UHC Launches RxLINK(TM) Mobile App to Deliver Instant Data Access for Strategic Pharmacy Purchasing

CHICAGO, March 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- UHC, an alliance of the nation's leading nonprofit academic medical centers, announces the launch of a mobile application for RxLINK™, UHC's online analytic tool that gives hospitals unprecedented insight into their pharmacy price performance. The mobile app provides a subset of RxLINK™ reports that can be accessed on an Apple iPad.

The application, developed by Novation, UHC's supply contracting company, allows UHC pharmacy supply chain members to quickly access information to support strategic pharmacy purchasing decisions and provides on-demand insight into industry pricing levels. The app is available only to UHC supply chain participants that use SpendLINK®, a Web-based tool that integrates clinical and supply data for a comprehensive view of a hospital's supply expenses across the continuum of care.

The RxLINK™ mobile application offers the following benefits:

• Portability: Members can access price benchmarking data on the go, anywhere they can use an iPad.
• Instant access to data: Without needing to boot up a computer or access a virtual private network, members can find comparative pricing data when it is needed, such as during a meeting with a vendor.
• Facilitates interactive discussions: The RxLINK™ mobile app facilitates discussions with vendors and hospital executives by interactively filtering data and allowing the user to drill down to specific vendor or product detail.
• User-friendly graphics: The application's grids, graphs, and interactive features are easy to use and interpret and support flexible decision making.

"It's extremely important for hospitals to have quick and easy access to data in order to make strategic purchasing decisions," said Jake Groenewold, UHC's senior vice president, Supply Chain. "RxLINK™ Mobile allows our members to do just that and improve performance in their pharmacy areas."

The reports and features available on the RxLINK™ mobile application include a comparison of hospital performance with that of other organizations, a true market view of both contract and noncontract items, pricing and performance detail down to the individual product level, "price leveling" opportunities within the organization for pharmacies within the same class of trade, and monthly updates for accurate analysis.

"Mobile technology is changing the way people do business," says Dan Sweeney, Novation's senior vice president, Information and Data Services. "People are used to having information at their fingertips. Whether they want to buy the latest song, purchase movie tickets, or book a vacation, they can do so with the press of a button. In the same way, this new mobile app allows hospital pharmacy providers to have visibility not only into their own hospital's drug spend but also into industry-wide pharmaceutical pricing. We are excited to offer this kind of instant access."

The RxLINK™ mobile application, which is available as part of the supply chain offering to UHC supply chain participants, can be found in the Apple App Store by searching for UHC.

For more information, contact Doug Smith, PharmD, at (312) 775-4331 or [email protected].

About UHC

UHC is an alliance of the nation's leading nonprofit academic medical centers, which are focused on delivering world-class patient care. Based in Chicago, Ill, UHC fosters collaboration with and among its 116 academic medical center and 260 affiliated hospital members through its renowned programs and services in the areas of comparative data and analytics, performance improvement, supply chain management, strategic research, and public policy. UHC helps its members achieve excellence in quality, safety, and cost-effectiveness. Formed in 1984, UHC's membership includes more than 90% of the nonprofit academic medical centers in the United States. For more information, visit uhc.edu.

About Novation, Winner of the Ethics Inside® Certification

Founded in 1998, Novation is the leading health care supply contracting company for the more than 65,000 members of VHA Inc. and UHC, two national health care alliances, and Provista, LLC. Novation provides alliance members with sourcing services, as well as information and data services. Based in Irving, Tex, Novation develops and manages competitive contracts with more than 600 suppliers. VHA, UHC, and Provista members used Novation contracts to purchase more than $40 billion in products and services in 2011. Novation recently earned the coveted Ethics Inside® Certification from Ethisphere Institute, a leading international think tank dedicated to the research and promotion of best practices in corporate ethics and compliance, and is the only health care group purchasing organization to earn this distinction.

SOURCE UHC