TACOMA, WA – With a focus on margin improvement and preparing for the implications of healthcare reform, MultiCare, a large integrated health system based in Tacoma, Wash., has chosen to implement MedAssets’ (NASDAQ: MDAS) Service Line Analytics solution and Clinical Cost Management consulting services to help it build best practice cost-reduction and physician engagement strategies.

Service Line Analytics will give MultiCare access to actionable data and business intelligence along with leading change management consulting that is proven to engage physicians in the cost-reduction process. The solution links reimbursement, supply cost, supply utilization, clinical factors and other resource utilization data by physician and MS-DRG, allowing providers to gain visibility into how variations in resource utilization by patient mix affect overall cost and clinical outcomes.

Through Clinical Cost Management consulting, MedAssets experts will work with the healthcare system’s administrative, purchasing and clinical staffs, using real clinical and cost data to identify savings opportunities within the organization on physician preference items (PPI).

MultiCare currently uses MedAssets revenue cycle management solutions for charge and revenue integrity, as well as patient estimates. MulitCare has been a customer since 2004.

MultiCare is an integrated health organization comprised of four hospitals, numerous primary care and urgent care clinics, multi-specialty centers and many other services. MultiCare is the Tacoma area's largest provider of health care services.

“As healthcare costs continue to rise and with healthcare reform changes coming, we needed to do more to control our clinical and supply costs system-wide,” said Vince Schmitz, chief financial officer at MultiCare. “MedAssets solutions will help us engage our physicians in the cost-reduction process and better manage our operating margins ahead of healthcare reform changes.”

Rand Ballard, MedAssets' chief operating officer and chief customer officer, stated, "Forward-looking healthcare providers like MultiCare are taking a proactive approach to better manage their costs and drive operational efficiencies across service lines ahead of healthcare reform-related changes that will squeeze reimbursement. We look forward to assisting MultiCare as they place a sharper focus on improving their clinical margins and engaging their physicians in the financial improvement process.”

About MultiCare
MultiCare is a leading-edge, integrated health organization made up of four hospitals including Allenmore Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital, Mary Bridge Children's Hospital and Tacoma General Hospital, numerous primary care and urgent care clinics, multi-specialty centers, Hospice and Home Health services, and many other services. A not-for-profit organization based in Tacoma, Washington since 1882, MultiCare has grown over the years in response to community needs. Today we are the area's largest provider of health care services, serving patients at 93 locations in Pierce, South King, Kitsap and Thurston counties.

About MedAssets
MedAssets (NASDAQ: MDAS) partners with healthcare providers to improve financial strength by implementing spend management and revenue cycle management solutions that help 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 75,000 non-acute healthcare providers. For more information, go to www.medassets.com.