Toronto Stock Exchange Symbol: SXC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                      

Systems Xcellence renews 2-year ASP contract with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona 

MILTON, Ontario, November 25, 2002 -- Systems Xcellence Inc., (“SXC”) (TSX: SXC) a leading provider of healthcare information technology solutions throughout the pharmaceutical supply chain, today announced that it has renewed its Application Service Provider (ASP) contract with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ). 

SXC will continue to provide BCBSAZ with ASP-versions of RxCLAIM (for pharmacy benefit management), RxTRACK (a data warehousing and information analysis tool), and RxMAX (for performance based contract management of pharmaceutical company rebates) over a two-year period.  

“We have been doing business with BCBSAZ since 1998 and we are pleased to retain them as a client,” said Gordon S. Glenn, President & CEO of SXC.  “This renewal not only maintains our relationship with BCBSAZ, whose transactions exceed 3.0 million per year and growing, it also supports our strategy of increasing the availability of our ASP services.  With six Blue Cross Blue Shield organizations in our customer base, our ability to offer products on both an ASP and licensed software basis allows companies like BCBSAZ to help control costs while enhancing their client service levels.”  

“Throughout our relationship, SXC has demonstrated its commitment to its customers with a steady issue of unique product releases.  Their applications have given us immediate access to and control of our pharmacy benefits information, which provides us with a greater ability to customize our solutions,” said Chris Hogan, R.Ph., Vice President of Pharmacy Benefit Management at BCBSAZ.

 About Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ) is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Founded in 1939, BCBSAZ provides a wide range of health insurance products or services to more than 850,000 Arizonans.   

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 healthcare 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.

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