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ATLANTA--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--As healthcare organizations seek cost savings from every angle to cope with increasing margin pressures, gaining access to the best procurement options for supply chain categories is mission critical. MedAssets (NASDAQ: MDAS) announced today that its recently held Pre-Commitment Program event is enabling more than 70 clients comprising nearly 300 hospitals to realize significant savings for office supplies through negotiated pricing in return for committed purchase volume. The office supply category represents multi-millions of dollars in annual expenditure for these clients.

"Our Pre-Commitment Program is a quick, effective, yet informed way to control costs. Selection of a preferred contract supplier only comes after a thorough value analysis. Participation is completely voluntary, and this programas track record of savings results is extraordinary."

Office Depot, a global supplier of office supplies and services, vied against several companies at the two-day, live competition to win the multi-year contract award. The company won the office supplies award based upon its overall proposal to support MedAssets clients on multiple fronts, including service level requirements, product guarantees and net pricing.

The MedAssets Pre-Commitment Program conducts client-led sourcing events throughout the year to provide its group purchasing clients an opportunity to achieve savings in high-volume, commodity supply chain categories where quality of patient care is minimally impacted. Clients that chose to participate in the sourcing event provided upfront commitments to standardize their office supply purchases with the preferred supplier selected.

Untapped Supply Chain Savings Enormous Impact to Hospitalas Bottom Line

aSupply chain costs can consume as much as 40 percent of a hospitalas total operating budget, the second-largest expense after labor,a said Les Popiolek, Senior Vice President, Sourcing and Procurement Solutions, MedAssets. aWhen you consider that an overall 5 to 15 percent reduction in supply chain costs can equate to a 1 to 3 percent improvement in a hospitalas operating margin, our Pre-Commitment Program is an innovative, win-win business model that helps our clients save money on commodity products and invest it elsewhere to improve the quality of patient care.a

New and Veteran Client Participants Alike See the Value

This latest Pre-Commitment event included clients new to the Pre-Commitment Program as well as veterans of its benefits and both participated in the Office Depot selection process. Scripps Health of San Diego, Calif., was among the first-time participants in the Pre-Commitment Program process.

aWith this being our first Pre-Commitment event, we were very impressed with the due diligence and support offeredby MedAssets,a said Frank Motley, Director, Contracting and Procurement, Corporate Supply Chain Management, Scripps Health. aScripps was pleased to pre-commit our volume to this event,as we areexpectingOffice Depot to delivermaterial savings related to our office supply pricesand utilization. I see the benefit of aggregating spend and collaborating with peers to achieve the best prices on commodity products, knowing the decisions you are making are backed by best practices in sourcing.Scripps expects significant savingsand increased efficiency as part of our participation in this program.a

aThe supply chain represents an untapped source of bottom line savings in healthcare. But in order to exploit the potential of this rich resource, hospital purchasing teams need tools and informed methods to negotiate the best price for what they're buying,a said Rand Ballard, Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Customer Officer, MedAssets.

aOur Pre-Commitment Program is a quick, effective, yet informed way to control costs. Selection of a preferred contract supplier only comes after a thorough value analysis. Participation is completely voluntary, and this programas track record of savings results is extraordinary.a

About the MedAssets Pre-Commitment Program

In an era of rising healthcare costs and shrinking margins, the MedAssets Pre-Commitment Program can drive savings as high as 18 percent on high-volume, commodity products and services. By aligning business and clinical objectives across select product categories, the program generates extraordinary value by delivering high-quality supplies at low prices established by upfront volume commitments. The client-driven program is based on thorough value analyses conducted between healthcare provider clients, clinicians and MedAssets experts. Every contract award decision is driven by direct client feedback.

To learn more about MedAssets Pre-Commitment Program, please visit our [ Website ].

About Scripps Health

Founded in 1924 by philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps, ScrippsHealthis a $2.3 billion nonprofit integrated health system based in San Diego, Calif. Scripps treats a half-million patients annually through the dedication of 2,600 affiliated physicians and 13,000 employees among its five acute-care hospital campuses, home health care services, and an ambulatory care network of physician offices and 23 outpatient centers and clinics.

Recognized as a leader in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, Scripps is also at the forefront of clinical research, genomic medicine, wireless health care and graduate medical education.With three highly respected graduate medical education programs, Scripps is a longstanding member of the Association of American Medical Colleges. More information can be found at [ www.scripps.org ].

About Office Depot

Celebrating 25 years as a leading global provider of office supplies and services, Office Depot is Taking Care of Business for millions of customers around the globe. For the local corner store as well as Fortune 500 companies, Office Depot provides supplies and services to its customers through 1,656 worldwide retail stores, a dedicated sales force, top-rated catalogs and global e-commerce operations. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $11.6 billion, and employs about 40,000 associates around the world. The Company provides more office supplies and services to more customers in more countries than any other company, and currently sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 58 countries.

Office Depotas common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP. Additional press information can be found at: [ http://mediarelations.officedepot.com ] and [ http://socialpress.officedepot.com/ ].

About MedAssets

MedAssets (NASDAQ: MDAS) partners with healthcare providers to improve their financial strength by implementing revenue cycle, spend and clinical resource management solutions that help capture revenue, control cost, improve margins and cash flow, increase regulatory compliance, and optimize operational efficiency. MedAssets serves more than 180 health systems, 4,000 hospitals and 90,000 non-acute healthcare providers. The company currently manages $45 billion in supply spend and touches over $316 billion in total patient revenue annually through its revenue cycle solutions. For more information, go to [ www.medassets.com ].

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