Toronto Stock Exchange Symbol: SXC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                      

- 3-year deal valued at $1,800,000 - 

MILTON, ON, June 19, 2002 -- Systems Xcellence, Inc. ("SXC" or "Company") (TSX: SXC) a leading provider of healthcare information technology solutions throughout the pharmaceutical benefits supply chain, today announced that it has renewed its Application Service Provider (ASP) contract with Sierra Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:SIE) ("Sierra") of Las Vegas, Nevada. All figures are in Canadian dollars.

 SXC will provide Sierra with ASP-versions of RxCLAIM (for pharmacy benefit management) and RxTRACK (a data warehouse and information analysis tool) for approximately $600,000 per year over a three-year period. 

"We began doing business with Sierra in 1998 and are pleased to retain this highly respected managed care organization as one of our blue chip clients," said Gordon S. Glenn, President & CEO of SXC. "Many businesses like Sierra are looking to outsourced ASP solutions to help control costs while maintaining excellent levels of client service. Our ability to offer our products on both an ASP and licensed software basis provides purchasing flexibility for our clients while allowing SXC to target a wide-range of potential customers." 

"RxTRACK has proven to be an invaluable tool in our efforts to track and predict our medical expenditures based upon our prescription drug utilization and cost," said Darren Sivertson, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Sierra's Managed Care Division. "In the four years since our relationship with SXC began, we have come to rely on their flexible solutions to meet the needs of our managed care business."

 SXC is a key player in the U.S. pharmaceutical benefit IT market, which is valued at approximately US$2.1 billion annually. Factors driving growth in this industry include:

• a rising percentage of Americans who take prescription drugs on a daily basis;

• the rise in direct-to-consumer advertising;

• the Bush Administration's pledge to provide drug benefits to senior citizens; and

• the fact that U.S. healthcare providers and payers must generally be compliant with the regulatory requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) by October 2003.  

These forces have combined to fuel demand from healthcare payers as they look to control the escalating costs of delivering healthcare benefits.

About Sierra Health Services, Inc.

Sierra Health Services, Inc., based in Las Vegas, is a diversified health care services company that operates health maintenance organizations, indemnity and workers' compensation insurers, military health programs, preferred provider organizations and multi-specialty medical groups. Sierra's subsidiaries serve nearly 1.3 million people through health benefit plans for employers, government programs and individuals.  Sierra is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SIE. 

About Systems Xcellence, Inc.

Systems Xcellence (SXC) is headquartered in Milton, Ontario with offices and processing centres in Lombard, Illinois; Scottsdale, Arizona; and Victoria, British Columbia. SXC is a leading provider of healthcare information technology solutions and services to the healthcare benefits management industry. The Company's product offerings and solutions combine a wide range of software applications, ASP processing services and professional services, designed for many of the largest organizations in the pharmaceutical supply chain, such as pharmacy benefit managers, managed care organizations, retail pharmacy chains and other healthcare intermediaries. 

 The Company's products offer its customers comprehensive pharmacy benefits management, claims switching and processing, drug dispensing, data warehousing and analysis, and rebate contract management systems. SXC delivers these solutions to its customers as software products bundled with systems implementation and consulting services, or on an ASP basis from its data centres in Scottsdale, Arizona and Lombard, Illinois. The Company's shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol SXC.  SXC can be found on the Internet at www.sxc.com.

 This press release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations. These forward-looking statements entail various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in these forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed in the Management Discussion and Analysis published in the Company's annual report.

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