WESTMINSTER, Colo. and RICHMOND, Va.— March 27, 2002—Owens & Minor, Inc. (NYSE-OMI), the nation’s leading distributor of national name brand medical/surgical supplies, has begun transacting business with customers through Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC (GHX). As an integrated member of the GHX trading exchange, Owens & Minor can receive and fulfill orders for multiple hospitals and healthcare facilities with a single Internet connection, thereby expanding the ways in which the distributor can more efficiently serve its customers. Currently, nearly 700 hospitals have joined GHX, representing 71 integrated delivery networks (IDNs). A recognized leader in the use of technology, Owens & Minor chose to join GHX in order to help its customers improve their business processes. “GHX offers our customers another avenue to improve efficiencies and reduce costs,” says Owens & Minor President and Chief Operating Officer Craig R. Smith. “Working in partnership with GHX, we are able to use an e-commerce solution with technology that addresses not only order taking, but also fulfillment, delivery, correct pricing and accounting.” Owens & Minor was ranked first in this year’s InformationWeek 500, a list of the nation’s most innovative users of technology.
Owens & Minor conducted its first live business transactions through GHX in February, 2002, processing and fulfilling orders for Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Jersey. Jeff Welch, director of materials management at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, says “Owens & Minor’s participation in GHX will help us realize even greater supply chain savings by enabling us to conduct more of our business electronically and in real time. With our major distributor on board and GHX’s enhanced reporting capabilities, we will be able to track our purchasing more effectively and efficiently.”
Work is already underway to enable additional healthcare providers to begin transacting business with Owens & Minor using GHX. Together, the two companies have compiled a list of key hospitals and IDNs that they have mutually targeted for integration in 2002.
GHX President Mike Mahoney welcomes the addition of Owens & Minor to the trading exchange’s growing list of distributor members. “Distributors play a very important role in the supply chain process. Now, many of our hospital members will be able to purchase brand name medical-surgical equipment directly from their distributor of choice, while realizing the improved efficiencies and reporting capabilities provided by GHX’s e-commerce solution.”
About Owens & Minor, Inc.
Owens & Minor, Inc., a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is the nation's leading distributor of national name brand medical/surgical supplies. The company's distribution centers throughout the United States serve hospitals, integrated healthcare systems and group purchasing organizations. In addition to its diverse product offering, Owens & Minor helps customers control healthcare costs and improve inventory management through innovative services in supply chain management and logistics. The company has also established itself as a leader in the development and use of technology. For news releases visit www.prnewswire.com, or for more information about Owens & Minor, as well as news releases and virtual warehouse tours, visit the company's Web site at www.owens-minor.com.
About Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, one of the nation’s leading academic health centers, is the principal hospital for UMDNJ – Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and a member of the Robert Wood Johnson Health System & Network. For more information, please call the hospital’s main phone number at 732-828-3000, the RWJUH Physician Referral Line at 888-795-8411 or visit www.rwjuh.edu.
About Global Healthcare Exchange
Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC (GHX) is an Internet-based trading exchange from which hospitals can purchase both medical and non-medical products more easily, quickly, and accurately than ever before. GHX is building a normalized, verified industry standard catalog, which will take advantage of deep connectivity between GHX, hospitals, and suppliers to improve efficiencies and add value throughout the healthcare supply chain. The privately held company was founded in March 2000 and its membership now includes more than 100 supplier members and nearly 700 hospital members, representing 71 integrated delivery networks (IDNs). Equity owners of GHX include Johnson & Johnson; GE Medical Systems; Baxter International, Inc.; Abbott Laboratories; Medtronic, Inc.; AmerisourceBergen Corporation; Becton, Dickinson & Co.; Boston Scientific Corporation; Cardinal Health, Inc.; C.R. Bard, Inc.; Fisher Scientific International Inc.; Guidant Corporation; McKesson Corporation; Siemens Medical Solutions and Tyco International, Ltd. For more information visit www.ghx.com.
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release, and particularly in the above "outlook" section, may constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These include the rate at which new business, including the new contracts noted above, can be converted to the company, intense competitive pressures within the industry, the success of the strategic initiatives outlined above, changes in customer order patterns, pricing pressures, changes in government funding to hospitals and other healthcare providers, loss of major customers, and other factors discussed from time to time in the reports filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company assumes no obligation to update information contained in this release.