skills of more than 150,000 people in 150 countries, the organization helps customers solve complex business problems and measurably enhance their ability to build value, manage risk and improve performance in an Internet-enabled world. PricewaterhouseCoopers refers to the member firms of the worldwide PricewaterhouseCoopers organization.

McKessonHBOC, Inc., a Fortune 40 corporation, is the world's largest pharmaceutical supply management and healthcare information technology company. McKessonHBOC provides pharmaceutical supply management and information technologies across the entire continuum of healthcare, including market-leading businesses in pharmaceutical and medical-surgical distribution, information technology for healthcare providers, services for payors and outsourcing.

McKessonHBOC's Information Technology Business solutions include enterprisewide patient care, clinical, financial and strategic management software solutions, as well as browser-based and networking technologies, electronic commerce, outsourcing and other services to healthcare organizations throughout the world. For product information, call 1-800-981-8601 or visit the Web site at www.hboc.com.