Hearst Business Media Acquires Zynx Health Incorporated

Business Wire, March 15, 2004

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 15, 2004

Hearst Business Media, a division of The Hearst Corporation, today announced the acquisition of Zynx Health Incorporated (Zynx), a Cerner Corporation subsidiary. Zynx is the leading supplier of evidence-based medicine content to more than 500 hospitals across the United States, including leading university hospitals, academic medical centers and health systems. The announcement was made today by Richard P. Malloch, president, Hearst Business Media. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Zynx was founded in 1996, as a subsidiary of Cedars-Sinai Health System, by physician thought-leaders in evidence-based medicine and clinical quality improvement. One of Zynx's strategic product initiatives is the integration of its evidence-based content with hospital systems' computerized physician order-entry and electronic medical record applications. The purpose of this integration is to embed evidence-based clinical decision support alerts, reminders and order sets (i.e., requests for medical treatments and lab tests) for use by medical professionals right at the point-of-care.

Commenting on the acquisition, Malloch said: "Through First DataBank, Inc., which The Hearst Corporation has owned for more than 20 years, we have developed longstanding associations with the majority of U.S. hospital system vendors for electronic drug knowledge-base integration. Thus, we are pleased to add the Zynx suite of evidence-based products to our portfolio of leading-edge information technology offerings. In acquiring Zynx, we seek to continue to help improve the quality of health care and reduce the occurrence of medical errors. Its breakthrough products complement those offered by First DataBank, whose many innovations have enhanced clinical decision making related to medications."

"The value proposition for order entry is embedded clinical knowledge and outcomes management," said Paul N. Gorup, co-founder and senior vice president, Cerner Corporation. "Zynx's evidence-based physician order sets and accompanying alerts drive tremendous benefits in terms of care quality, efficiency and cost for Cerner clients," continued Gorup. "The new affiliation of Zynx with Hearst will enable broader adoption of this physician content by health care organizations whose electronic medical records and decision support systems sustain the infusion of knowledge within the care process. Cerner will continue to embrace Zynx as an important source for Executable Knowledge(R) within Cerner Millennium(R)."

"This acquisition will enable Zynx to provide platform-independent clinical decision support to health care organizations who have selected many different types of information technology systems and suppliers," said Scott Weingarten, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Zynx. "We anticipate extending our position as the industry standard for physicians that will improve the quality, safety and efficiency of patient care."

About Hearst Business Media

Hearst Business Media is a unit of The Hearst Corporation (www.hearst.com), one of the nation's largest diversified communications companies. Its major interests include magazine, newspaper and business publishing, cable networks, television and radio broadcasting, Internet businesses, television production, newspaper features distribution, and real estate.

About Cerner Corporation

Cerner Corp. is taking the paper chart out of healthcare, eliminating error, variance and waste in the care process. With more than 1,500 clients worldwide, Cerner is the leading supplier of healthcare information technology. The following are trademarks of Cerner: Cerner, Cerner's logo, Executable Knowledge, Cerner Millennium. Nasdaq: CERN, www.cerner.com.