Unisource Canada Chooses GHX to Drive Efficiencies and Reduce Costs for Canadian Healthcare Customers
Extends electronic order processing currently available in the U.S. to Canadian healthcare providers via GHX
TORONTO, June 26, 2012 /CNW/ - In an effort to reduce costs and increase operational efficiency for its Canadian healthcare customers, Unisource Canada, Inc., a national supplier of paper, printing, imaging, graphic arts, packaging and maintenance supplies and equipment and a subsidiary of Unisource Worldwide, Inc., has chosen GHX to automate order processing for customers purchasing healthcare related products. Unisource currently uses the GHX electronic trading exchange in the U.S. to transact business electronically with American healthcare providers. Based on the success of this effort, the company is now leveraging this infrastructure and offering the same capability to its Canadian healthcare customers through the GHX trading exchange in Canada.
Integration with the GHX Exchange, a cloud-based trading solution, provides Unisource with a single electronic connection to more than 4,100 healthcare providers in the U.S. and Canada. GHX connectivity enables Unisource to automate orders that would have otherwise been manually processed or received via value added networks (VANs), increasing order speed and accuracy for both Unisource and the customers that it serves. Unisource and its GHX member customers can also leverage the GHX My Exchange online portal and reporting tools to gain enhanced visibility into and control over the order process.
Unisource Canada is the first housekeeping and sundries supplier to conduct electronic data interchange (EDI) transactions with Canadian healthcare providers through the GHX Exchange. According to Craig Rudin, senior vice president, National Accounts of Unisource Canada, this EDI expansion is aimed at better meeting healthcare providers' needs and improving the Unisource procurement experience for customers throughout North America.
"Healthcare provider demand for electronic order processing drove us to expand our use of GHX in North America," said Rudin. "This is particularly true of Shared Service Organizations like Unisource, which are increasingly standardizing and streamlining their procurement processes as a way to improve efficiency and reduce waste. We wanted to be the first in our industry to meet the market need for greater EDI integration to support our customers in delivering more efficient, cost-effective care."
"At GHX, we have worked closely with the healthcare community to help automate the medical-surgical supply chain and based on this success, providers and suppliers are looking at ways to streamline procurement for other product categories. Unisource's integration with the GHX Exchange in Canada is indicative of this market trend," said Nils Clausen, general manager, GHX Canada. "The lack of visibility and control that results from manual business processes is no longer seen as acceptable to some healthcare organizations looking for greater transparency and accountability. Suppliers, such as Unisource, that are progressively moving toward electronic business, can help their customers better monitor and understand their spend, and could have a competitive edge in the years ahead."
About GHX
Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC (GHX), a healthcare technology and services company, helps reduce the cost of doing business in healthcare by enabling better supply chain management. GHX makes it easier for hospitals, other healthcare providers and the suppliers that do business with them to drive cost and inefficiency out of their processes. Working with GHX, the healthcare organizations that make up the GHX Global Network are on track to save $5 billion by 2014—savings that can be invested in such things as hiring more nurses, providing care to uninsured children or developing new medical products. GHX is owned by organizations on both the buy and sell side of the healthcare supply chain, including some of the largest companies in the world. Find GHX on the Web, on Twitter @GHX_LLC and on Facebook @GHX.
About Unisource Canada
Unisource Canada, Inc., is a subsidiary of Unisource Worldwide, Inc., and is Canada's national supplier of printing and imaging, packaging and maintenance supply products – operating from 18 locations across Canada. Unisource Canada is committed to being the choice for integrated business solutions that drive customers to improved performance and continues to offer Customer Solutions in a Global Market. Unisource Canada can be found online at www.unisource.ca.
SOURCE GHX
For GHX Canada, Martine Aubin, +1-647-426-2304, [email protected], or For Unisource Canada, Inc., Stephane Dagenais, Director, Marketing & Corporate Communications, +1-905-771-4000, [email protected]
http://www.ghx.com
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