News Release Details

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pennsylvania, BURLINGTON, North Carolina, November 18, 1999: Healthworks Alliance, Inc. (Healthworks) and Laboratory Corporation of America® Holdings (LabCorp®) (NYSE: LH) today announced that LabCorp will utilize Healthworks' connectivity tools to electronically receive orders from (and transmit results to) LabCorp's joint venture hospital partners. The modified agreement provides for the use of Healthworks' software to communicate lab orders and results between physician offices using Medic Computer Systems' (Medic) software and LabCorp's regional testing facilities.


Under the expanded agreement, Healthworks will develop and deploy interfaces between LabCorp's regional testing facilities and their hospital partners' laboratory information systems. In addition, in support of an existing agreement between Healthworks and Medic, LabCorp's local sales teams will be working to increase the number of Medic sites that communicate lab orders electronically to LabCorp.


Commenting on the expansion, Stevan R. Stark, LabCorp's executive vice president of sales and marketing said: “Expanding this agreement enables LabCorp to utilize Healthworks' proven services in establishing electronic connections with our joint venture partners. Healthworks' standard connection with Medic will streamline our ability to connect these sites more efficiently. By automating the receipt of requisitions and transmission of results, LabCorp expects to reduce its operating costs while providing enhanced services to both our hospital and physician office clients, and ultimately to the patients they serve.”


According to Adolf A. Paier, Healthworks' president and chairman: “Our relationship with LabCorp has been very positive since we signed the original agreement in 1996. The expansion of this agreement represents Healthworks' continuing commitment to meet the realities of the new market dynamics where commercial labs are focusing on electronic connectivity as a means of reducing on-going transaction costs. With Healthworks' ability to electronically link a large number of Medic sites as well as LabCorp's hospital clients, LabCorp should realize cost savings, improve service and minimize the impact on their development resources.”


Healthworks Alliance, Inc. develops and markets application software used by healthcare facilities for medical necessity compliance validation, by ambulatory centers for automated order entry and results reporting to local and national laboratories, and by laboratory networks and commercial labs to facilitate electronic orders and results. For more information, visit the Healthworks Alliance web site at http://www.hworks.com or contact Healthworks at (800) 335-8346.


Laboratory Corporation of America® Holdings (LabCorp®) is a national clinical laboratory with annual revenues of $1.6 billion in 1998. With 18,000 employees and over 100,000 clients nationwide, the company offers more than 2,000 clinical tests, ranging from simple blood analyses to more sophisticated technologies. Included in LabCorp's network of 25 major laboratories are three Centers of Excellence. The Center for Molecular Biology and Pathology, in Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina, develops applications for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology. Its Center for Occupational Testing in RTP is the world's largest substance abuse testing facility, and the Center for Esoteric Testing in Burlington, North Carolina, performs the largest volume of rare analyses in the network. LabCorp's clients include physicians, state and federal governments, managed care organizations, hospitals, clinics, pharmaceutical and Fortune 1000 companies, and other clinical laboratories.
Visit LabCorp's web site at http://www.labcorp.com.


Raleigh, NC-based Medic Computer Systems, Inc., a member of the Misys Group of Companies, is the leading provider of healthcare information systems to integrated delivery networks, management service organizations, managed care organizations, hospitals, physician practices, and home healthcare agencies. Medic's products are designed to manage financial, administrative, clinical and managed care information. Visit Medic's Web page at www.medcmp.com or contact Medic at 1-800-334-8534 ext.1757 for additional information.


The companies noted that each of the above forward-looking statements was subject to change based on various important factors, including without limitation, competitive actions in the marketplace and adverse actions of governmental and other third-party payors. Further information on potential factors that could affect LabCorp's financial results is included in LabCorp's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1998 and subsequent filings.