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New Industry-Leading Marketplace@Novation Application Gives VHA and UHC Hospitals Faster Access to Savings

Novation Introduces Technology Designed to Automate Contract Activation

Novation, the supply company of VHA Inc. and the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC), continues to provide innovative ways for member health care organizations to access contract value quickly, by introducing enhancements to its industry-leading online health care supply exchange Marketplace@Novation. The enhancements to the forms manager tool, which is accessible through Marketplace, provides members with faster and more efficient access to Novation contracts and pricing. As a result, functions that were historically manual and time-consuming are now fully automated and, in some instances, paper forms are completely eliminated. Such efficiencies drive significant cost-savings for hospital supplies and purchased services, which make up nearly a third of an average hospital's expenses.

"VHA and UHC members have told us they need easier ways to activate contracts more quickly," said Dan Blucher, senior director, e-commerce business development, at Novation. "By eliminating as many forms as possible and continuing to expand automation, we are helping them achieve this goal. In fact, Novation's contract activation rate continues to shorten, making us the best in the industry."

The enhanced form management tool provides to hospitals several benefits that are unique in the industry. For example, the tool allows for online submission of forms by members and online approval by suppliers. In addition, e-signatures can be used to further reduce paperwork. Novation is aggressively working with several of its contracted suppliers to implement paperless processes to shorten approval times.

In addition, all parties involved in the approval process of forms can now sign up to receive e-mail alerts to keep apprised of a contract's activation status. For the first time, members, suppliers and Novation staff will be immediately notified of status changes so that all parties can track the progress of form submissions and approval, ensuring timely completion.

Other new features include pre-populated commitment forms, which not only reduce manual entry but also ensure accuracy of forms and member pricing. Initial contract pricing can now be captured and included in email alerts, online reporting and in the Novation Contract Catalog.

"The new email alert will help me maintain visibility to the approval process of commitment forms," says Andrea Stahl, purchasing manager at Willis-Knighton Health System. "Greater visibility to the process will ensure that lower pricing is implemented more rapidly and that our systems will be ready for the change."

Novation became the first organization in health care to offer an online tool for VHA and UHC members to manage letters of commitment and participation. "We are very excited to introduce these capabilities to the market," says Russ Higgins, Novation senior director, contract administration. "In essence, we've combined the top features available and developed new capabilities based on members' needs to deliver the best online forms management application in the industry."

About Novation

Based in Irving, Texas, Novation was established in January 1998 through a combination of the supply programs of VHA and UHC, two national health care alliances. Novation serves the purchasing needs of more than 2,500 members and affiliates of VHA and UHC. These organizations used Novation contracts to purchase more than $23 billion in supplies in 2004.

Distributed by Market Wire