TORONTO and MONTREAL— February 28, 2005— DISMED has become the first regional distributor in the province of Quebec to join Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX). Through GHX, DISMED will be able to conduct business electronically with multiple customers through a single Internet connection, rather than having to establish and maintain separate EDI interfaces with each of its electronic trading partners. One of the largest regional distributors in the province of Quebec, DISMED is a primary vendor to Hôpital Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, which began purchasing products via GHX in late January through a connection established by its information technology (IT) services provider CGI Group Inc. (CGI). Other hospitals and healthcare providers in Quebec joining GHX will also have the opportunity to purchase products electronically from DISMED, as well as the other suppliers participating in the exchange in Canada. DISMED currently serves more than 2500 customers in Quebec. Currently, 26 suppliers are connected to GHX in Canada. DISMED has already published its product data to the AllSource™ content repository, which includes information on the majority of products purchased by hospitals on a regular basis. DISMED sells more than 75,000 products from more than 200 manufacturers. Because customers can synchronize their internal product data with product information continually maintained and verified by DISMED and others in the GHX AllSourceÔ content repository, orders sent via GHX to suppliers are more accurate. This enables suppliers, such as DISMED, to reduce the amount of time required by customer service personnel to manually correct purchase orders.
DISMED will initially connect to GHX using WebDirect, a Web-based order processing tool that enables suppliers to not only receive and send purchase orders and purchase order acknowledgements, but also electronic invoices, even without an EDI infrastructure. In the near future, DISMED will fully integrate to GHX, expanding the kinds of electronic transaction sets it can utilize in standardized electronic data interchange (EDI) or extensible markup language (XML) formats.
The more transaction sets DISMED can handle electronically, the more aspects of the supply chain process that can be automated for both DISMED and its customers. “DISMED has been providing quality medical and surgical supplies to healthcare organizations in Quebec for more than 25 years,” says DISMED Vice President and General Director Francine Pomerleau. “Now by using GHX we can provide those products in a more efficient manner that saves our customers time and money.” Hôpital Sacré-Coeur de Montréal anticipates a significant reduction in supply chain errors, not only because hospital personnel will no longer have to rekey documents, but more importantly as a result of improved data accuracy.
“DISMED’s participation in GHX will play an important role in achieving Hopital du Sacré-Coeur de Montreal ‘s goal of conducting 80 percent of its purchasing electronically,” says GHX Canada General Manager Nils Clausen. “With organizations like DISMED and Hopital du Sacré-Coeur de Montreal leading the way, we anticipate more hospitals and suppliers in Quebec will join the exchange in the near future. Already, more than 285 hospitals and 40 suppliers are members of GHX in Canada. Transaction volume in Canada in 2004 exceeded CAN $110 million.
About DISMED
Dismed has been in operation for more than 25 years and is Quebec’s leading distributor of medical supplies. With over 75,000 quality healthcare products and medical equipment from more than 200 suppliers, many of which are exclusive, Dismed can meet the needs of all hospital centers and other establishments in Quebec’s healthcare network. Dismed is a proud and dynamic company with a dedicated team serving its 2,500 customers throughout Quebec with full logistics services adapted to the actual needs of the healthcare network. Its constant concern to include, in every move it makes, a significant added value, allows Dismed’s clients to stock up on medical supplies with more convenience and for its partnering suppliers to distribute their products more efficiently.
About Global Healthcare Exchange
Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC (GHX) provides an open and neutral electronic trading exchange, along with complementary products and services, through which buyers and sellers can collaborate to improve efficiencies in the healthcare supply chain. GHX’s catalog and content services improve the accuracy of purchasing transactions, reducing many of the most common and costly problems in healthcare procurement, while the privately held company’s revenue neutral business model is designed to lower costs for all involved. GHX’s owners, strategic partners, and trading exchange participants are representative of the entire healthcare supply chain, including manufacturers and distributors; integrated delivery networks (IDNs), hospitals and ancillary healthcare facilities; group purchasing organizations and their proprietary healthcare trading exchanges; and supply chain technology companies. Equity owners of GHX include Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc.; GE Healthcare; Baxter Healthcare Corp.; Medtronic USA, Inc.; Abbott Exchange, Inc.; Siemens; Becton, Dickinson & Co.; Boston Scientific Corp.; Tyco Healthcare Group, LP; Guidant Corp.; C.R. Bard, Inc.; AmerisourceBergen Corp.; Cardinal Health, Inc.; Fisher Scientific International, Inc.; McKesson Corp.; B Braun Medical Inc.; Premier, Inc. and HCA. For more information visit www.ghx.com.