For Immediate Release

ePocrates™ NETWORK TOPS 100,000 USERS

Palm OS platform-based application approaches use by 10% of U.S. physicians

August 22, 2000

/PRNewswire//-- ePocrates qRx, an application designed to provide the most timely, accurate clinical information on prescription medicines, has attracted over 100,000 registered users since its launch last November. Based on current growth rates of over 400 new users per day, qRx is projected to be in the hands of 10% of U.S. physicians by the end of next month.

qRx allows health care professionals with Palm Powered™ handheld computers quick, point-of-care access to important clinical information such as dosing, adverse reactions and drug interactions for more than 1,600 of the most commonly prescribed drugs. A favorite feature among clinicians is AutoUpdate, which allows new drug releases, indication changes, or recalls to be communicated to users? handhelds through the Internet. "The growth of our physician user base is a testament to the fact that physicians are looking for simple, easy to use applications which can help them improve patient care and increase efficiency. The value of qRx to physicians appears to be universal, as shown by the fact that our users come from all medical specialties and reside in all 50 states," explained John Voris, President and CEO of ePocrates. "And in addition to our penetration in the physician market, we now have more than 25,000 other healthcare professionals, such as physician assistants, pharmacists and nurse practitioners using qRx."

"The use and potential of Palm Powered handhelds and mobile applications in the medical field continues to increase," said Gabriel Acosta-Lopez, Senior Director of Alliance and Partner Services for Palm, Inc.. "The rapid adoption of ePocrates qRx by the medical community demonstrates the exciting opportunities that handheld technology can offer to improve the health and safety of everyone."

The popularity of qRx reflects the need among medical professionals for easy to use, mobile solutions that provide value to their practice. "The ePocrates network has saved me literally hours a week that I would otherwise be spending researching or referencing clinical information at my desktop or within my medical library. Now, I can spend that extra time with my patients," said Dr. Scott Phillips, a physician who has been using qRx since last November. "My colleagues recommended ePocrates highly, and now I can see why they were so enthusiastic about it."

"Physicians have praised ePocrates qRx, not only for its convenience, but also for its accuracy and usefulness in helping to avoid medication errors," said Tom Lee, MD, Director of Marketing and Product Development. In fact, in a recent study of over 900 ePocrates users which will be published this fall, Harvard researchers found that physicians using qRx reported averting more than one adverse drug event per week.

ePocrates is currently developing additional products and services that will offer significant benefits to physicians. Available this fall, qRx enhancements will include mechanism of action, advanced multiple drug interactions, packaging and tablet/caplet descriptions and retail pricing. Future ePocrates products and services will also include formulary decision-support tools, up-to-date medical and general news and other transaction-based services such as electronic prescribing.

About ePocrates ePocrates, Inc. is the largest handheld physician network enabling quick point-of-care access to important clinical information. In less than 9 months, the ePocrates network has grown to over 100,000 users, including over 65,000 physicians. In addition to the qRx clinical drug database containing information on over 1600 of the most commonly prescribed drugs, ePocrates will soon provide formulary decision-support tools, up-to-date medical and general news and other transaction-based services, including electronic prescribing. Headquartered in San Carlos, Calif., ePocrates isa privately held company led by President and CEO John Voris, former PCS COO and Eli Lilly veteran. The company was founded in 1998 by Richard Fiedotin, MD and Jeff Tangney and is funded by Sprout Group, Bay City Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, InterWest and Three Arch Partners. For more information, please visit www.epocrates.com.

Palm OS is a registered trademark and Palm Powered and Palm are trademarks of Palm, Inc. or its subsidiaries.

Print this release.