Neoforma Accelerates Connectivity For Hospitals And Suppliers
SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Neoforma, Inc. , a leading provider of supply chain management solutions for the healthcare industry, continues to build momentum around its connectivity offering for hospitals and suppliers. Utilizing a new connectivity process launched in July 2004, Neoforma implemented 715 connections in the third quarter of 2004, more than double its average quarterly connection rate in 2003. Neoforma's innovative new connectivity process is designed to help suppliers and hospitals easily integrate and automate many of their supply chain business practices and accelerate the delivery of cost-savings and value from their use of Neoforma's solutions.
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By increasing the number of connections between trading partners, Neoforma streamlines purchasing activity for its hospital and supplier customers. A connection is an electronic channel between the enterprise resource planning system (ERP) or materials management information system (MMIS) of a hospital or integrated delivery network and a supplier's order processing system. One Neoforma connection can represent multiple hospitals and, potentially, multiple departments within each hospital.
"Hospitals and suppliers alike are looking for solutions that help accelerate the automation of their day-to-day business processes," says Dan Eckert, president and chief operating officer of Neoforma. "Neoforma's innovative connectivity process addresses this need directly by enabling our customers to more rapidly implement electronic trading relationships."
Neoforma provides supply chain management solutions for the healthcare industry, including building and supporting solutions for Marketplace@Novation(R), the online healthcare supply exchange offered by Novation, the supply company of VHA Inc. and University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC). As Novation's strategic technology partner, Neoforma offers connectivity services to VHA and UHC members that are transacting through Marketplace@Novation.
VHA members such as Memorial Medical Center in Springfield, Ill., and St. Peter's Hospital in Helena, Mont., are among the numerous VHA and UHC hospitals that have benefited from Neoforma's streamlined connectivity process and are seeing immediate results by rapidly and easily increasing their number of connections.
For example, Kevin Voigt, system director of materials management at Memorial Medical Center comments, "We were able to quickly increase the number of suppliers that we are connected with from ten to more than 50 by participating in the new connectivity process. By increasing our number of connections, we have better information that results in improved data tracking and reporting capabilities. This enables us to resolve price and order discrepancies, resulting in fewer accounts payable and invoice issues."
St. Peter's Hospital has also been able to increase its number of connections dramatically using Neoforma's new connectivity process, from one supplier connection in July 2004 to 23 connections by the end of October 2004. St. Peter's Hospital expects to have 30 connections by the end of November 2004.
Through Neoforma's connectivity process, participating suppliers, including St. Jude Medical, Daig Division, Inc. and Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, are able to immediately access the full benefits of Neoforma Order Management Solution(TM) (OMS). Benefits of Neoforma OMS include rapid connectivity to new trading partners, connectivity maintenance services, automated order processing and Web-based reporting tools to enable more informed decision making.
The new connectivity process provides suppliers with a compelling option for connectivity that takes time and costs out of their supply chain. According to Mike Zagger, vice president of corporate accounts for St. Jude, "Due to Neoforma's new accelerated connectivity process, St. Jude Medical's Daig business saw a significant increase over its quarterly connection average from two connections in the second quarter to 14 connections in the third quarter. In addition, in the fourth quarter, we expect to continue to build on our success and increase the number of hospitals with which we are communicating electronically, which benefits both St. Jude and our VHA and UHC hospital customers."
About Neoforma
Neoforma is a leading supply chain management solutions provider for the healthcare industry. Through a unique combination of technology, information and services, Neoforma provides innovative solutions to over 1,500 hospitals and suppliers, supporting more than $10 billion in annualized transaction volume. By bringing together contract information and order data, Neoforma's integrated solution set delivers a comprehensive view of an organization's supply chain, driving significant cost savings and better decision-making for both hospitals and suppliers. For more information, go to http://www.neoforma.com/ .
This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements include statements related to Neoforma's innovative new connectivity process and how it is designed to help suppliers and hospitals easily integrate and automate many of their supply chain business practices and accelerate the delivery of cost-savings and value from their use of Neoforma's solutions, the benefits of increasing the number of connections between trading partners, the enhanced benefits to Neoforma hospital customers from using Neoforma's new connectivity process and using Neoforma OMS, as well as the expected increase in connections that Neoforma expects using its new process. There are a number of risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements. These risks include the risk that customers may not reap the benefits anticipated from the use of the new connectivity process and Neoforma OMS, as well as other operational challenges that Neoforma has faced and may continue to face in implementing its connectivity plan. These risks and other risks are described in Neoforma's periodic reports filed with the SEC, including its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2004. These statements are current as of the date of this release and Neoforma assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this news release.
Neoforma is a trademark of Neoforma, Inc. Other Neoforma logos, product names and service names are also trademarks of Neoforma, Inc., which may be registered in other countries. Other product and brand names are trademarks of their respective owners.
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