Allina Hospitals & Clinics to Save on Commodity Supply Purchases Through Novation's New Committed Portfolio

IRVING, Texas, May 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Allina Hospitals & Clinics, which serves patients throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin, has simplified its commodity supply management strategies with the help of VHA Inc, the national health care network and Novation, VHA's supply contracting company.  

Novation launched its new committed portfolio in January of 2011.  This portfolio offers savings on a variety of high-spend commodity categories, including medical/surgical products, laboratory distribution and others.

"Novation's new committed portfolio provides us many benefits.  Beyond the obvious price savings, this portfolio allows our staff to concentrate their contracting efforts on more complex product categories," said Cheryl Harelstad, vice president supply chain management at Allina.  "We have confidence that pricing is being monitored on a constant basis and that we are saving both time and money."

Novation provides continuous price monitoring through comprehensive analytics tools to ensure that contract pricing remains advantageous for those participating in the committed portfolio.  Initial analysis shows savings ranging from 2 to 8 percent for participating members.    

"The members of VHA, UHC and Provista have expressed great interest in the new committed portfolio.  Because of the diverse membership we serve, we are constantly looking for new and innovative approaches to provide greater savings and efficiencies for all members," said John Thompson, vice president, strategic programs at Novation.

About Novation

Founded in 1998, Novation is the leading health care supply contracting company for more than 25,000 members of VHA Inc. and the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC), two national health care alliances, and 5,500 members of Provista, LLC, representing more than 30,000 sites. Novation provides alliance members sourcing and information and data services. Based in Irving, Texas, Novation develops and manages competitive contracts with more than 600 suppliers. VHA, UHC and Provista members used Novation contracts to purchase nearly $40 billion in 2010.

SOURCE Novation