EPN - Electronic Prescribing News

ProxyMed, Inc. (Nasdaq:PILL), a leading provider of healthcare transaction processing and medical cost containment services, and eRx Network, LLC, a premier U.S. pharmacy industry provider of a secure, reliable and performance-oriented network for e-commerce applications, today announced the addition of 4 new pharmacy chains to their joint electronic prescription network. eRx Network(TM) pharmacies now actively exchanging true electronic data interchange messages in production with ProxyMed's network of physicians include Publix, Navarro's, Shopko and Meijer. These chains represent a total of over 1644 store locations.

"Electronic prescribing is receiving considerable media attention right now," said Richard K. Brook, ProxyMed Vice President of Pharmacy Services. "In light of the government's drive for universal health records for all Americans within the next 10 years and the critical role that documented electronic prescriptions will play in those records, it's important to remember that the collaborative effort between ProxyMed and eRx is one of the few that have delivered real adoption and actual use of electronic prescriptions."

"We are very pleased with the growth we've been able to attain working with ProxyMed," said Mark Lyle, President of eRx Network. "This system provides us with robust, fully functional physician connectivity which is key in gaining widespread adoption of electronic prescribing."

"As a customer of eRx Network, Meijer has been utilizing the e-prescribing connectivity services of ProxyMed and eRx for several months," said Mike Major, Vice President of Pharmacy Operations for Meijer. "During this time, we have seen tangible operational efficiencies in our stores as a result of this service and have received great customer feedback as a result of the decreased time required to refill a prescription."

ProxyMed owns and operates the longest established, and one of the largest and most experienced national scale exchanges for e-prescribing messages. The ProxyMed network has securely and reliably processed over 18 million e-prescribing transactions since inception, and is currently processing over 4 million transactions annually. In the second quarter of 2004, ProxyMed either sent or received an electronic prescription from 11,000 pharmacies in over 40 states. ProxyMed's e-prescribing network includes national and regional pharmacy chains, mass merchants, supermarkets and independent pharmacies, and in total, the network offers production connectivity to over 30,000 pharmacies. ProxyMed also provides connectivity services to multiple physician practice management and e-prescribing software vendors.

In addition to the 5 pharmacy chains in production, eRx Network has contracted with and is working towards production implementation with national and regional pharmacy chains representing an additional 1,600 stores. eRx Network also connects to several other physician practice management vendors and e-prescribing networks.

About ProxyMed, Inc.

ProxyMed provides connectivity, medical cost containment services, business process outsourcing solutions and related value-added products to physicians, payers, pharmacies, medical laboratories, and other healthcare providers and suppliers. ProxyMed's services support a broad range of both financial and clinical transactions, and we are HIPAA certified through Edifecs. To facilitate these services, ProxyMed operates Phoenix(TM), our secure national electronic information platform, which provides physicians and other primary care providers with direct connectivity to payers, chain and independent pharmacies and clinical laboratories.

For more information, please visit the Company's website at http://www.proxymed.com.

About eRx Network

eRx Network is a premier provider to the U.S. pharmacy industry of a secure, reliable and performance oriented network for e-commerce applications. eRx provides a number of productivity enhancing services including online and Internet switching of third party claims, value proven pre- and post-edit services, claim reconciliation and electronic prescribing solutions.

For more information about eRx Network visit the Company's website at http://www.erxnetwork.com.

Forward-Looking Statement

ProxyMed cautions that forward-looking statements contained in this document are based on current plans and expectations, and that a number of factors could cause the actual results to differ materially from the guidance given at this time. Some of these factors are described in the Safe Harbor statement below.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this document may constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These statements include those concerning the potential benefits and effects, including but not limited to any expectations as to profitability, revenue growth, projected EBITDA, and other aspects of the financial performance of the combined company. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "potential," "continue," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," and similar expressions. While these statements reflect our current judgment, they are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ significantly from projected results due to a number of factors, including, the soundness of our business strategies relative to the perceived market opportunities; ProxyMed's ability to successfully develop, market, sell, cross-sell, install and upgrade its clinical and financial transaction services and applications to current and new physicians, payers, medical laboratories and pharmacies; the ability to compete effectively on price and support services; ProxyMed or eRx's ability to sign agreements and implement e-prescribing with additional pharmacies or physicians; ProxyMed's assessment of the healthcare industry's need, desire and ability to become technology efficient; and ProxyMed's ability and that of its business associates to comply with various government rules regarding healthcare and patient privacy. For further cautions about the risks of investing in ProxyMed, we refer you to the documents each company files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003, and the Company's Form 10-Q for the quarter ending June 30, 2004.

In this regard, investors are cautioned that the Company will be subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the risks inherent in acquisitions of technologies and businesses, including the integration of separate workforces, the timing and successful completion of technology and product development through production readiness, integration of such technologies and businesses into the combined company, unanticipated expenditures, changing relationships with customers, suppliers and strategic partners, and other factors.

ProxyMed does not assume any obligation to update information contained in this document, including for example guidance regarding future performance, which represents the companies' expectations only as of the date of this release and should not be viewed as a statement about the Company's expectations after such date. Although this release may remain available on the Company's website or elsewhere, its continued availability does not indicate that the Company is reaffirming or confirming any of the information contained herein.