Broadlane Signs Agreement with Synernet to Provide Its Customers with Contracting and Procurement Services.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Broadlane Inc., the leading provider of innovative business services to the healthcare industry, today announced that it will provide Synernet, which offers cost-saving services to hospitals and other healthcare organizations in New England, with contracting and procurement services.

Under an exclusive five-year agreement, Broadlane will negotiate and manage supply contracts, including national and regional agreements, for participating Synernet customers, who also will have access to Broadlane's supply chain technology. This includes integration to Broadlane's e-commerce exchange called BroadLink(TM) and access to Broadlane's industry leading web-based contract management system.

This combination of technology will allow Synernet's customers to verify their e-commerce transactions against their contracts in a real-time environment, while also delivering analytical reports. With this solution the providers simply connect and perform standard e-commerce transactions while Broadlane's technology automatically checks transactions against contracts for price, order, and status verification, all in a real-time environment.

Synernet, formerly affiliated with Amerinet, helps to reduce supply and service costs through a broad range of programs and services to more than 85 hospitals, nursing homes, HMOs, surgery centers, physician groups, and other healthcare organizations throughout northern New England. In 2003, Synernet customers purchased more than $200 million in supplies.

Gerald Vicenzi, president and CEO at Synernet, said: "We solicited outside help to assist us in evaluating a new supply chain partner, and together we determined Broadlane has the most competitive national contract portfolio in the market. In addition, Broadlane's technology and other value-added services will provide additional benefits in helping our customers to improve their operational performance."

Joe Greskoviak, senior vice president, strategic sales, at Broadlane, said: "We are gratified to be working with such a well-known and well-respected organization as Synernet. Our strategic alliance will help bring lower costs and increased customer service to healthcare providers in a typically underserved region of the country."

About Synernet

With corporate headquarters in Portland, Maine, Synernet Inc. is a hospital-owned service organization dedicated to providing innovative and effective cost saving solutions to the healthcare provider community. Synernet is a rapidly growing provider of outsourcing services for hospitals and healthcare organizations throughout Maine and New England.

Founded in 1985 to develop a coordinated approach to medical supplies and pharmaceutical purchasing, Synernet has now grown to encompass programs and services including medical transcription, physician credentialing, clinical engineering, and workers compensation administration. Synernet functions to explore, assess and implement alternative cost-saving approaches to services that are currently being performed within organizations by standardizing practices and consolidating the processes to obtain greater efficiencies.

About Broadlane

Broadlane delivers transformational business services to healthcare providers, enabling them to reduce costs and improve operational performance. Through the application of innovative technology and scaled solutions that range from consulting to full-service management, Broadlane is helping to set new standards for efficient healthcare delivery. Broadlane focuses on a growing list of business operations that includes supply chain management, purchased services and labor solutions.

Broadlane customers include leading healthcare providers such as Advocate Health Care, CHRISTUS Health, Community Health Systems, Continuum Health Partners, Kaiser Permanente, Kindred Healthcare, Tenet Healthcare, The Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati, Universal Health Services, US Oncology, William Beaumont Hospitals and others. Broadlane counts among its customers more than 800 acute care hospitals, more than 3,400 sub-acute care facilities and thousands of physician practices. Broadlane is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Oakland, Calif.; Cincinnati; Dallas; and New York City. For more information, visit www.broadlane.com.