McGraw-Hill and NDCHealth Alliance Provides Cutting-Edge Training for Medical Office Administrators

In the doctor's office, where complex business administration is dictated by the ever-growing demands of health insurers and government regulators, the need for skilled medical business professionals has never been greater. To meet this need, McGraw-Hill Higher Education and NDCHealth Corporation (NYSE: NDC) have joined forces to provide educational materials to more than 2,500 instructors teaching medical administration courses at community and career colleges across the nation.

Through this alliance, NDCHealth Corporation, a leading provider of healthcare technology and information solutions, combines its market-leading physician NDCMedisoft™ practice management system software with McGraw- Hill's renowned business titles, used as the basis for medical office administration and accounting training courses. A key component of this alliance is McGraw-Hill's distribution of NDCMedisoft software to instructors who use "Computers in the Medical Office," a McGraw-Hill medical billing, patient accounting and patient scheduling textbook authored by Susan M. Sanderson.

"Based on NDCMedisoft Advanced edition software, the textbook serves as the core learning platform for training future physician office administrators and managers," said Sanderson. "Students don't just read about how to use NDCMedisoft Advanced in a textbook, they actually use the software to enter new patient information, post billing transactions, and create insurance claims. Using state-of-the-art technology, students develop the skills and confidence that are a prerequisite for employment in today's fast-paced medical office."

Walter Hoff, chairman and chief executive officer of NDCHealth, explained that NDCHealth and McGraw-Hill are ideally suited to collaborate on these materials. "McGraw-Hill is a worldwide leader in business publishing with extensive distribution channels. Connect that fact with NDCMedisoft's popularity, ease of use and prevalence in the marketplace, and you've got an unbeatable educational solution," said Hoff.

"The increasing demand for health care services continues to drive the automation of administrative tasks in medical offices through applied technology," said Michael Lange, vice president/editor-in-chief, Science, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. "And through the McGraw-Hill and NDCHealth agreement, we are meeting the growing demand for healthcare professionals who are truly skilled at using this technology."

Under special licensing arrangements, NDCMedisoft is licensed for use on all classroom computers used by students and instructors who utilize the "Computers in the Medical Office" textbook. An optional "Work at Home" version of NDCMedisoft is available to students with home computers or laptops.

About McGraw-Hill Higher Education

McGraw-Hill Higher Education is a unit of McGraw-Hill Education, a leading global provider of electronic and print products for the pre-K through 12th grade, higher education and professional markets. It is a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), a global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's and Business Week. Founded in 1888, the Corporation has more than 280 offices in 37 countries. Sales in 2004 were $5.3 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mheducation.com/.

About NDCHealth Corporation

NDCHealth is a leading information solutions company serving all sectors of healthcare. Its network solutions have long been among the most prominent in the nation, automating the exchange of information among pharmacies, payers, hospitals and physicians. Its systems and information management solutions help improve operational efficiencies and business decision making for providers, retail pharmacy and pharmaceutical manufacturers. Headquartered at Atlanta, Ga., the company provides information vital to the delivery of healthcare every day. For more information, visit http://www.ndchealth.com/.

SOURCE: McGraw-Hill Higher Education

CONTACT: Robin Wrinn
NDCHealth Corporation
(404) 728-2214
robin.wrinn@ndchealth.com
Tom Stanton
McGraw-Hill Education
(212) 904-3214
tom_stanton@mcgraw-hill.com

Web site: http://www.mheducation.com/
http://www.ndchealth.com/