Premier Licenses Full Verticalnet XE Suite for Supply Management to Help Drive Down Healthcare Costs

One of the Largest Healthcare Group Purchasing Organizations in the U.S. Extends its Relationship with Verticalnet to Further Fight Rising Healthcare Costs

Malvern, PA – September 08, 2005 Verticalnet, Inc. (Nasdaq: VERT), a leading provider of supply management solutions, today announced that Premier, Inc., one of the nation's largest healthcare group purchasing organizations managing over $25 billion of spend annually in supplies and equipment, has expanded its relationship to include the entire Verticalnet® XE suite for Supply Management. Verticalnet XE is an end-to-end supply management suite that enables sourcing and procurement organizations to balance price, performance, and risk to achieve the lowest total cost of ownership.
" As a group purchasing organization for the healthcare industry, Premier's value proposition to its members is effective sourcing of goods and services from thousands of suppliers worldwide," said Joe Pleasant, Premier's Chief Information Officer. "Verticalnet had a great track record with our Company, but in making the decision about the future direction of our sourcing processes we looked at the whole market in an exhaustive process." Pleasant concluded, "Ultimately, we selected the Verticalnet XE suite because it delivers the sourcing and supply management components that we need to further improve our process and to provide sustainable savings for our members today and in the future."

Premier has been a Verticalnet customer for more than 4 years, initially implementing a Verticalnet application to provide centralized contract management and visibility into contract commitments across the Company's supply chain, its Members, Suppliers and Distributors. Premier has expanded its relationship with Verticalnet by licensing the entire Verticalnet XE suite to enable its world class sourcing processes.

"Verticalnet is pleased that Premier, one of our largest customers, has placed its confidence in our company by going deeper into our XE suite for Supply Management," said Nathanael V. Lentz, President and CEO of Verticalnet. "With the complete Verticalnet XE suite for Supply Management, Premier and its members will have standardized, repeatable sourcing processes and a world class workflow that will assure ongoing substantial savings for their collective bottom lines and reduced costs in the healthcare system."

The Verticalnet XE Supply Management suite is available On Demand and includes:

Verticalnet® Program Manager -- lowers the total cost of ownership and improves productivity through sound and re-usable program and process management
Verticalnet® Spend Manager -- a fast, intelligent, and repeatable solution for identifying, evaluating, and quantifying enterprise-wide sourcing opportunities while measuring compliance
Verticalnet® Negotiation Manager -- accelerates and improves negotiated savings through online auctions and eRFX events
Verticalnet® Contract Manager -- provides real-time insights into contract obligations, exposures, expirations, changes and renewals delivering greater control, reducing costly oversights and minimizing supplier risk
Verticalnet® Performance Manager -- enables companies to effectively track and manage supplier performance, contract compliance and identify potential areas of supplier risk.
About Premier, Inc.
Premier, Inc., is a healthcare alliance entirely owned by more than 200 of the nation's leading hospital and healthcare systems. These systems operate or are affiliated with nearly 1,500 hospital facilities and thousands of other healthcare sites. Premier provides an array of resources supporting health services delivery including group purchasing for more than $25 billion annually in supplies and equipment. Other resources offered by Premier are supply chain and clinical performance improvement services and insurance programs designed to further drive down the cost of healthcare for member and their patients. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, Premier has offices in Chicago, IL; Charlotte, NC; and Washington, DC.
Source : Verticalnet

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