TARRYTOWN, N.Y. and WESTMINSTER, Colo., April 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Bayer HealthCare, Diagnostics Division, a member of the Bayer Group , announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX), which offers an open and neutral electronic trading exchange to improve supply chain efficiencies. Through this agreement, Bayer Diagnostics aims to enhance the “buying experience” for its customers by streamlining the purchasing process and reducing costs.
Recognized for its comprehensive portfolio of diagnostics products for the central and physician office labs, Bayer Diagnostics will integrate in to GHX’s trading exchange, enabling it to connect to, and conduct business electronically with, more than 2000 hospitals and other healthcare providers. Bayer customers can improve transaction quality and processing time, while healthcare providers can increase both the types of products purchased and the percentage of their overall purchasing conducted electronically by using the exchange.
“GHX has very quickly evolved into the ‘e-marketplace hub’ for health care,” said John Nosenzo, Sr. Vice President and General Manager North America, Bayer HealthCare, Diagnostics Division. “GHX, through the breadth of its relationships with Amerinet, HealthTrust Purchasing Group, MedAssets and Premier, and its connectivity to exchanges serving Broadlane and Novation hospitals, presently represents the most efficient long-term e-marketplace solution for Bayer Diagnostics to reach the broadest base of our customers. Through GHX we hope to contribute efficiencies to the health care supply chain and, specifically, to help our customers realize these efficiencies in doing business with Bayer Diagnostics.”
Through GHX, healthcare buyers and sellers can conduct business with multiple trading partners through a single Internet connection, eliminating the costs associated with maintaining separate EDI connections with each trading partner. GHX also enables participants to improve supply chain efficiencies by automating manual processes and reducing purchase order errors associated with lack of buyer and seller product data synchronization.
Suppliers such as Bayer Diagnostics publish and verify product data in GHX’s AllSource(TM) content repository, and healthcare purchasers can use services from the GHX Content Center to ensure that their product data matches that of suppliers. GHX also provides buyers with reports that identify pricing discrepancies and the real time status of their orders, as well as summaries of their purchasing history.
“GHX is proud to have Bayer HealthCare, Diagnostics Division among its growing list of participating suppliers. Many of the providers using GHX already purchase products from Bayer,” says GHX Chief Executive Officer Mike Mahoney. “Now, they can conduct business with Bayer more efficiently, while increasing the total percentage of their purchasing that is handled electronically.”
Mahoney adds that Bayer Diagnostics’ success in using industry standards to improve buyer-seller data synchronization in the retail marketplace will strengthen GHX’s current efforts to introduce similar efficiencies in healthcare. Bayer HealthCare joins more than 165 suppliers already conducting business through GHX.
About Bayer HealthCare, Diagnostics Division
Bayer HealthCare, Diagnostics Division (http://www.bayerdiag.com/), based in Tarrytown, New York, U.S.A., is one of the largest diagnostic businesses in the world. The organization supports customers in 100 countries through an extensive portfolio of laboratory testing, molecular testing and near patient care diagnostics systems and services for use in the assessment and management of health, including the areas of cardiovascular and kidney disease, oncology, virology and women’s health. Bayer HealthCare Diagnostics Division’s global headquarters in the United States operates as part of Bayer HealthCare LLC, a member of the worldwide Bayer HealthCare group.
About Bayer HealthCare AG
Bayer HealthCare AG, a subsidiary of Bayer AG, is one of the world’s leading, innovative companies in the health care and medical products industry. In 2004, the Bayer HealthCare subgroup generated sales amounting to some 8.5 billion Euro.
The company combines the global activities of the divisions Animal Health, Biological Products, Consumer Care, Diabetes Care, Diagnostics and Pharmaceuticals. Bayer HealthCare employed 35,300 people worldwide in 2004. Bayer HealthCare’s aim is to discover and manufacture innovative products that will improve human and animal health worldwide. The products enhance well- being and quality of life by diagnosing, preventing and treating disease.
About Global Healthcare Exchange
Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC (GHX) provides an open and neutral electronic trading exchange, along with complementary products and services, through which buyers and sellers can collaborate to improve efficiencies in the healthcare supply chain. GHX’s catalog and content services improve the accuracy of purchasing transactions, reducing many of the most common and costly problems in healthcare procurement, while the privately held company’s revenue neutral business model is designed to lower costs for all involved. GHX’s owners, strategic partners, and trading exchange participants are representative of the entire healthcare supply chain, including manufacturers and distributors; integrated delivery networks (IDNs), hospitals and ancillary healthcare facilities; group purchasing organizations and their proprietary healthcare trading exchanges; and supply chain technology companies. Equity owners of GHX include Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc.; GE Healthcare; Baxter Healthcare Corp.; Medtronic USA, Inc.; Abbott Exchange, Inc.; Siemens; Becton, Dickinson & Co.; Boston Scientific Corp.; Tyco Healthcare Group, LP; Guidant Corp.; C.R. Bard, Inc.; AmerisourceBergen Corp.; Cardinal Health, Inc.; Fisher Scientific International, Inc.; McKesson Corp.; B Braun Medical Inc.; Premier, Inc. and HCA. For more information visit http://www.ghx.com/.
This news release contains forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in our public reports filed with the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (including our Form 20-F). The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.
Global Healthcare Exchange
CONTACT: Karen Conway for GHX, +1-719-488-0359, or cell, +1-303-564-2147, kconway@ghx.com; or Susan Hager for Bayer HealthCare, DiagnosticsDivision, +1-781-254-3456, susan.hager.b@bayer.com
