Leading Health Care Supply Contracting Company Novation Earns Ethics Inside® Certification

IRVING, Texas, Nov. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Novation has earned the coveted Ethics Inside® Certification from the Ethisphere Institute, a leading international think tank dedicated to the research and promotion of best practices in corporate ethics and compliance.

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"We are extremely pleased to receive this prestigious honor.  Our employees have a long-standing commitment to ethical business conduct and applying the highest standards of integrity to every aspect of our business, so I am particularly delighted that our allegiance to these characteristics has been recognized with such an esteemed distinction," said Jody Hatcher, president and chief executive officer. "We have always believed that where integrity and ethics are the rule, success follows.  We look forward to continued success through our ongoing commitment to upstanding business practices."

Ethisphere, the provider of independent verification of corporate ethics and compliance programs, awards Ethics Inside® Certification exclusively to companies that not only have implemented adequate standards, systems and programs to reasonably prevent compliance failures and ethical breakdowns, but that can also demonstrate the existence of a superior employee and leadership culture that promotes ethical business practices.

During the Ethisphere corporate credentialing process, exceptional governance systems and supply chain sustainability were two of the standout components of Novation's Ethics Inside Certification.

"Novation's strong culture of ethics, robust compliance and ethics program, and solid governance systems were absolutely noteworthy," said Robert Leffel, director of Compliance Advisory Services for Corpedia, a licensed Ethisphere credentialing partner. "We were impressed with Novation's efforts in supply chain sustainability and oversight, including their best-practice vendor grievance and feedback process which every organization should adopt."

Ethisphere's licensed credentialing partners look at more than 100 separate criteria during the Ethics Inside® Certification process, including corporate citizenship and responsibility; overall compliance and ethics program; organizational health and culture of ethics; corporate governance; and regulatory history. No company is expected to excel in all criteria areas — yet the aggregate score must meet or exceed a level at which ethical behavior becomes the core expectation, fundamental compliance systems are in place, tone from the top is clear and the company's actions bear unmistakable signs of good corporate citizenship. More information about Ethics Inside® Certification is available at http://ethisphere.com/inside.  

About Ethisphere Institute

The research-based Ethisphere® Institute is a leading international think tank dedicated to the creation, advancement and sharing of best practices in business ethics, corporate social responsibility, anti-corruption and sustainability. Ethisphere Magazine, which publishes the globally-recognized World's Most Ethical Companies® ranking, is the quarterly publication of the Institute. Ethisphere provides the only third-party verifications of compliance programs and ethical cultures that include: Ethics Inside® Certification, Compliance Leader Verification™ and Anti-Corruption Program Verification™. The Institute's premier membership group, the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance™, is a business ethics forum that includes more than 100 leading corporations, universities and institutions that collectively leverage their experience, expertise and innovative ways to address emerging compliance challenges. More information on the Ethisphere Institute, including ranking projects and membership, can be found at www.ethisphere.com.

About Novation

Founded in 1998, Novation is the leading health care supply contracting company for more than 25,000 members of VHA Inc. and 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 approximately $40 billion in 2010.  More information about Novation can be found at www.novationco.com.

SOURCE Novation