ATLANTA, Sept. 9, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — MedAssets (NASDAQ:MDAS) recently held National Collaborative event delivered significant savings for its healthcare providers in the adult incontinence category. MedAssets customers participating in the National Collaborative awarded Attends Healthcare Products (Domtar Personal Care) a sole-source three-year contract, which represents 73 clients – 27 percent of the total GPO spend for the category – who pre-committed volume from different care sites in the continuum.
Held multiple times throughout the year, MedAssets National Collaborative events drive deep discounts on clinically proven products and services through a pre-committed volume purchasing model. Healthcare organizations agree to commit volume upfront to a select number of suppliers. Live negotiations are conducted at the MedAssets National Procurement Center in Plano, Texas.
Over the past three years, the MedAssets National Collaborative program has negotiated millions in contract savings across numerous product categories with savings percentages ranging from 12% to 41% in categories such as Enteral Nutrition, Purchased Linens, Laboratory Distribution Services, and Disposable Protective Apparel. The live negotiation format brings competing suppliers together at one location (albeit in separate rooms), creating healthy competition to deliver the best pricing for MedAssets customers in return for pre-committed purchasing volume for a supplier.
“Our progressive National Collaborative program continues to have significant impact on reducing overall supply costs for both providers and suppliers,” said Les Popiolek, MedAssets senior vice president, strategic sourcing. “The success of our unique approach in the industry will expand rapidly in support of MedAssets ongoing transformation to provide more value to our healthcare organizations. Rather than the traditional GPO model, this is a differentiated, customer-led strategy that is core to more innovative programs to come.”
“The industry needs more initiatives that are based on committed volume, given the continuous pressure coming from healthcare reform to reduce overall costs,” said Steven Chyung, senior vice president, transformation, supply chain management and real estate at SCL Health, who helped negotiate the pricing at the National Collaborative event. “Committing high volumes to fewer suppliers gives much needed leverage to negotiate pricing as we continue to address reimbursement pressures and become better positioned for a value-based care environment,” he said.
For suppliers it is a way to capture more market share, providing the motivation to deliver deeper discounts. “MedAssets National Collaboratives give us a rare, cost-effective opportunity to promote our overall value to providers and their patients,” said Stephen La Barbera, vice president of North American Healthcare, Domtar Personal Care. “This is a win-win, enabling us to grow our business while helping our customers deliver quality outcomes for their patients.”
MedAssets will host its next National Collaborative event on Dec. 14 for sterilization wrap. The deadline for providers to commit is Nov. 30.
About Domtar Personal Care
Domtar Corporation (NYSE:UFS) (TSX:UFS) designs, manufactures, markets and distributes a wide variety of fiber-based products, including communication papers, specialty and packaging papers, and absorbent hygiene products. In 2014, Domtar had sales of $5.6 billion from some 50 countries. The Company employs approximately 9,800 people. To learn more, visit www.domtar.com.
About MedAssets
MedAssets (NASDAQ:MDAS) is a healthcare performance improvement company focused on helping providers realize financial and operational gains so that they can sustainably serve the needs of their community. Approximately 4,500 hospitals and 123,000 non-acute healthcare providers currently use the company’s evidence-based solutions, best practice processes and analytics to help reduce the total cost of care, enhance operational efficiency, align clinical delivery, and improve revenue performance across the care continuum. For more information, please visit www.medassets.com.
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