PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Toronto Stock Exchange Symbol: SXC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                      

SYSTEMS XCELLENCE RENEWS ASP CONTRACT WITH AMERICAN ASSOCIATED DRUGGIST INC.

- Two-Year Contract Valued at Approximately $900,000 -  

MILTON, Ontario September 23, 2002 -- Systems Xcellence Inc., (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 American Associated Druggist Inc. (or “United Drugs”), a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) based in Phoenix, Arizona. All figures are in Canadian dollars.

SXC will continue to provide United Drugs with ASP-versions of RxCLAIMÒ (for pharmacy benefit management) and RxTRACKÒ (a data warehouse and information analysis tool) for approximately $450,000 per year over a two-year period. The value of the contract would increase should the number of transactions rise on a year-over-year basis.  

“SXC is unique in our industry in that we offer our products on both an ASP and licensed software basis. For mid-size and smaller organizations within the pharmaceutical benefits processing market, the ASP solution is an attractive option, as it does not require significant upfront capital investment and customers are charged only when a transaction occurs,” said Gordon S. Glenn, President & CEO of SXC. “As a mid-size PBM, and a client since 1997, we are pleased to retain United Drugs’ business and look forward to exploring opportunities to expand our relationship in the future.”  

In addition to providing flexibility in healthcare benefit plan design and management, RxCLAIM offers SXC’s customers control over the fulfillment of third-party prescription drug claims in the retail pharmacy environment. RxTRACK can be used in conjunction with RxCLAIM and is a highly versatile reporting tool that provides valuable business intelligence and drug utilization information. 

“Our strategic relationship with SXC allows us to implement innovative and effective cost containment and quality of care edits to our claims processing, both quickly and efficiently.  Ultimately, this helps us provide outstanding service to our clients,” said Elizabeth Schrader, Vice President Operations & Finance at United Drugs. “As we pursue our growth objectives, we know we can rely on SXC’s solutions to have the flexibility and scalability to support a rising number of transactions.” 

About United Drugs

United Drugs was founded in 1976 as a cooperative of independent pharmacists in Arizona. Over the past 25 years the Company has expanded into more than 30 states. While its early mission was to pool the purchasing power of independent pharmacists to remain competitive, over the years, United Drugs’ services have grown to include retail and front-end programs and third party contracting. The company’s chief mission continues to be to increase the profitability of its members through delivering purchasing power, discounts on products and services relative to the independent pharmacy and increased access to patients in third party plans. 

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, 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.   

The company’s products offer its customers comprehensive pharmacy benefits management, claims switching and processing, drug dispensing, data warehousing and analysis, and rebate contract management systems. SXC delivers these solutions to its customers as software products bundled with systems implementation and consulting services, or on an ASP basis from its data centres in Scottsdale, Arizona and Lombard, Illinois. The Company’s shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol SXC.  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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Irwin Studen

Dave Mason

Chief Financial Officer

Investor Relations

Systems Xcellence

Equicom Group

Tel: (905) 876-4741

Tel: (416) 815-0700 x237

Fax: (905) 876-4447

Fax: (416) 815-0080

Email: investors@sx.com

dmason@equicomgroup.com
www.investorlook.com