RICHMOND, VA, Jul 02 (MARKET WIRE) -- Several countries have moved toward a more consolidated financialregulatory regime, and many economists and policymakers favor doing thesame in the United States. Vesting a smaller number of agencies with moreregulatory power could provide benefits, such as increasing informationsharing and public accountability while reducing duplication of duties.But there are costs as well, argue Sabrina R Pellerin, John R Walter,and Patricia E Wescott. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009(ARRA) also provides significant grants and incentives for providers toimplement electronic health records with ePrescribing functionality.SOURCEEmdeonAmanda Woodhead, Emdeon, +1-615-932-3863, . Emdeon is owned by General Atlantic LLC and Hellman &Friedman LLC.

For more information, visit (1) The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA)provides for a series of physician incentives and disincentives from 2009-2013to accelerate ePrescribing. Through the use of Emdeon's comprehensive suite ofproducts and services, which are designed to easily integrate with existingtechnology infrastructures, customers are able to improve efficiency, reducecosts, increase cash flow and more efficiently manage the complex revenue andpayment cycle process. Our product and service offerings integrate and automate key businessand administrative functions of our payer and provider customers throughoutthe patient encounter. eRxprovides a number of productivity enhancing services including fast, secureswitching of third party claims, eligibility services, value-proven pre- andpost-editing, claims reconciliation, resubmission services, electronicprescribing solutions, Medicare/Medicaid DME billing, Medicare Flu billing,Medicare denial management services, and Medicare/Medicaid eligibilityverification.About EmdeonEmdeon is a leading provider of revenue and payment cycle managementsolutions, connecting payers, providers and patients in the U.S healthcaresystem. We look forward to working with eRx, our customers and therest of the industry to create meaningful improvements as the healthcarereform process continues to unfold," Lazenby said About eRx Network, LLCeRx is a premier provider to the U.S.

pharmacy industry of a secure, reliableand performance oriented network for electronic transaction applications. By leveraging thecapabilities inherent in Emdeon's data and network assets, Emdeon will combineeRx's advanced technology and range of services with its existing suite ofpharmacy solutions to form an expanded pharmacy services operation with thesame reliability and customer service that is eRx's hallmark."By providing expanded pharmacy solutions at this crucial time for ourindustry, Emdeon is further demonstrating its commitment to making healthcaremore efficient. "Our relentless focus on delivering value for our customers hasenabled eRx to thrive as a standalone innovator, but this is the right time toalign our pharmacy-centric platform with Emdeon's reach across all healthcaresectors. We are confident that Emdeon's resources will allow our combinedoperations to accelerate new product introductions that will continue drivinggreater efficiency for our customers and across healthcare."The new combined operation, to be called eRx Network, an Emdeon Company, willprovide pharmacies and healthcare constituents with integrated tools formanaging efficiency and profitability through innovative claims management,business intelligence and network infrastructure.

In combination with these initiatives and broader commercialrecognition, industry sources project that ePrescribing will accelerateconsiderably in the coming years."This is an exciting time to be in the pharmacy services business and inhealthcare overall," commented Mark Lyle, chief executive officer of eRx whohas been named Senior Vice President of Emdeon's combined pharmacy servicesoperation. Recentfederal initiatives promoting ePrescribing include significant financialincentives and grants to accelerate both physician utilization and theimplementation of electronic health records with ePrescribingfunctionality(1). Perhaps most exciting, the combined organization will enjoy asignificant presence in ePrescribing, one of the fastest growing sectors inhealthcare transaction processing."ePrescribing connectivity (prescriber/pharmacy/payer) has emerged as a highpriority healthcare industry initiative with a demonstrated ability to improvepatient safety, reduce administrative costs and increase efficiencies. "The combination of theirinnovative suite of products and services and talented management team willserve to accelerate our efforts towards providing solutions to our pharmacycustomers. eRx is also a leader in the government sector, where itprocesses pharmacy-based claims for Medicare / Medicaid durable medicalequipment (DME) and flu vaccinations In connection with the acquisition,Emdeon, PDX, Inc.