empactHealth.com | News: Press Release 02/01/2000

Marietta, GA, February 1, 2000 - HIE Inc. (NASDAQ: HDIE), a leading enterprise application integration (EAI) software and services provider, today announced that it has been selected by empactHealth.com, a leading provider of e-procurement solutions for the healthcare industry, to integrate hospitals' backend purchasing, materials management, general ledger and accounts payable systems with empactHealth's comprehensive empactMarketplace for healthcare providers and their suppliers.

empactHealth.com offers buyers and suppliers web-based procurement solutions, empactBuy and empactSupply. empactHealth impacts the supply chain-related processes of buyers and suppliers by integrating into their respective businesses, enabling efficient, cost effective e-commerce transactions via its empactMarketplace for healthcare. Columbia/HCA Corporation, with over 200 hospitals and $3 billion in annual spending, has agreed to be the first buyer to participate in empactMarketplace.

Under the agreement, HIE will provide integration services to empactHealth to design and develop integration solutions that link legacy systems with empactMarketplace. HIE will help empactHealth integrate its e-procurement solutions into providers' and suppliers' business processes, automating all functions of the procurement process, including creating and approving requisitions and purchase orders, invoice approvals and processing, and payment and customer service functions.

"HIE has interfaced with virtually every legacy system in the healthcare industry, which makes them a strong partner for us as we work to create a seamless e-procurement transaction processing experience for buyers and suppliers," said J. Edward Pearson, President and CEO of empactHealth.com. "HIE has a tremendous track record as an integrator, and their expertise will be invaluable in helping us minimize the time to roll out our solutions to hospitals and healthcare systems, as well as other providers and suppliers in the healthcare industry.

Pearson added, "Hospitals and other U.S. healthcare organizations spend $83 billion annually on healthcare supplies and equipment. Of that amount, $23 billion goes purely to processing costs-requisitioning, ordering, invoicing, tracking, and inventory management. Recent studies by industry experts have indicated that $15 billion of that amount represents targeted areas for savings through better information technologies that automate the procurement process."

"empactHealth.com is offering innovative, business-to-business e-procurement solutions that can revolutionize supply chain management, said Robert Murrie, HIE president and CEO. "Once again, HIE's healthcare integration expertise will add value to an Internet-based solution. HIE's products and services are designed to help care delivery organizations and healthcare information systems vendors move forward with e-Health integration strategies."

HIE provides a flexible suite of implementation services, training programs and outsourcing solutions for any type of healthcare integration environment. Service options include Dedicated Resources, Project Support, Remote System Administration and a new Solution Sourcing� family of integration outsourcing plans.

About empactHealth.com

empactHealth.com is a leading provider of e-procurement solutions for the healthcare industry. empactHealth.com offers buyers and suppliers comprehensive, web-based procurement solutions that dramatically reduce their costs. empactHealth.com positively impacts the supply chain-related processes of buyers and suppliers by integrating into their respective businesses, thus enabling efficient, cost effective e-commerce transactions via its empactMarketplace for healthcare. The company has partnered with Commerce One, Inc. (NASDAQ: CMRC) a leading provider of electronic commerce solutions that dynamically link buying and supplying organizations into real-time trading communities, to provide the foundation for its e-procurement healthcare solutions. empactHealth.com is located in Nashville, Tenn., and can be reached by phone at (615) 344-5220 or via the Internet at http://www.empactHealth.com.

About HIE

HIE helps enterprises rapidly integrate their existing and new applications, using the Company's software tools and strategic and tactical integration services. The Company's products are used in more than 1,200 sites worldwide, including those in the healthcare, financial services, government, manufacturing and banking industries. HIE is headquartered in Marietta, Georgia, with offices in Dallas, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; and Essen, Germany. For more information visit HIE's web site at http://www.hie.com.

HIE Contacts:
(Press) Sara Herrmann, Director, Corporate Communications
(770) 423-8572
sara.herrmann@hie.com

(Investors) Denise Jones, Investor Relations Specialist
(770) 423-8515
denise.jones@hie.com

This press release includes forward-looking statements in addition to historical information. The words "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "estimate" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements; however, this press release also contains other forward-looking statements in addition to historical information. The Company cautions that there are various important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements; accordingly, there can be no assurance that such indicated results will be realized. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are competitive pressures, changes in regulations applicable to or affecting the Company or its customers, the mix of software and service revenue, the mix of direct and indirect sales, sales timing, changes in pricing policies, undetected errors or bugs in the software, delays in the product development, lower-than-expected demand for the Company's software tools or services, business conditions in the healthcare and other complementary markets, the Company's ability to modify its software for use in non-healthcare industries, risks associated with possible acquisitions, general economic conditions and the risk factors detailed from time to time in the Company's periodic reports and registration statements filed with Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999 . By making these forward-looking statements, the Company does not undertake to update them in any manner except as may be required by the Company's disclosure obligations in filings it makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Federal securities laws.