Avera Health is First in the Dakotas to Offer eICU® Care Expansion of Life Saving eICU® Technology Broadens throughout Rural America with Addition of 5-State Region March 5th, 2004 Baltimore, MD - VISICU, Inc. creator of the eICU® solution, announced today that Avera Health, headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has purchased the eICU® solution and plans to bring the life saving technology to ICU facilities throughout its five-state region. The contract initially calls for linking 50 ICU beds from four regional facilities to a new eICU® facility located on the campus of Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center in Sioux Falls. The regional sites are Avera Queen of Peace in Mitchell, SD; Avera St. Luke's in Aberdeen, SD and Avera Sacred Heart in Yankton, SD. The health system will also look into opportunities to partner with other facilities for eICU® care. Future rollouts will enable eICU® care to be provided at other locations throughout the Avera Health system, casting a virtual ICU safety net for the entire region. eICU® care provides the only technology available that enables healthcare organizations to achieve the Leapfrog Group's ICU safety goal of having intensivists available all day, every day for ICU patients. Avera Health is a regional network comprised of more than 100 healthcare facilities and 34 hospitals in South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and North Dakota. The eICU® solution transforms ICU care using telemedicine technology, early warning software and electronic monitoring to connect off-site critical care physician specialists, known as intensivists, and critical care nurses to ICU patients. Dr. David Kapaska, Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs at Avera McKennan, is pleased that Avera Health is leading the way in offering eICU® care in the region and expects it to further enhance the quality of care throughout the health system. Kapaska stated, "We are genuinely excited about this initiative. Avera Health facilities are already known for their high quality of care, and we fully expect that the eICU® solution will help us enhance that care at Avera Health facilities by reducing complications and mortality rates and by enabling shorter hospital stays for our sickest patients." Frank T. Sample, president and CEO of VISICU, is extremely pleased to partner with Avera Health and to bring eICU® care to more rural parts of the country. "Avera Health is a premiere organization, and we are pleased they will be the catalyst for bringing life saving eICU® care to people in the Dakotas region." About VISICU VISICU, Inc., a privately held company founded in 1998 by two intensivist physicians, is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. The eICU® solution enables hospitals to standardize ICU care across multiple hospitals and leverage scarce intensivist resources. From a centralized eICU® facility, intensivists and nurses monitor and care for ICU patients through a high-fidelity telemedicine network that has been likened to air traffic control. Proprietary software is used to proactively manage patient care and electronically connect the "patient to the doctor" 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A study of the eICU® system published in the Journal of Critical Care Medicine (Crit Care Med 2004; 32:31-38) proved the clinical and financial benefits. The eICU® solution is currently the only technology that enables hospitals to meet the Leapfrog Group's ICU patient care safety standards and is continually recognized for its technology innovations. In 2004 VISICU won the Microsoft MS-HUG award for Acute Care Clinical Information System, in 2002 the eICU® solution was recognized as one of the Top 100 technical innovations by InfoWorld magazine and in 2001 the company received the Healthcare Informatics and Technology Award. For more information please visit www.visicu.com. eICU® and Smart Alerts® are registered trademarks of VISICU, Inc.