NovaMed Acquires Ambulatory Surgery Center in Florida

CHICAGO, IL -- 11/29/2004 -- NovaMed, Inc. (NASDAQ: NOVA) today announced that it has added another surgery center to its portfolio. NovaMed now has ownership interests in 23 surgery centers, six of which have been added in 2004.

NovaMed acquired a 25% interest in the Eye Care and Surgery Center of Fort Lauderdale located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. NovaMed has an option to acquire an additional 26% from its new partner, Dr. Tom Coffman, starting in November 2005. Dr. Coffman is also NovaMed’s partner in the Palm Beach Outpatient Surgery Center in which NovaMed acquired a majority interest in late July 2004. “This acquisition provides NovaMed with an expanded presence in the attractive and growing south Florida market,” said NovaMed Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer Stephen J. Winjum. “In the last 12 months approximately 2,000 ophthalmic surgical procedures were performed at this surgery center and we expect this acquisition to be immediately accretive to our earnings,” said Mr. Winjum.

NovaMed acquires, develops and operates ambulatory surgery centers in partnership with physicians. With this acquisition, NovaMed now has ownership interests in 23 surgery centers located in 12 states. NovaMed’s executive offices are located in Chicago, Illinois.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that relate to possible future events. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in this press release. These risks and uncertainties relate to our business, our industry and our common stock and include: our ability to acquire, develop or manage a sufficient number of profitable surgical facilities, including facilities that are not exclusively dedicated to eye related procedures; reduced prices and reimbursement rates for surgical procedures; our ability to maintain successful relationships with the physicians who use our surgical facilities; our future profitability could decrease because of existing agreements with physicians that may require us to sell additional equity interests in our ASCs at varying future intervals; the application of existing or proposed government regulations, or the adoption of new laws and regulations, that could limit our business operations and require us to incur significant expenditures; the continued acceptance of laser vision correction and other refractive surgical procedures; and demand for elective surgical procedures generally. Readers are encouraged to review a more complete discussion of the factors affecting NovaMed’s business and prospects in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company’s 2003 Form 10-K filed on March 29, 2004. Readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Except as required by the federal securities laws, NovaMed undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, changing circumstances or any other reason after the date of this press release.

Contact Information

Scott T. Macomber

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

NovaMed, Inc.

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