Using GHX, healthcare providers can purchase products from multiple suppliers through a single Internet connection, reducing the need to establish separate electronic connections with each trading partner. Currently, more than 1500 healthcare providers and 100 suppliers are transacting business with one another through GHX. Ardent has already connected to more than 20 suppliers through GHX and continues to add new trading partners.

“GHX provided Ardent with the opportunity to quickly establish e-commerce capabilities with many of our preferred suppliers,” says Steve Starkey, vice president and chief information officer with Ardent Health Services. “Ardent uses a Lawson enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for materials management, and GHX has successfully integrated with similar systems at other healthcare provider sites.” The GHX Connect Plus™ connectivity solution can easily integrate with a variety of materials management information systems (MMIS), including Lawson, ESi NOVA, GEAC, HBOC Star, Keane, Lawson, Matkon, MediClick, Meditech, Pathways, PeopleSoft, ProClick, SAP and SMS, as well as with a variety of custom systems.

In addition to reducing costs associated with maintaining separate electronic connections, GHX streamlines the purchasing process by improving data accuracy and access to information. GHX’s AllSource™ catalog, the only electronic catalog in healthcare with up-to-date product data maintained and verified by the manufacturers, helps synchronize buyer and seller product data, which can minimize purchase order errors. GHX’s Report Source provides real-time information on order status, pricing discrepancies, and purchasing history, making it easier to track current orders and gather data for future planning.

“Supply chain costs are one of the biggest contributors to the price we all pay for healthcare. By joining GHX and making its purchasing process more efficient, Ardent is taking an important step toward lowering costs associated with providing quality care to the communities it serves,” says GHX Chief Executive Officer Mike Mahoney.

About Ardent Health Services
Ardent Health Services is a provider of health care services to communities throughout the United States. Ardent currently owns 27 hospitals in 12 states, providing a full range of medical/surgical, psychiatric and substance abuse services to patients ranging from children to adults.

Ardent Health Services believes that health care must be delivered with compassion for patients and their families, respect for employees, physicians and other health professionals, accountability for its fiscal and ethical performance, and responsibility to the communities it serves.

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 manufacturer 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; GE Medical Systems; 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 www.ghx.com.