DOVER, Del., October 5, 2006 -- The Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN) and the Delaware Health Care Commission today announced a contract award to Medicity, Inc. to build the first statewide health information exchange to give physicians instant electronic access to patient information at the time and place of care. The signing of this contract is a critical step in making the idea of electronic health records a reality in Delaware and builds on the nearly $5 million in federal funding that Senators Joe Biden and Tom Carper and U.S. Representative Mike Castle have secured.

"Getting to the point of contracting with the actual technology vendor is a tremendous step forward in making electronic records part of our health care system in Delaware. After the Delegation worked to secure over $4 million to get this project off the ground, I am so pleased the DHIN is able to use this funding as leverage to move forward and implement the project. Delaware is very much on its way to being the first interoperable state for an electronic health system -- something all patients will benefit from," said Congressman Castle.

Medicity will team with Plano, Texas-based Perot Systems (NYSE: PER) to deliver specific infrastructure portions of the project to the DHIN. Perot Systems will provide data center services, technical and provider help desks and outreach training, as well as on-site customer service.

“The Delaware Health Information Network is a great example of what is possible when we work together,” stated Senator Tom Carper. “By expanding the use of the latest health information technology and giving health practitioners access to immediate, up-to-date information, we can save lives, reduce medical errors and cut health care costs. This program will help bring Delaware’s health care system into the 21st century.”

The intent of the DHIN Clinical Information Exchange Utility is to provide secure, fast, and reliable exchange of health information among the many health care providers treating patients in the State of Delaware. First to connect to the network will be Bayhealth Medical Center, Beebe Medical Center, Christiana Care Health System and LabCorp along with physician practices across the State of Delaware.

“Delaware is being looked upon by the Federal government and other states and communities as a leader in health information exchange,” said Joseph M. Letnaunchyn, DHIN Board chair. “No other state in the nation has been able to fully integrate health information on a statewide level. Because of Delaware’s size and collaborative nature, the first phase of the project is expected to go live within the next nine months.”

The Utility is being funded by a public-private partnership including participating health care organizations, the State of Delaware and the Federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“Delaware is fast becoming the ‘First State’ in health information exchange,” stated John C. Carney, Jr., Lt. Governor and Chair of the Delaware Health Care Commission. “We’ve had a remarkable number of providers, including hospitals, labs and doctors, participate in this process. Our size and the great sense of community that exists here have resulted in a lot of people doing high-quality work in creating this exciting opportunity. We hope to become a model for the rest of the country in improving health care quality, patient safety and cost.”

“Believe it or not,” explains Medicity CEO J. Kipp Lassetter, “in an age of technological sophistication, this is the first time any state has undertaken to connect all of the major sources of patient clinical information in order to improve the safety and timeliness of patient care. We believe this undertaking is indicative of the leadership in Delaware. Medicity has been perfecting the technology to accomplish this goal for the better part of a decade. We have demonstrated its effectiveness in health care organizations on a national scale for several years, but this is the first time anyone has applied it to public health concerns statewide across organizations -- each with different collections of clinical systems, representing dozens of vendors in total.”

The Utility will provide a streamlined results distribution system. Currently, health care providers receive lab, radiology and other test results via telephone, fax, courier, and in some cases through a web portal that the provider must sign into and query for his/her patient’s test results. The Utility will allow the provider to decide in what format he/she wants to receive all test results and will deliver those results to the provider in real-time based on their chosen method, regardless at which participating entity the test was performed. In most cases, there will be little to no added investment to the provider, and the result will be a more efficient, cost-effective and streamlined process for the practice. Those practices that have Internet access may choose to have results delivered to a secure mailbox where they can track and manage their patients’ test results as well as make referrals to other providers using the Utility. Practices with electronic medical records can have results delivered directly to the patient’s electronic record in a secure manner. Practitioners also will receive alerts when a result is outside normal limits.

“The technology is there,” Lassetter elaborates, “but education and political barriers have hindered the deployment of solutions like this one.” DHIN is a public-private cooperative organized for the purpose of facilitating care quality and systemic efficiencies. “DHIN has done an enviable job of bringing together all of the constituents in Delaware’s health care community and creating a plan that delivers real value to every participant, especially patients who will benefit from the improvements in care quality,” Dr. Lassetter notes.

According to Janice E. Tildon-Burton, M.D., President of the Medical Society of Delaware, “The greatest benefit of the Utility is that physicians will have the information they need, when they need it, at their fingertips. The potential for avoiding unnecessary tests, given the delays and inefficiencies of the current, paper-based system, will yield better, more cost effective care for our patients.”

Medicity was selected to build this network through a competitive bid that included two rounds of evaluation, narrowing aspirants to a final field of three. The decision was announced this month after the extendable six-year contract was finalized. The first phases of the project will be operational within the next six to nine months.

About DHIN

The Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN) was established by the Delaware General Assembly in 1997 as a public instrumentality of the State to advance the creation of a statewide health information and electronic data interchange network for public and private use. It functions under the direction of the Delaware Health Care Commission. The DHIN is a public-private partnership, which provides the organizational infrastructure to support a clinical information sharing utility. In 2005, the Health Care Commission was awarded a five-year federal contract from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to develop the DHIN Clinical Information Exchange Utility. This funding was augmented in 2006 with a $2.0 million appropriation in the State of Delaware Bond and Capital Improvements budget. The DHIN’s community-based partners have matched the State funds for an additional $2.16 million in the current fiscal year. The Utility is expected to go live in early 2007 with added functions and new users to be added over the following three-year period. For more information please visit http://www.state.de.us/dhcc/information/dhin.shtml.

About Medicity

Medicity, Inc. serves the health care industry with Web-based portal solutions, electronic health records, and community-wide patient indexing solutions for hospitals, payers and large physician groups. Medicity has been connecting health care since 1999 and company clients include more than 1,200 health care organizations. For more information please visit www.medicity.com.

About Perot Systems

Perot Systems is a worldwide provider of information technology services and business solutions. Through its flexible and collaborative approach, Perot Systems integrates expertise from across the company to deliver custom solutions that enable clients to accelerate growth, streamline operations and create new levels of customer value. Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Perot Systems reported 2005 revenue of $2.0 billion. The company has more than 19,000 associates located in North America, Europe, and Asia. Additional information on Perot Systems is available at http://www.perotsystems.com.