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Costco Completes Successful Pilot Program
With Innovation Associates' PharmASSIST Symphony+ System
Wholesale Retailer Touts PharmASSIST's Quality Control
and Innovations' Proactive Services as Keys to Success

JOHNSON CITY, NY - August 1, 2001 - Innovation Associates announces that Costco Wholesale Corporation in Issaquah, Washington has successfully completed a pilot program of their PharmASSIST Symphony+ System for automated prescription dispensing and pharmacy workflow optimization. Costco has operated a PharmASSIST Symphony+ System in an Issaquah-based Costco pharmacy to streamline their workflow process and to fill approximately 600 prescriptions a day. The wholesale retailer cites the Symphony+ System's wide-ranging quality control features and Innovation's proactive customer service as key reasons for the program's success.

"We went into this pilot knowing that we needed automated dispensing and a better workflow, both of which would help alleviate stress amongst our staff. The PharmASSIST system has addressed many of our issues, and it has certainly enhanced the quality and productivity of our prescription filling process," says Vic Curtis, Costco's Director of Internet Pharmacy. "Innovation is a great company to work with. They have been very receptive to our input and have acted on it in a proactive manner. They definitely have the right approach when it comes to listening to and working with their clients."

Costco's Issaquah store employs a PharmASSIST Symphony+ System consisting of three PharmASSIST cabinets, 150 dispensers, and five workstations: two for order entry/script scanning, two for Rx verification, and one for Rx filling (auto and manual). The system is also fully integrated with the store's Condor RX90 pharmacy management system from Tech Rx.

"With this configuration and new workflow, our pharmacy technicians have been much more involved in filling Rxs, which frees up our pharmacists to provide patient consultation and to better manage the pharmacy," says Curtis. "Our pharmacists continue to verify all filled prescriptions and they now do it with total confidence due to PharmASSIST's disciplined prescription filling protocols and precise verification process."

The PharmASSIST Symphony+ System is Innovation Associates' high quality prescription dispensing and workflow automation solution that enables pharmacies to fill high volumes of prescription orders and to create their optimum workflow. Depending on prescription volume and available physical space, a pharmacy can configure an Symphony+ System that consists of 1-8 cabinets, the PharmASSIST Workflow Software, and any number of workstations for order entry, automatic and manual filling, and order verification.

"The Costco pilot has been a true client/vendor partnership in which both parties have benefited greatly," says Harry Boyer, chairman and chief technology officer at Innovation. "As Costco moves forward with their next Symphony+ System, we look forward to learning even more about their pharmacy operations and to further enhancing the quality of their prescription dispensing process."

Innovation Associates, Inc., a leader in the world of automated prescription dispensing, offers the PharmASSIST family of products to address the prescription growth, quality assurance, pharmacy workflow, and cost control challenges of all size pharmacies. With over 25 years of broad-based business experience, Innovation Associates is dedicated to delivering the highest quality pharmacy automation products to the pharmacy industry.

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