More Than 40 Years Of Astronaut Medical Data Stored Using Digital Health Record System

Medscape , a leading provider of digital health
records (DHR) and online information, announced today that it has
completed a two-year project with the NASA Johnson Space Center to
convert more than 40 years of astronaut medical data into a digital
health record database. Medical information dating back to the
inception of Project Mercury in 1959 is now part of the Johnson Space
Center’s digital health record (DHR) system, housed on Logician®, a
DHR software system developed by Medscape. The data can be used for
the retrospective analysis and tracking of astronaut health
information.

There are more than two million data points in the Logician system
used by the Johnson Space Center – from routine physicals of
astronauts to the exams and data related to all the NASA human space
flights including Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, and the Shuttle-Mir. The
system is also being used to maintain medical information for the
three astronauts currently stationed on the International Space
Station. Medscape’s DHR system allows NASA flight surgeons to capture
and analyze medical data, as well as identify trends in the medical
histories of astronauts.

“The success of this project exemplifies the way digital health
technologies are transforming the tracking and delivery of healthcare
information – even in space,” said Medscape’s chairman and founder
Mark Leavitt, M.D., PhD.

For the past two years, the Johnson Space Center has been using
Logician to track health data for the astronauts and test pilots
stationed in Houston. The 153 astronauts on active duty must undergo
extremely rigorous medical examinations including physical and
psychological testing.

This digital information will facilitate research for the
Longitudinal Study of Astronaut Health, an ongoing initiative designed
to better understand the effects of training and space travel on
humans over time. The study follows epidemiological principles in
examining basic medical data to determine whether the unique
occupational exposures encountered by astronauts are associated with
increased health risks.

In addition to supporting the long-term analysis of astronaut
health, the Logician digital health record system allows Johnson Space
Center clinicians to manage the routine medical care of astronauts and
test pilots. DHRs ensure that patients’ lifetime health records,
including current diagnoses, medications, allergies and lab results,
are intact and accessible to all approved medical staff.

The use of digital health records to encapsulate and monitor
medical information is not limited to the Johnson Space Center and
space medicine. There is a growing recognition of the benefits of DHRs
versus traditional paper record keeping. Recently, the Institute of
Medicine called for the elimination of handwritten clinical
information by 2010, and noted that moving to digital health records
would increase overall health care quality by reducing medical errors.

“We’re honored to be involved in NASA’s space medicine program,
and hope that NASA’s example paves the way for a wider understanding
of the benefits of digital health record systems, such as Logician,”
said Leavitt.

Medscape’s Logician system is used in more than 40 major health
systems nationwide, and by nearly 12,000 clinicians in every field of
medicine. It is used by physicians in primary care and specialty
practices, from solo practitioners and those in small groups, to those
in large multidisciplinary clinics.

About Medscape

Medscape® is a leading provider of digital health
records and online medical information. The Company delivers
patient-centered, clinical healthcare data and medical information to
healthcare professionals and consumers wherever that information is
needed. The core of Medscape’s product portfolio is the
industry-leading Digital Health Record (DHR). DHR applications and
services are an integral part of the practice of medicine and are used
every day by physicians and consumers across the country.

Medscape’s DHR enables physicians to access patient information,
share data with existing systems, communicate among practice members
and capture and store quantifiable data for patient-by-patient or
population-based studies. The DHR also enables practice sites to
interact with their patients electronically to answer questions,
schedule appointments and address personal health concerns, while
offering consumers private access to their medical records and related
disease management information and services. More than 19 million
patients now have digital records hosted on Medscape systems. Medscape
is also the leading source of peer-reviewed medical information and
continuing medical education on the Web. Approximately 3.4 million
members, including 575,000 registered as physicians and more than 1.65
million registered as allied health professionals, use Medscape.com
for immediate access to research, recent developments and information
to guide their practices and support patient care. Consumers too have
come to rely on CBSHealthWatch by Medscape for health information that
comes from the same source their physicians use.

The integration of Medscape’s authoritative Web sites with the
breadth of its clinical applications and products, strengthen the
physician-patient relationship at–and beyond–each encounter,
resulting in a positive impact on healthcare costs, efficiencies,
safety and outcomes. The merger of MedicaLogic, Inc. and Medscape,
Inc., and MedicaLogic, Inc.’s acquisition of Total eMed, Inc., a
privately held company, in May 2000 formed MedicaLogic/Medscape, Inc.,
d/b/a Medscape. The company, headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon,
currently employs approximately 825 people, 465 in its Total eMed unit
subject to sale and 360 in the remaining businesses.

Medscape, MedicaLogic, and Logician are registered trademarks of
MedicaLogic/Medscape, Inc. in the United States. Other product and
brand names are trademarks of their respective owners.

Contact:

Media:
Alexander Ogilvy Public Relations
Bob Brody, 212/880-5248
bbrody@alexanderogilvy.com
or
Investor:
Alexander Ogilvy Public Relations
Sandy O’Keefe, 212/880-5315
sokeefe@alexanderogilvy.com