Diplomat announces partnership with health care services company Novation

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Dec 11, 2014, 08:34 ET

FLINT, Mich., Dec. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Diplomat, the nation's largest independent specialty pharmacy, has announced a new partnership with Novation through their Hospital Specialty Rx Program. Novation provides contracting and analytics solutions for hospitals and healthcare providers by partnering with over 700 suppliers. Novation's network includes the more than 100,000 members and affiliates of VHA Inc. and Provista LLC, a VHA company. VHA's membership encompasses more than a quarter of the nation's hospitals, with over 5,100 health systems represented and over 118,000 non-acute health care customers. Provista, one of the nation's largest group purchasing organizations, represents more than 80,000 non-acute care facilities and more than 1,200 acute care facilities.

Through the partnership with Novation, Diplomat's Hospital Specialty Rx Program will offer specialty-pharmacy capabilities into the core operations of the hospital outpatient pharmacy and offer 340B contract pharmacy solutions to hospitals within the Novation network.

Focused on optimizing specialty pharmaceutical dispensing in the hospital outpatient pharmacy environment, the partnership will offer hospital-branded specialty pharmacy support services to Novation customers, resulting in a seamless rollout to patients and physicians. Backend administrative and clinical support services will be offered by Diplomat, with trademark high-level patient care and personalized service. The services are customizable and feature flexibility to meet the needs of a full range of customers, based on the individual hospital's infrastructure and needs.

The partnership enables Novation to offer immediate access to specialty pharmacy services on behalf of their customers along with the benefit of Diplomat's extensive expertise in the sector. Additional benefits include access to education programs, specialty pharmacy market strategy consultation, and 340B contract-pharmacy support. The program is designed to deliver consistency of care, increased coordination across the health care team, and programs designed to address complex side effects and potential barriers to adherence. Novation will be able to provide these expanded specialty pharmacy services through the partnerships, increasing the range of services available for their members and customers.

For more information on Diplomat and partnership opportunities through the Hospital Specialty Rx Program, please visit www.diplomat.is

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including potential support services to hospital outpatient pharmacies and 340B contract pharmacy services to qualified covered entities to be provided by Diplomat to the members and customers of Novation's network (and any implied financial impact). The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on management's good-faith belief and reasonable judgment based on current information, and these statements are qualified by important risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those forecasted or indicated by such forward-looking statements. These risks include the unknown number of entities and volume of services to be provided by Diplomat pursuant to the Novation partnership, the timing and profitability of such services, and the factors set forth in "Risk Factors" in Diplomat's prospectus dated October 10, 2014 and in subsequent reports filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as may be required by any applicable law, Diplomat assumes no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements, which are made as of the date hereof or the earlier date specified herein, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

About Novation

Novation is a health care services company, created to serve the needs of the members and affiliates of VHA Inc., and UHC, two national health alliances, Children's Hospital Association, an alliance of the nation's leading pediatric facilities, and Provista LLC. Based in Irving, Texas, Novation develops and manages competitive contracts with more than 700 suppliers. Novation drives the success of alliance members by combining aggressive supply cost management with deep industry expertise. Learn more at www.novationco.com

About VHA

VHA Inc. is a national network of not-for-profit health care organizations working together to improve performance and efficiency in clinical, financial and operational management. Since 1977, when VHA established the first hospital membership organization, the company has applied its knowledge in analytics, contracting, consulting and network development to help members and customers achieve their strategic objectives. VHA is based in Irving, Texas, and has 12 regional offices across the U.S. VHA, together with UHC, owns Novation, a supply chain company, and aptitude™, the health care industry's first online direct contracting market. VHA also owns Provista, a supply chain company serving the non-acute market as well as hospitality, education and corporate markets. For more information, visit www.vha.com

About Provista

Based in Irving, Texas, Provista assists more than 80,000 members with improving their financial and operational performance with a customer-centric approach. Known for their high level of customer service, Provista provides customers with access to the best pricing on products and services used daily as part of overall efforts to reduce supply expenses. Provista is owned by VHA Inc.

About Diplomat

Diplomat (NYSE: DPLO) serves patients and physicians in all 50 states. Headquartered in Flint, Michigan, the company focuses on medication management programs for people with complex chronic diseases, including oncology, immunology, hepatitis, multiple sclerosis, HIV, specialized infusion therapy and many other serious or long-term conditions. Diplomat opened its doors in 1975 as a neighborhood pharmacy with one essential tenet: "Take good care of patients, and the rest falls into place." Today, that tradition continues – always focused on improving patient care and clinical adherence. For more information visit www.diplomat.is. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn and like us on Facebook.

CONTACT:
Mary Van Hoozer, National Account Director, Diplomat
810.768.9426 | [email protected]

Abigail Bearman, Diplomat
810.768.9563 | [email protected]

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SOURCE Diplomat Pharmacy, Inc.