AdvanceMed Selects Sybase Solution Running on Sun to Support Web-Based Analytical and Reporting Healthcare Tools

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2003 Conference -- Sybase, Inc. and Sun Microsystems, Inc. announced today that the Sybase Solution for Economical Data Management -- based on the Enterprise Data Warehouse Reference Architecture -- has been selected by AdvanceMed Corporation to power CompareCare(TM), AdvanceMed's Web-based analytic and reporting solution. The solution utilizes Sybase's Adaptive Server(R) IQ Multiplex(TM) enterprise analytical engine, and Sun Fire(TM) V880 and Sun Fire V480 servers, and is designed to meet the volume requirements of large payer organizations. In addition, the solution can enable healthcare organizations of all sizes to achieve enterprise-strength processing power at competitive prices.

Fueling Better Decisions for Healthcare Managers and Clinicians

In a healthcare environment characterized by competing interests and confusion over how to manage patient care cost-effectively, AdvanceMed's CompareCare tools and services portfolio equips healthcare providers with both standard and customized reports and the knowledge to make better administrative or patient care decisions. AdvanceMed provides tools and Web-based services for both medical cost management and clinical care management, as well as consulting services from its own resident team of doctors and healthcare experts. CompareCare mines and analyzes both clinical and administrative data to help health care organizations improve patient outcomes and reduce administrative costs.

AdvanceMed offers clients its CompareCare solution in one of two modes: * Turnkey Mode, which leverages AdvanceMed tools and consulting services to deliver an operational analytic and reporting application for use on the payer or provider Web site * ASP Mode, in which AdvanceMed hosts the application and data on its own secure site and allows payer and provider customers to generate reports through a Web-based customer interface.

"For both our ASP solution and our new turnkey solution for client sites, we required a data management and analytics platform that would be affordable to smaller organizations but could also scale to meet the processing requirements of large payer companies, firms tracking upwards of five million members," said Ron Wilson, senior vice president, AdvanceMed. "With this solution as its processing and analytics foundation, CompareCare has the power to scale to that level and beyond, and to accommodate thousands of concurrent queries, without performance degradation. It simply delivers more data faster than other available solutions, and that means that our customers in payer and provider organizations can operate more efficiently and with greater insight into their operations and patient care challenges every day."

Sybase teams with industry-leading solution providers and developers to bring innovative technologies to market to help customers transform their data into economic value by improving the speed, flow and quality of data within the enterprise.

"As healthcare organizations strive to contain costs, this solution for Economical Data Management provides AdvanceMed the means to offer them enterprise processing and analytics strength at affordable price points," said Deborah Harrington, Sybase's worldwide general manager for IQ Operations. "We are pleased that AdvanceMed has selected Sun and Sybase technology to support new levels of administrative and clinical knowledge through their CompareCare Solution."

Sun and its iForce partners deliver innovative healthcare solutions that leverage Sun's advanced network computing technologies to help customers improve fundamental healthcare processes and efficiencies critical to the healthcare industry.

"Working with iForce partners like Sybase, we are able to offer proven, best-in-class solutions to support the agility and availability functions that are required by web-based healthcare databases like AdvanceMed's CompareCare solution, said Souheil Saliba, vice president of marketing, Volume Systems Products, Sun Microsystems. "Sun is continuing to deliver solutions optimized for the midsize businesses, leveraging the reliability and scalability of the Sun Fire V480 server and the top selling 8-way Sun Fire V880 servers."

About Sybase, Inc.

Sybase pioneers software that integrates platforms, databases and applications. Sybase solutions create Information Liquidity -- transforming data into economic value. With Sybase, companies can attain maximum value from their data assets by getting the right information to the right people at the right time. To learn more about Sybase, visit http://www.sybase.com.

Committed to the philosophy that partnerships should be mutually beneficial, Sybase's Business Solutions Alliance Program connects partners to the resources they need to profit from the relationship, including quality product, tools, training and access to marketing, business and technical support. To learn more about partnering with Sybase, please go to http://www.sybase.com/partner

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer" -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com.

Sybase, Adaptive Server, IQ Multiplex and Industry Warehouse Studio are trademarks of Sybase, Inc. or its subsidiaries. (R) indicates registration in the United States. Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Sun Fire, iForce and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. CompareCare is a trademark of AdvanceMed Corporation.

Special Note: Statements concerning Sybase and its subsidiaries' contemplated business relationships, new product releases, and business expectations are by nature forward-looking statements that involve a number of uncertainties and risks and cannot be guaranteed. Certain of these risks are detailed from time to time in Sybase's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to its annual report on Form 10-K and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q (copies of which can be viewed on Sybase's Web site).

Sybase, Inc.

CONTACT: Hadley Weinzierl of Citigate Cunningham for Sybase, Inc.,
+1-617-374-4219, hweinzierl@cunningham.com, HIMSS Booth #1827; Liza Santos,
Volume Systems Products, +1-415-972-0624, liza.santos@sun.com, or Frances
Freyberg, Healthcare, +1-650-786-3471, frances.freyberg@sun.com, both of Sun
Microsystems, HIMSS Booth #1017; Ron Wilson of AdvanceMed Corporation,
+1-703-261-5259, ron.wilson@eadvancemed.com, HIMSS Booth #1827

Web site: http://www.sybase.com/http://www.sun.com/