Surescripts® Beckley Assumes NCPDP Leadership Role

Alexandria, Va. - May 16, 2007 - SureScripts®, operator of the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange™, today announced that the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs, Inc., has named Bob Beckley as the new chairman of the standards development organization. As senior vice president of alliances and product strategy for SureScripts, Beckley has overseen the development of the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange, a network used by thousands of physicians and pharmacists in communities across the U.S. to securely send prescriptions electronically. Since its launch in 2004, the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange has used the NCPDP SCRIPT Standard - a messaging standard that Beckley helped originate - to certify 95 percent of the nation's pharmacies and every major physician technology vendor for electronic prescribing.

"NCPDP's work is essential to advancing the interoperability of the nation's healthcare system," said Beckley. "While it may not always be the most glamorous task, the development of technical standards could not be more fundamental. It is the means by which more and more healthcare providers electronically share information that makes the delivery of healthcare more safe and efficient. Were it not for NCPDP and the tireless dedication of my many colleagues, the nation's pharmacists and physicians, and the patients they care for, would have no alternative but to use the traditional prescribing process based on illegible handwriting and unreliable fax machines. Instead, we are on the cusp of reinventing healthcare."

"Bob has been an integral leader at NCPDP for years," said NCPDP President Lee Ann Stember. "He has been a workgroup co-chair, a valuable leader on the board of trustees and a past recipient of some of NCPDP's most prestigious awards. Bob is the type of organizational ambassador who will help NCPDP continue to grow and thrive in the pharmacy services arena. And the fact that he works with SureScripts, an industry leader in electronic prescribing technology, will help us to effectively promote adoption of ePrescribing to the healthcare community."

An 18-year member of NCPDP, Beckley replaces outgoing Chair Carol K. Cerney, R.Ph., MBA, of RelayHealth. Beckley previously served as the NCPDP chair of the Web site committee and has served as co-chair of WG3 Standard Identifiers and WG11 e-Prescribing & Related Transactions. He is the recipient of NCPDP's Time and Benjamin D. Ward Awards, and was elected to the board of trustees in 2003. He is a member of the American Society for Automation in Pharmacy, the National Community Pharmacists Association, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange. Beckley is also a member of the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology's interoperability workgroup.

Beckley will serve as board chair until the May 2008 NCPDP Annual Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz.

About NCPDP
Founded in 1977, NCPDP is a not-for-profit, ANSI-accredited, Standards Development Organization with approximately 1400 members representing virtually every sector of the pharmacy services industry. Our diverse membership provides leadership and healthcare business solutions through education and standards, created using the consensus building process. NCPDP has been named in federal legislation, including HIPAA and the MMA. NCPDP members have created standards such as the Telecommunication Standard and Batch Standard, the SCRIPT Standard for e-Prescribing, the Manufacturers Rebate Standard and more to improve communication within the pharmacy industry. Our data services include the NCPDP Provider Identification Number, a unique identifier of over 68,000 pharmacies and HCIdea, "The Prescriber Identity Solution". For more information about NCPDP Standards, Educational Programs and Work Group meetings, go online at www.ncpdp.org.

About SureScripts
Founded by the pharmacy industry in 2001, SureScripts® operates the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange™, which facilitates the secure electronic transmission of prescription information between physicians and pharmacists and provides access to lifesaving information about patients during emergencies or routine care. Today, more than 95 percent of all pharmacies and all major physician technology vendors in the United States are certified on the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange. More information about SureScripts is available at