Broadlane Signs Three-year Agreement with Option Care; Will Deliver Contracting and Procurement Services to Leading Provider of Home Infusion and Specialty Pharmacy Services.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Broadlane Inc., the leading provider of innovative business services for the healthcare industry, today announced that it will deliver outsourced contracting and procurement services to Option Care Inc. under an exclusive three-year agreement. Option Care is a leading provider of home infusion and specialty pharmacy services in the United States. Terms of the agreement were not announced.

Under the agreement, Broadlane will negotiate and manage Option Care's supply and service contracts including national, regional and local agreements. In addition, Option Care will be the first provider to use Broadlane's Procurement Services, a technology-based business process management service that targets components in the procure-to-payment cycle.

The purchasing function is a challenge for many providers due to inconsistent practices and controls, paper intensive activities, rogue buying, and lack of visibility to orders and pricing. Together, these often result in overpayment for goods and services. Using Broadlane's Procurement Services, Option Care facilities will instead rely on Broadlane's centralized procurement processes and technology to create and manage purchase orders, govern price and contract coverage, and efficiently resolve purchasing exceptions when they arise. Broadlane's centralized solution is efficient, enables better cost management, and helps ensure that supply management quality targets are achieved.

Some applications of the first generation of Broadlane's Procurement Services offering include:

--Centralized order processing

--Source products using Broadlane's industry-leading catalog

--Create order requisitions for both catalog and non-catalog items

--Store and share requisition templates that group commonly-purchased items together for repeated use

--Choose products/services from a centralized item file that contains approved contracted items and accurate prices

Option Care provides specialty pharmaceutical products and related services, infusion therapy and other ancillary healthcare services focused on meeting the needs of patients with acute and chronic conditions. These services are provided at home or in alternate site settings through a national network of 130 company-owned and franchised locations in 32 states. The company had total operating revenue of $345 million in fiscal 2003 and spends approximately $210 million annually on supplies and services.

"We have been aware of and deeply impressed with the results that Broadlane has delivered to healthcare providers in the acute care market through its ability to provide a fully outsourced service delivery model, and we believe that this particular model can offer a company such as ours the same cost reduction and efficiency opportunities," said Raj Rai, chief executive officer of Option Care. "Additionally, Broadlane's outstanding national contract portfolio will allow us to expand our contract coverage for further cost improvements."

Joe Greskoviak, Broadlane's senior vice president, strategic sales, said: "It is gratifying to see that healthcare providers are recognizing the opportunities associated with a next-generation supply chain solution that intelligently integrates procurement functions. Option Care recognizes that access to a high-level group purchasing portfolio is important, but it is only one piece of a comprehensive supply chain solution. Option Care's relationship with Broadlane will deliver savings that are unattainable through a traditional group purchasing model. Signing the leading provider of home infusion and specialty pharmacy services proves our supply chain expertise can be applied across various provider market segments."

About Option Care

Option Care provides various home infusion therapies and specialty injectible pharmaceuticals to patients at home and other alternate sites such as infusion suites and physician's offices. The company's services and pharmaceuticals are provided nationally through its local and regional pharmacies.

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.