LOUISVILLE, Colo., Nov. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- GHX today announced that HealthTrust Purchasing Group (HealthTrust), a group purchasing organization supporting nearly 1,400 not-for-profit and for-profit acute care facilities, as well as 10,600 ambulatory surgery centers, physician practices and alternate care sites, has renewed its agreement with GHX to deliver supply chain technology and software solutions. The renewal means that HealthTrust's members will be able to take advantage of GHX to increase operational efficiency and drive down the costs of doing business.

With a common goal of cutting the costs associated with the delivery of healthcare, GHX and HealthTrust have been working together for over 10 years to help HealthTrust's members achieve supply chain savings. A portion of these savings are possible because of cloud-based technology from GHX, which creates and operates an electronic trading platform connecting the majority of healthcare provider facilities in North America and the medical-surgical suppliers with which they do business.

Under the agreement, members will have access to the GHX Exchange and additional services that enable them to do business electronically with their suppliers, even those not yet connected to GHX or that do not have electronic data interchange capabilities. The agreement also includes OnDemand AP®, a solution that provides Accounts Payable process automation; the Procurement Suite solution for requisitioning, workflow automation and improved control over spend; NuVia^(SM) for item master management; Collaboration Portal, an application that offers collaborative workflow to publish and approve letters of commitment (LOC), proactive alerts, detailed history, eligibility confirmation, and a 4-way matching price activation and synchronization service. Collaboration Portal enables the entire healthcare supply chain—manufacturers, distributors, providers and group purchasing organizations—to work together throughout the contract and price implementation process, reducing time, labor and pricing errors.

"We understand that HealthTrust is committed to helping their hospital members deliver high quality, cost effective healthcare," said Bruce Johnson, president and CEO of GHX. "We share this goal by helping enable healthcare organizations working with GHX to automate business processes for improved efficiency and savings. In collaboration with our customers, we've successfully eliminated $2.3 billion in industry supply chain expenses since January 2010. It's because of our relationship with partners like HealthTrust that we're able to make such a significant impact on the healthcare industry."

About GHX
Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC (GHX), a healthcare technology and services company, helps reduce the cost of doing business in healthcare by enabling better supply chain management. GHX makes it easier for hospitals, other healthcare providers and the suppliers that do business with them to drive cost and inefficiency out of their processes. Working with GHX, the healthcare organizations that make up the GHX Global Network are on track to save $5 billion by 2014—savings that can be invested in such things as hiring more nurses, providing care to uninsured children or developing new medical products. GHX is owned by organizations on both the buy and sell side of the healthcare supply chain, including some of the largest companies in the world. Find GHX on the Web, on Twitter @GHX_LLC and on Facebook @GHX.

About HealthTrust
HealthTrust Purchasing Group, L.P., (www.healthtrustpg.com) headquartered in Brentwood, Tenn., is a group purchasing organization that supports nearly 1,400 not-for-profit and for-profit acute care facilities, as well as 10,600 ambulatory surgery centers, physician practices and alternate care sites. With an annual purchasing volume by its members of more than $20 billion, HealthTrust is committed to obtaining the best price for clinically recommended products, ensuring their timely delivery, and continuously evaluating and improving its services to the patients, physicians and clinicians it serves. HealthTrust is closely integrated with the provider-proven capabilities of Parallon Business Solutions (www.parallon.net) which include revenue cycle and business process expertise, workforce management solutions, supply chain services and technology solutions.

SOURCE GHX