Toronto Stock Exchange Symbol: SXCFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASESYSTEMS XCELLENCE LAUNCHES ASP OFFERING AT HEALTHEXTRAS-- 3-year agreement demonstrates utility of Company’s ASP services -- MILTON, ON, December 17, 2002 -- Systems Xcellence, Inc. (“SXC” or “Company”) (TSX: SXC) a leading provider of healthcare information technology solutions throughout the pharmaceutical benefits supply chain, today announced the successful implementation of its pharmacy benefits management and claims processing system (RxCLAIM®) for HealthExtras (NASDAQ: HLEX). All dollar amounts are in Canadian. In a $3.5 million Application Service Provider (ASP) agreement that was announced on July 15, 2002, HealthExtras selected SXC to provide its RxCLAIM software to manage the prescription drug benefit processing for HealthExtras’ two million members. "We are pleased to announce the successful implementation of three important pharmacy benefit books of business for HealthExtras. HealthExtras charged us with an aggressive implementation plan that called for the first book of HealthExtras’ business to be processing with our RxCLAIM software on July 1, 2002, and the remaining business to be implemented over the subsequent four month period.” said Gordon S. Glenn, President & CEO of SXC. "Our experience in this marketplace enabled our team to quickly and cost effectively manage the project resulting in the final book of business being brought up on our system on schedule on November 1, 2002.” “The dedicated team of associates at HealthExtras and SXC are responsible for making this implementation a success.” said David Blair, Chief Executive Officer of HealthExtras. “As a result, HealthExtras is now providing even better PBM functionality, features and service to our customers and members. We look forward to expanding our relationship with SXC as we continue to grow our business.” About HealthExtras (www.healthextras.com) HealthExtras is a full-service pharmacy benefit management company. The Company currently provides benefits to more than two million members and the Company’s clients include managed care organizations, large employer groups, unions, government agencies and individual consumers. The Company’s integrated pharmacy benefit management services include: claims processing, mail order services, benefit design consultation, drug utilization review, formulary management and drug data analysis services. Additionally, the Company operates a national retail pharmacy network with over 53,000 participating pharmacies. About Systems Xcellence, Inc. Systems Xcellence (SXC) is headquartered in Milton, Ontario with offices and processing centres in Lombard, Illinois, Scottsdale, Arizona and Victoria, British Columbia. SXC is a leading provider of healthcare information technology solutions and services to the pharmacy benefits management industry. The company’s product offerings and solutions combine a wide range of software applications, application service provider (ASP) processing services and professional services, designed for many of the largest organizations in the pharmaceutical supply chain, such as pharmacy benefit managers, managed care organizations, retail pharmacy chains and other healthcare intermediaries. SXC can be found on the Internet at www.sxc.com. This press release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations. These forward-looking statements entail various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in these forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed in the Management Discussion and Analysis published in the Company's annual report.
|