Broadlane to Manage Procurement and Materials Management at Tenet Healthcare Corporation's 52 Hospitals

Beginning January 1, 2009 and continuing through early 2010, Tenet's approximately 200 materials management and procurement employees will become Broadlane employees.

"We are excited to welcome these new employees to Broadlane," said David Ricker, president and chief executive officer, Broadlane. "The experience of these employees will deepen our operational expertise and enhance the capabilities Broadlane offers to all our clients. We will also provide more opportunities for advancement and resources for these newly acquired employees."

With the addition of Tenet Healthcare, Broadlane will provide outsourced supply chain management services to 110 acute care hospitals, manage more than $4 billion in annual supply spend and employ 375 outsourced supply chain management specialists.

"In the eight years since we began our outsourcing business, the supply chain metrics for our outsourced clients are far better than our traditional GPO clients," added Ricker. "In the past, Tenet expanded their relationship with us to include Broadlane Workforce Management(TM) for our clinical contract workforce and The Preference Group(TM) for clinical consulting services. Because of our demonstrated success, they are placing all materials and back-office purchasing functions into our hands for streamlined procurement, improved processes and even greater savings."

"Simply put, Broadlane drives supply chain savings for us," said Stephen L. Newman, M.D., chief operating officer, Tenet Healthcare Corporation. "Broadlane is going to continue to provide clinical resources to support our cost reduction initiatives and increase contract coverage and the speed of contract implementation. In addition, Broadlane will identify and implement further cost-saving initiatives and leverage their advanced technology for our benefit."

A Broadlane client since 1999, Tenet will continue to have full access to Broadlane's national contract portfolio of products and services through OnRamp(TM) (Broadlane's online client portal), and Broadlane will provide national GPO portfolio management, regional GPO portfolio management and custom agreements for Tenet. In addition, Broadlane will assume day-to-day responsibility for receiving and internal product distribution, inventory management and Value Analysis Teams (VAT) management.

Tenet will continue to utilize Broadlane Informatics for access to reports and to improve insight related to contracts, capital equipment, pharmacy and other key areas of spend management. Broadlane's informatics suite includes Sustainable, Transformational, Actionable Reports (STAR) metrics reporting technology that benchmarks supply chain performance against goals, peers and best practices.

In addition to all materials and inventory management functions, Broadlane will support Tenet with Procurement Services. The highly scalable operation will support the purchasing processes related to supply chain products, consumable goods, purchased services and capital equipment and manage Tenet's item master.

Transaction Management Services, a component of Procurement Services, will increase Tenet's efficiency and lower its procurement-related expenses through Broadlane's National Procurement Center, a centralized operation in Dallas. After buyers release purchase orders, transaction specialists will determine the most efficient means for processing purchase orders through BroadLink(R), Broadlane's proprietary e-commerce exchange, and ensure that contracted products are priced correctly. Leveraging BroadLink, Broadlane's transaction experts will process purchase orders and acknowledgements and manage workflows associated with correcting price discrepancies. For suppliers not supporting ecommerce, Broadlane will process orders via phone or fax, providing Tenet with "virtual EDI." Information on all orders -- not just those processed via EDI -- will return to Tenet electronically allowing consolidation of all transaction history.

Broadlane's Item Master Services, also part of Procurement Services, will manage processes and data related to Tenet's item master. Procurement Services promotes standard processes, which avoids inaccurate or irrelevant data in Tenet's materials management system and also systematically improves existing data. Broadlane's Item Master Services are designed to improve the quality of purchase order data which streamlines subsequent purchases and accounts payable activities focusing on reconciling vendor invoices with eligible contracts and enrollments to pay the correct price.

About Broadlane

Broadlane is the leading technology-oriented healthcare services company, reducing cost and creating operational efficiencies for thousands of acute care hospitals, ambulatory care facilities, physician practices and other healthcare providers in the United States. Its core services include supply chain management and clinical workforce management services.

Broadlane's comprehensive supply chain services include:

-- Unparalleled national and custom contracting for supplies, pharmaceuticals, equipment and purchased services

-- Innovative Procurement Services and purchase transaction management

-- Clinical Services for managing clinical preference items and operating room and cath lab spending

-- Comprehensive Materials Management Services -- including outsourcing

-- Informatics -- benchmarking, advanced analytics and reporting

-- Supply chain technology and e-commerce

Broadlane Workforce Management(TM) addresses nurses and allied healthcare practitioners and includes:

-- External shift and agency management services

-- Internal shift management, including electronic shift auctions

-- Regional nurse float pool management and internal agency management

-- E-commerce workforce exchange linking healthcare providers, clinical staff and agencies, enabling efficient shift management and fulfillment and reconciliation

The Preference Group(TM), a division of Broadlane, consults with healthcare facilities to help manage the cost of clinical items and processes. The Preference Group's specialized clinical programs include:

-- Medication Use Management (MUM)

-- Orthopedic Management Program

-- Cardiovascular Management Program

-- And many others

Broadlane's clients include leading providers such as Advocate Health Care, Ascension Health, Beaumont Hospitals, CHRISTUS Health, Continuum Health Partners, Kaiser Permanente, Kindred Healthcare, MedCath Corporation, New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System, St. Luke's Episcopal Health System, Tenet Healthcare, The Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati, US Oncology and UMass Memorial Health Care.

The company is headquartered in Dallas with offices in Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston, New York City and Oakland. For more information, visit www.broadlane.com.

SOURCE: Broadlane

Broadlane Jim Webb, 972-813-7782 jim.webb@broadlane.com