McKesson Acquires Practice Partner

McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) today announced the acquisition of Physician Micro Systems, Inc., known as Practice Partner, a leading provider of integrated software for electronic health records (EHRs), medical billing and appointment scheduling for independent physician practices. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The acquisition, along with recently acquired Per-Se Technologies, Inc., supports McKesson’s commitment to provide a complete solution – including software, billing and collection services, supplies and connectivity – to physician practices regardless of size, specialty or geographic location. "We’ve built strong momentum with our Connecting PhysiciansSM strategy, which is focused on helping hospitals to reduce traditional EHR adoption barriers by collaborating with local physician practices to provide a single record for inpatient and ambulatory care,” said Pamela Pure, president, McKesson Provider Technologies. "With Practice Partner, McKesson is now positioned to automate independent physician offices and to deploy EHR technology to help drive safer, more efficient care.” Practice Partner has achieved strong market success by developing a comprehensive set of clinical and administrative tools that improve patient care while streamlining practice management for small to mid-sized independent medical practices. The Practice Partner solution includes an electronic health record system certified by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHITSM); a sophisticated multi-clinic scheduler; and a comprehensive practice management system. Practice Partner’s customer base includes more than 1,500 practices representing approximately 6,000 physicians. "Joining McKesson is an important step in Practice Partner’s evolution and strategy for rapid growth,” said Andrew G. Ury, M.D., founder and CEO of Practice Partner. "As part of the world’s largest healthcare services company, we can extend our reach to help even more physicians in independent practices increase productivity and improve quality of care.” Through its Connecting PhysiciansSM strategy, McKesson will continue to maintain a strong focus on hospitals that wish to partner with physician practices in creating an integrated healthcare community. As the centerpiece of Connecting Physicians, Horizon Ambulatory Care™ provides hospitals and medical groups with a single, secure online patient record flowing across care settings. The addition of the Practice Partner solution provides McKesson with a strong, powerful offering for the independent physician segment. "McKesson now has a technology footprint with 20 percent of the nation’s physicians,” said Pure. "Our comprehensive portfolio is designed to satisfy the diverse requirements of physician practices of every size and specialty, giving them one-stop shopping with the backing of a Fortune 16 leader in healthcare.” McKesson’s comprehensive array of physician practice solutions includes: CCHIT-certified electronic health records to automate clinical practice. McKesson’s Horizon Ambulatory Care™ Release 9.4 and Practice Partner Patient Records 9.1 are certified and meet CCHIT ambulatory EHR criteria for 2006. RelayHealth connectivity solutions that make it possible for physicians to seamlessly interact with other physicians and providers as well as patients, payors and retail pharmacies Practice management solutions that streamline registration, scheduling and billing Revenue cycle outsourcing services that improve collections, cash flow and business office productivity Medical imaging solutions to capture, retrieve, view and store diagnostic images Medical-surgical equipment and supplies Risk Factors Except for historical information contained in this press release, matters discussed may constitute "forward-looking statements”, within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, anticipated or implied. These statements may be identified by their use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes”, "expects”, "anticipates”, "may”, "should”, "seeks”, "approximates”, "intends”, "plans”, "estimates” or the negative of these words or other comparable terminology. The most significant of these risks and uncertainties are described in the company’s Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and include, but are not limited to: adverse resolution of pending shareholder litigation regarding the 1999 restatement of our historical financial statements; the changing U.S. healthcare environment, including changes in government regulations and the impact of potential future mandated benefits; competition; changes in private and governmental reimbursement or in the delivery systems for healthcare products and services; governmental and manufacturers’ efforts to regulate or control the pharmaceutical supply chain; changes in pharmaceutical and medical-surgical manufacturers’ pricing, selling, inventory, distribution or supply policies or practices; changes in the availability or pricing of generic drugs; changes in customer mix; substantial defaults in payment or a material reduction in purchases by large customers; challenges in integrating and implementing the company’s internally used or externally sold software and software systems, or the slowing or deferral of demand or extension of the sales cycle for external software products; continued access to third-party licenses for software and the patent positions of the company’s proprietary software; the company’s ability to meet performance requirements in its disease management programs; the adequacy of insurance to cover liability or loss claims; new or revised tax legislation; foreign currency fluctuations or disruptions to foreign operations; the company’s ability to successfully identify, consummate and integrate strategic acquisitions; changes in generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and general economic conditions. The reader should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. The company assumes no obligation to update or revise any such statements, whether as a result of new information or otherwise. About McKesson McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 16th 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. Over the course of its 174-year 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: http://www.mckesson.com.