McKesson to Support Continuity of Care Across Nationwide Healthcare Information Exchange

Patients and clinicians to benefit from unprecedented connectivity and
interoperability
ATLANTA--(Business Wire)--
McKesson today announced Horizon Connect™, a key component of its "Connect"
strategy to enable health information exchange (HIE) and patient care
coordination within communities, across regions and throughout the United
States.

By integrating McKesson`s widely deployed Horizon solution suite and the
RelayHealth connectivity platform, Horizon Connect provides the interoperability
foundation needed for caregivers to exchange critical patient information across
encounters and care settings. With Horizon Connect, electronic records are
updated at key patient events such as a physician office visit, an emergency
room admission or a hospital discharge - fostering access by clinicians to the
most current information. By enabling clinicians to seamlessly manage discrete
actionable data from third-party systems as part of their workflow, McKesson`s
approach extends well beyond current industry requirements to set a new standard
for care continuity, while preserving existing electronic health record (EHR)
investments.

"McKesson`s goal is to support caregiver collaboration and continuity of care,"
said Pat Blake, executive vice president and group president, McKesson Corp. "By
incorporating the HIE functionality of RelayHealth into our major clinical
solutions, McKesson has the market reach to set the stage for a national network
of connected communities that are each aligned to support the patient."

Providence Health and Services in Portland, Ore., is a collaborative partner in
developing the new connectivity approach. McKesson`s Horizon Clinicals™ suite
soon will be meeting the needs of the community by exchanging discrete clinical
data with third-party EHRs used across the continuum of care. The solution will
enable information on patient medications to be shared between the health
system`s physician offices and acute-care settings, offering an effective
strategy for information exchange with providers throughout the region.
Providence Health recently won the CHIME Collaboration Award for its efforts
from the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives.

Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., is another example of
interoperability in action. The medical center provides Horizon Ambulatory
Care™, a key component of McKesson`s enterprise Horizon Clinicals solution, to
its core physician providers. However, Eisenhower recognized that many of its
affiliated physicians utilize other ambulatory EHR solutions, including
McKesson`s Practice Partner®. As a result, to complement its clinical strategy
Eisenhower also implemented the RelayHealth connectivity solution to connect its
entire physician and patient community.

"Connectivity between patients and their physicians is an important part of our
plan," explained David Perez, chief information officer for Eisenhower. "By
including patients in our connectivity strategy, we give them an avenue for
communication that helps them become more involved in their own care. Our
technology strategies are playing a key role in advancing this aspect of our
overall vision."

"Giving our Horizon customers the ability to exchange information across care
settings and with patients is the first step to creating the HIE ubiquity
necessary for effective care coordination," said Blake. "Horizon Connect offers
a foundation for interoperability that not only promotes quality of care, but
also positions healthcare providers to take advantage of incentive payments
outlined in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act."

In the future, McKesson plans to expand its Connect strategy to include upcoming
releases of other inpatient and physician office EHR solutions.

About McKesson

McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 15th on the FORTUNE 500, is a healthcare
services and information technology company dedicated to helping its customers
deliver high-quality healthcare by reducing costs, streamlining processes, and
improving the quality and safety of patient care. McKesson has been in
continuous operation for more than 175 years, making it the longest-operating
company in healthcare today. Over the course of its history, McKesson has grown
by providing pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management across the
spectrum of care; healthcare information technology for hospitals, physicians,
homecare and payors; hospital and retail pharmacy automation; and services for
manufacturers and payors designed to improve outcomes for patients. For more
information, visit us at www.mckesson.com.

About RelayHealth

RelayHealth, McKesson`s connectivity business, is an open network offering
connectivity and application services among healthcare organizations, systems,
and solutions. Its intelligent network is designed to streamline clinical,
financial and administrative communication between patients, providers, payors,
pharmacies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and financial institutions.
RelayHealth works to accelerate the delivery of high-quality care and improve
financial performance through Software-as- a-Service (SaaS) solutions and
securely processes more than 12.8 billion financial and clinical transactions
annually. For more information, call (800) 778-6711, or visit our Web site at
www.RelayHealth.com.

McKesson Corporation
Yancey Casey, 404-338-2468
yancey.casey@mckesson.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009