CONTACT: James Reno
Reno Communications
781.944.1406
jrenomktg@comcast.net

Cardinal Health Awards Okeechobee Discount Drug the
Leader Drugstore's 2002 Leadership Award for "Use of Technology"
PharmASSIST Automated Dispensing Technology Plays Key Role in Independent's Award

JOHNSON CITY, NY - June 19, 2002 - Innovation Associates announces that Okeechobee Discount Drug, a PharmASSIST client, has been named the winner of the Leader Drugstore's 2002 Leadership Award in the category of "Use of Technology" by Cardinal Health. As a result of the award, Cardinal Health will donate a $1000 scholarship in Okeechobee Discount Drug's name to Nova Southeastern University's College of Pharmacy in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Okeechobee Discount Drug owner Steve Nelson will receive the award at Cardinal Health's Retail Business Conference (RBC 2002) in Seattle, to be held on July 12-15.

"Receiving this prestigious award is the culmination of lots of hard work by myself and my dedicated staff," comments Nelson, owner of Okeechobee Discount Drug for the past 19 years. "Our goal has always been to give our customers the best technology money can buy. In our fast-paced world of pharmacy, PharmASSIST enables us to not only dispense medications quickly but, most importantly, to dispense them with real accuracy and control."

To handle their volume of nearly 2000 prescriptions weekly, Okeechobee Discount Drug employs a 2-cabinet, 100 dispenser PharmASSIST Symphony+ System, which also includes 4 workstations running the PharmASSIST Workflow Software to guide their pharmacy workflow. The system is fully integrated with the store's PC5 pharmacy management system. According to Nelson, "We use almost every single function of the system from scanning doctors' original paper scripts during order entry to viewing electronic images of original scripts and medications during order verification. Our staff can also easily track prescriptions throughout their lifecycle and have found the dispenser replenishment process and original script image retrieval to be huge timesavers in our busy pharmacy setting."

As an active participant in the Cardinal Health community, Nelson is the Chairman of Cardinal Health's Leader Drugstores in Florida and also sits on Cardinal's National Board of Leader Drugstores. In these roles, Nelson constantly seeks ways to improve technology and customer service for the independent drugstore market. He plans to open a second pharmacy, called Big Lake Pharmacy, by September 2002. As Nelson explains, "Big Lake Pharmacy will be a "closed-door" institutional pharmacy that will service clinics, nursing homes, and our local jail."

"We're proud that Okeechobee Discount Drug and Steve Nelson have been recognized for their dedication to enhancing pharmacy practice in the Okeechobee community," says Mary Reno, CEO at Innovation Associates. "Steve has been a real PharmASSIST advocate since day one and we look forward to working with him to further his mission to enhance patient safety in his region."

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. For more information on Innovation Associates, Inc., visit www.innovat.com.

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