New Report by Leading Research Firm Ranks GHX Among Top 5 e-Procurement Vendors in Five Categories

LOUISVILLE, Colo., Sept. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Gartner, Inc., a global information technology research firm, has ranked GHX among the top five vendors of e-procurement technology in the ease of use, control, implementation services, customer satisfaction and product viability categories. GHX scored among the top five in five of 11 categories in the Gartner "E-Procurement Market and Vendor Landscape"* report.  

GHX was among 32 of 60 vendors across multiple industries that met Gartner's criteria for inclusion in the report, which assessed e-procurement, purchase-to-pay and buy-side e-catalog solution vendors across industries. Criteria for inclusion in the report included size, growth, innovation, punch-out support, references and scope. Vendors were rated on 11 elements spanning scope breadth, ease of use, time-to-value and customer satisfaction.

"It was particularly gratifying to be named one of the top vendors for customer satisfaction," said Derek Smith, GHX executive vice president of Marketing and Product Management. "Our customers are very important to us and we work hard to make sure that they are completely satisfied every step of the way in doing business with us."

Gartner did the report in lieu of a Magic Quadrant because of the wide variety of solution types covered. To compile results, Gartner collected detailed company and product data, made reference calls to current customers of companies participating in the survey and solicited reference survey input.

"One of the most interesting findings was that organizations—such as hospitals—that allow individuals outside procurement departments to place orders without implementing an e-procurement solution can easily lose 50 percent or more of negotiated cost savings," Smith said. "When requisitioners are unaware of contract pricing agreements, it adds unnecessary costs. For the past several years, GHX has offered the Procurement Suite solution that allows buyers outside materials management to benefit from negotiated contract pricing, earning up to a 12 percent savings on medical-surgical spend."

Procurement Suite is a Web-based solution for managing non-file and off-contract procurement. It enables buyers in healthcare organizations to perform simple Google-like searches among millions of enriched, normalized catalog items, helping drive procurement behavior aligned with an organization's business objectives, including on-contract purchasing. GHX, using a process validated by global management consulting firm PRTM, calculates providers can reduce their supply chain costs by 12 percent using Procurement Suite to enable greater contract compliance, increase standardization and eliminate rogue spending.

*Gartner, Inc. E-Procurement Market and Vendor Landscape, Deborah R. Wilson, Nigel Rayner, September 2. 2011.

About GHX

Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC (GHX) makes healthcare more efficient by delivering software and services that enable both healthcare providers and suppliers to increase efficiency, lower costs and provide better patient care. With the largest footprint in healthcare supply chain management, GHX connects more than 80 percent of licensed hospital beds at U.S. hospitals, as well as providers in Canada and Europe, with the suppliers from which they purchase the majority of their medical-surgical supplies. GHX is transforming today's linear healthcare supply chain into the industry's only Healthcare Supply Cloud(SM), providing 360-degree visibility into areas affecting both clinical and financial performance. Working with GHX, organizations can improve business processes, automate supply chain systems and collaborate to solve the tough challenges facing healthcare today. GHX is owned by members of the healthcare industry, including Abbott Exchange, Inc.; AmerisourceBergen Corp.; Baxter Healthcare Corp.; B. Braun Medical Inc.; BD; Boston Scientific Corp.; Cardinal Health, Inc.; Covidien; C.R. Bard, Inc.; Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.; GE Healthcare; HCA; Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc.; McKesson Corp.; Medtronic USA, Inc.; Owens & Minor; Premier, Inc.; Siemens; University HealthSystem Consortium; and VHA Inc.  For more information, visit www.ghx.com. Follow GHX on Twitter @GHX_LLC and on Facebook @GHX.

SOURCE GHX