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December 14, 1999
empactHealth.com chooses Commerce One as its e-procurement technology partner and secures funding commitment up to $40 million from Columbia/HCA
Investor Columbia/HCA will be empactHealth.com's first customer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. December 14, 1999 - empactHealth.com, an e-procurement leader for the healthcare industry, today announced a preferred strategic partner relationship with Commerce One (NASDAQ: CMRC), the global leader in business-to-business electronic commerce solutions. The two companies have signed a preliminary agreement and expect to sign a definitive agreement by year-end.
In addition, empactHealth has secured an initial funding commitment of up to $40 million from Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: COL), the largest owner and operator of hospitals in the United States. Columbia/HCA, with over 200 hospitals and $3 billion in annual purchasing power, will also be empactHealth's first provider customer.
empactHealth.com offers buyers and suppliers in the healthcare industry a complete, web-based procurement solution that will dramatically decrease their costs. The company is providing a comprehensive electronic marketplace linking healthcare providers and their suppliers to conduct business more efficiently and at less cost.
Hospitals and other U. S. healthcare organizations spend $83 billion dollars annually on healthcare supplies and equipment. Of that amount, $23 billion goes purely to processing costs-requisitioning, ordering, invoicing, tracking, and inventory management. Recent studies by industry experts have indicated that $15 billion of that amount represents targeted areas for savings through better information technologies that automate the procurement process.
"Commerce One's e-commerce technology, their market leadership position, and their strategy of working with the top player in large vertical industries made them a natural partner for us," said J. Edward Pearson, President and CEO of empactHealth.com. "Commerce One is the foundation of our e-procurement solutions for the healthcare industry."
"Our strategy is to partner with the top players in large industries-companies like empactHealth that bring immediate critical mass to the marketplace in applying our e-commerce solutions across those industries, " said Mark Hoffman, President and CEO of Commerce One. "With Columbia/HCA as its partner and first customer, empactHealth is an immediate leader in healthcare. We are very excited to have them as a preferred strategic healthcare partner and look forward to helping empactHealth bring value to all of their customers, both buyers and suppliers, throughout the healthcare industry."
"With Columbia/HCA as our first customer and Commerce One as our technology partner, empactHealth is a leader in e-procurement for the healthcare industry," added Pearson, who heads a strong management team with significant experience in the healthcare information technology, supply chain, and cost management arenas. "The real opportunity here is to simultaneously connect all of the players in the healthcare supply chain and significantly improve their business processes with our web-based solution-based on Commerce One's technology. Unlike other 'dot.coms,' we will be entering 2000 with a critical mass of healthcare trading partners, both buyers and sellers, who are committing to integrate our e-procurement solution into their business processes and systems, and we have the domain expertise to make this happen rapidly."
"We have spent over two years in a dedicated effort to evaluate and enhance our supply chain business processes," said Jim Fitzgerald, Senior Vice President of Contracts and Operations Support for Columbia/HCA. "With an experienced management team in place and by bringing both buyers and sellers together in a technology-based marketplace, empactHealth is best positioned to assist us and have a positive impact on the entire healthcare supply chain, from the point of production to the point of patient use."
Thomas F. Frist, Jr., MD, Chairman and CEO of Columbia/HCA, added "We are committed to empactHealth as our ongoing supply chain partner because of the significant savings they can bring to our business, and, ultimately, to the cost of delivering quality patient care nation-wide."
Using Commerce One's Solution, including Commerce One BuySite electronic procurement application and Commerce One MarketSite portal solution, empactHealth.com will provide a complete buy-side and sell-side e-procurement solution for the healthcare industry. As new partners come on board, empactHealth's web-based marketplace for healthcare supplies and equipment will evolve quickly. As a result of its initial agreement with Columbia/HCA, empactHealth is finalizing commitments from several of the largest suppliers and manufacturers of medical supplies and equipment. Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., empactHealth expects to begin implementing its e-procurement solutions in the first quarter of 2000.
About empactHealth.com
empactHealth.com offers buyers and suppliers in the healthcare industry a comprehensive electronic marketplace to conduct business more effectively and at less cost. By partnering with Columbia/HCA and Commerce One, and with an experienced management team led by J. Edward Pearson, empactHealth.com is a leader in e-procurement in the healthcare industry. empactHealth.com will begin implementing its e-procurement solutions during the first quarter of 2000.
About Commerce One
Commerce One, Inc. (NASDAQ: CMRC) is a leading provider of electronic commerce solutions that dynamically link buying and supplying organizations into real-time trading communities. The Commerce One Solution, comprising Commerce One BuySite and Commerce One MarketSite, enables companies to significantly reduce operational costs and increase efficiency by automating the entire indirect goods and services supply chain. As a result, enterprise organizations are able to realize a strategic competitive advantage as well as a rapid return on investment. Commerce One is located in Walnut Creek, Calif., and can be reached by phone at (800) 308-3838 or (925) 941-6000 or via the Internet at http://www.commerceone.com/ or http://www.marketsite.net/
Contact: For empactHealth.com, Bob McIlvaine, Burson-Marsteller, (212) 614-4745, Kaitlyn Higgins, Burson-Marsteller, (212) 614-4770
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