BW0019  OCT 19,1998       3:44  PACIFIC      06:44  EASTERN

( BW)(MCKESSON/HBOC-2)(MCK)(HBOC) REMINDER/MEDIA ALERT

     Business Editors, Health/Medical Writers
     REMINDER...for Monday (Oct. 19)

     --(BW HealthWire)--
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           MCKESSON AND HBOC MERGE TO CREATE MCKESSON HBOC,
               THE WORLD LEADER IN HEALTHCARE SERVICES,
            WITH EQUITY MARKET VALUE OF ALMOST $23 BILLION

                   PRESS CONFERENCE AND Q&A SESSION
                  ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 12 P.M. EDT
               (TELEPHONE PARTICIPATION ALSO AVAILABLE)

        Merger Combines the No. 1 Healthcare Supply Management and
                the No. 1 Healthcare Information Companies

    Uniting Information and Supply Management Leaders Will Improve
      Productivity and Clinical Outcomes for Healthcare Delivery

WHAT: McKesson Corporation, the leading healthcare supply management
     company in North America, and HBO & Company, the leading
     healthcare information systems & technology company in the U.S.,
     today announced that they have signed a definitive merger
     agreement for McKesson to acquire HBOC. This merger will create
     the world's first comprehensive healthcare supply management and
     information solutions company, uniting two top-performing,
     rapidly growing leaders in their respective industries. The
     merged company, McKesson HBOC, will have estimated revenues of
     more than $20 billion and an equity market capitalization of
     almost $23 billion.

    At the press conference and on the call, executives from the two
     companies will discuss how the complementary capabilities of
     McKesson and HBOC, which together address the entire information
     and supply cost structure across the full continuum of
     healthcare, will enable the new company to uniquely offer a
     comprehensive source for the health care products and systems,
     increasing the efficiency of providers and improving the quality
     of care for patients. They will also talk about how customers,
     employees and shareholders of both companies will benefit from
     the expanded product and service offerings, broader reach and
     integration of information systems and supply management from
     McKesson HBOC.

WHO: Mark Pulido, chairman and chief executive officer, McKesson
     Corporation Charles McCall, president and chief executive
     officer, HBO and Company Richard Hawkins, vice president and
     chief financial officer, McKesson Corporation Jay Gilbertson,
     vice president and chief financial officer, HBO and Company

WHERE: Waldorf-Astoria 301 Park Ave. (between 49th and 50th St.), New
     York, NY Jade Room

WHEN: 12:00 P.M. (EDT)

SLIDES: Slides for the presentation are available on the McKesson
     World Wide Web site (www.mckesson.com) in the site's Investor
     Resources section

TELEPHONE: To join the briefing via telephone, call 800/369-2150
     (password: Mark), ask for LARRY KURTZ, host

CONTACTS: McKesson: Larry Kurtz (415) 983-8418 or Kim Sankaran (415)
     983-8416 HBOC: Monica Brown (770) 668-5926 or Beth Dalton (770)
     393-6587

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McKesson Profile

    McKesson Corporation, a Fortune 100 company, is the largest
healthcare supply management company in North America through its U.S.
healthcare businesses; its Canadian subsidiary, Medis Health and
Pharmaceutical Services; and its 22.7% interest in Mexico's Nadro.
McKesson distributes pharmaceutical, medical and surgical products and
provides healthcare supply management services and technologies on a
nationwide basis across the entire continuum of care. The company also
owns McKesson Water Products, one of the nation's largest providers of
bottled drinking water. McKesson, founded in 1833 and headquartered in
San Francisco, has approximately 14,000 employees and is listed on the
New York and Pacific stock exchanges under the symbol, "MCK."

    Mission

    McKesson's Mission is to be the world leader in healthcare supply
management by advancing the success of our partners. Our partners are
our provider customers, our manufacturing partners, our employees and
our shareholders. When we succeed, they succeed. McKesson has two
strategies for achieving its Mission. First, to remain the distributor
of choice for pharmaceuticals and medical-surgical supplies by
performing the basics better than anyone else. Second, to provide the
tools, technologies and programs that help customers reduce costs and
improve quality as they deliver healthcare.

    Operations Overview

    McKesson is the nation's leading wholesaler of pharmaceuticals
and medical-surgical products to pharmacies, food stores and mass
merchandisers, chain drugstores, hospitals and IDNs, physician clinics
and extended care sites. Each day of the year, McKesson delivers
prescription pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter drugs and
medical-surgical supplies to 4,500 customers for use by patients in
all 50 states. Each day, McKesson's communication infrastructure
processes 30 million business transactions, connecting McKesson's 130
business locations with its 45,000 customers and 3,000 suppliers. In
addition, McKesson provides a range of tools and technologies that
help its customers reduce costs and improve quality as they deliver
healthcare to patients. These products and services include pharmacy
networks and franchises that allow independent community pharmacies to
enjoy the technical capabilities and buying power of chain drugstores,
advanced supply management logistics, on-line order entry and
inventory management, hospital pharmacy automation systems and
software, and a variety of market-enhancement services for
manufacturers.
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    Operating Groups

    McKesson is organized into three operating groups:

--   McKesson Customer Operations Group consists of the company's
     pharmaceutical distribution operations and retail pharmacy sales
     and service, addressing the needs of independent pharmacies, mass
     merchandisers, national pharmacy chains and food/drug stores.
     McKesson operates 35 pharmaceutical distribution centers that
     deliver healthcare products to retail customers as well as
     McKesson's institutional customers in all 50 states on a timely
     basis. McKesson APS is the leader in the development and
     implementation of productivity solutions, including automated
     counting and dispensing technology for retail, mail order and
     outpatient pharmacies. The Customer Operations Group also
     includes McKesson's Carrollton Operations, which handles customer
     service and support and financial logistics. The Customer
     Operations field sales force works closely with the
     Pharmaceutical Services and International Group to execute retail
     programs and support McKesson's pharmacy networks. Its products
     and services include:

    --   OmniLink(R), which provides on-line confirmation of
          thousands of daily price updates and clarifies managed care
          requirements, generating significant savings for retail
          pharmacists,

    --   EconoLink(R) order entry and inventory management system,
          and

    --   InfoLink(SM), a Web-based technology that allows both
          McKesson and its customers real-time access and analysis of
          detailed product usage and purchasing information down to
          the store level.

--   McKesson Pharmaceutical Services and International Group combines
     the company's pharmaceutical procurement and product management
     functions in a single group that is focused on improving sales
     and marketing effectiveness for manufacturers and creating
     affiliation programs and information technologies for its retail
     customers. These include: the Valu-Rite(R), Valu-Rite/CareMax(SM)
     and Health Mart(R) retail networks; Patient Care Enhancing
     Programs(SM) to ensure patient compliance with appropriate
     pharmaceutical therapy; Select Generics(SM) for pharmacies;
     Healthcare Delivery Systems (HDS), which performs an entire suite
     of specialized logistics and patient services for manufacturers
     and its subsidiary, J. Knipper and Company, one of the nation's
     leading providers of direct marketing and fulfillment services to
     the health care industry; and McKesson BioServices Corporation,
     which provides biomedical support services to the pharmaceutical
     and biotechnology industries, U.S. government, universities and
     institutions, and contract research organizations. The McKesson
     Pharmaceutical Services and International Group also includes
     Medis Health and Pharmaceutical Services, the largest healthcare
     distributor in Canada.

--   McKesson Health Systems Group consists of the company's McKesson
     Health Systems business unit, McKesson General Medical, McKesson
     Automated Healthcare and McKesson MedManagement. McKesson Health
     Systems serves the pharmaceutical and supply management needs of
     hospitals, healthcare organizations and integrated health
     networks. McKesson General Medical provides medical-surgical
     supply management across the continuum of care, including acute
     care, primary, or physician care, and extended care. McKesson
     Automated Healthcare is the nation's premier manufacturer of
     automated pharmacy systems including ROBOT-Rx(TM), a robotic
     pharmacy dispensing and utilization tracking system that enables
     hospitals to lower pharmacy costs while significantly improving
     the accuracy of drug dispensing, and AcuDose-Rx(TM), a new
     unit-based cabinet that securely dispenses bar-coded unit-dose
     medications. McKesson MedManagement is a leading pharmacy
     management, purchasing, consulting and information services
     company. McKesson Health Systems products for institutions
     include:

    --   SupplyNET(SM), an advanced supply chain product selection
          and logistics management program that uses physician and
          pharmacy data to provide cost management analysis and
          savings recommendations, and

    --   CoSource(SM), which integrates pharmaceutical distribution
          services with SupplyNET and automated pharmacy technologies
          and information systems from McKesson Automated Healthcare.

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    On September 30, McKesson announced that it had signed a
definitive agreement to acquire Red Line HealthCare Corporation, a
subsidiary of Novartis, for approximately $230 million in cash and
assumed debt. Red Line is a leading distributor of medical supplies
and services to the extended care industry, including long-term care
and home care sites. Following the completion of the transaction, Red
Line will become a unit of McKesson General Medical. MGM's long-term
care business will be combined with Red Line's.

    Financial Highlights for fiscal years ending March 31 (dollars in
millions except per share amounts) from continuing operations before
unusual items:

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                                     FY1998       FY1997        FY1996
Operations
Revenues                             18,153       12,887        9,954
Operating Profit                        435          274          246
EBITA                                   404          238          217
Net Income                              176          115          121

Financial Strength
Total Assets                          5,608        5,173        3,360
Working Capital                       1,528        1,124          821
Stockholders' Equity                  1,407        1,261        1,065

Performance Measures
Return on Average                      13.3%        12.4%        13.0%
 Stockholders' Equity
Return on                              21.6%        18.3%        28.8%
 Committed Capital
Diluted EPS                          $ 1.80       $ 1.29       $ 1.29

    More information about McKesson can be obtained on the World Wide
Web at: http://www.mckesson.com

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                                 HBOC
                          Corporate Overview


    Healthcare Information Systems & Technology

    With approximately 7,000 employees worldwide, HBOC serves the
information systems needs of the health enterprise -- integrated
health systems, managed care organizations, physician enterprises,
payors, home health agencies and hospitals. HBOC develops, implements
and supports patient care, financial, clinical, homecare, managed care
and strategic management software that facilitates the integration of
data throughout the enterprise. HBOC also provides a full complement
of network technologies as well as outsourcing services for managing
business offices and information system operations. HBOC's only focus
is the healthcare market, and the company is an industry leader in
revenue and market share with products and services that are sold
throughout the world.

    Mission

    HBOC's mission is to deploy information technology to help its
customers as they restructure the healthcare delivery process. The
company is committed to continuous quality improvement so that every
product and service HBOC offers is known as the best in the market.

    Financial Performance

    The company's financial performance is illustrated by the
following highlights:
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For the year:                           1997        1996       1995

Revenue (in millions)                $ 1,203.2   $   950.9   $ 715.9
Operating Income (in millions)(1)    $   318.1   $   199.4   $ 113.7
Net Income (in millions)(1)          $   200.7   $   124.5   $  70.3
Earnings Per Share(1)                $      .47  $      .30  $   .18
R&D Expenditures (in millions)       $   123.7   $   112.5   $  94.9
Sales Stock Price Per Share:                                 
      High                           $    24.31  $    18.13  $ 10.81
      Low                            $    10.63  $     8.19  $  4.11
Employees At Year-End                     6,286       5,417    5,030


For the quarter ending:                   March 31,       June 30,
                                            1998            1998

Revenue (in millions)                $     342.8     $     376.7
Operating Income (in millions)(1)    $     103.0     $     119.0
Net Income (in millions)(1)          $      64.9     $      73.8
Earnings Per Share(1)                $        .15    $        .17
R&D Expenditures (in millions)       $      31.2     $      34.8
Sales Stock Price Per Share:                         
     High                            $      30.47    $      35.56
     Low                             $      21.69    $      28.00

(1)  Excludes nonrecurring charge                    
                                                   
    All share and per share amounts have been restated to reflect the
1998 two-for-one stock split effected in the form of a stock dividend.


    Product Portfolio

    HBO & Company's products and services are designed to meet the
information needs of all participants in the integrated health system.
HBOC offers solutions in the following categories: 

--   Enterprise management -- Managed care administrative systems, and
     clinical auditing and compliance tools for payors and providers

--   Clinical management -- Electronic medical record including
     documentation, guidelines and orders for the enterprise,
     hospital, homecare and physician office markets

--   Practice management -- Billing, time management and
     administrative systems for physicians

--   Access management -- Scheduling, master person index and
     encounter management

--   Community health management -- Demand management, disease
     management and computer telephony systems

--   Resource management -- Materials management, accounts payable,
     general ledger, staff scheduling

--   HIS solutions -- Patient care, clinical and financial systems

--   Infrastructure -- Enterprise repository, imaging and interface
     manager

--   Enterprise services -- End-to-end support from the application to
     the desktop

--   Outsourcing services -- Information technology, revenue cycle,
     networking


    Competitive Advantages

--   Financial strength

--   Comprehensive product line

--   Strategic vision

--   Leading market share

--   Clinical competency

--   Leadership technology


    HBOC Offices

--  Corporate Headquarters -- Atlanta
    301 Perimeter Center North
    Atlanta, GA 30346
    (770) 393-6000
    www.hboc.com

--   Sales and Regional Offices

Amherst, Mass.      Hauppauge, N.Y.            Mt. Laurel, N.J.    
Boulder, Colo.      Itasca, Ill.               Murray Hill, N.J.   
Cambridge, Mass.    Lexington, Mass.           Somerset, N.J.      
Charlotte, N.C.     Lisle, Ill.                Omaha, Neb.         
Chicago             Longwood, Fla.             Overland Park, Kan. 
Dallas              Malvern, Pa.               Phoenix             
Dubuque, Iowa       Marietta, Ga.              Pittsburgh          
Eugene, Ore.        Minneapolis                Rockville, Md.      

Salt Lake City   
San Diego        
San Francisco    
Scottsdale, Ariz.
Seattle, Wash.   
Springfield, Mo. 
Tampa, Fla.      
Wheeling, Ill.   
Whittier, Calif. 


--   International Offices Canada, Puerto Rico, United Kingdom,
     Ireland and Israel

*T
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    Stockholder Information

    HBO & Company's common stock trades on the Nasdaq Stock Market
National Market (symbol:HBOC). Updated 10/1/98

     --30--azs/sf*    dl/sf

     CONTACT: McKesson
              Larry Kurtz, 415/983-8418
              Kim Sankaran, 415/983-8416
              or
              HBOC
              Monica Brown, 770/668-5926
              Beth Dalton, 770/393-6587

     KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA GEORGIA
     INDUSTRY KEYWORD: PHARMACEUTICAL MEDICINE MERGERS/ACQ REMINDER