The National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine reports that close to 50,000 deaths resulting from medical errors occur annually. These errors occur most often because physicians do not have immediate access to needed information on patients. In an effort to change those statistics, CareScience began developing the "CareScience Care Data Exchange" in November 1999. The data exchange, scheduled for release in January 2001, mirrors the popular music-sharing service offered by Napster. CareScience has employed Napster's peer-to-peer (P2P) technology, enabling medical personnel to quickly access critical health-related data. P2P provides for the immediate transfer of data from one computer to another. P2P, which is less expensive than a central server-based system, enables people to share information stored on networks or individual hard drives.