Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council Affiliates with MedAssets Supply Chain Systems to Drive Financial Improvements.

ATLANTA -- MedAssets Supply Chain Systems announced today a new affiliation with Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council (MCHC), a membership and service association comprised of more than 140 member hospitals and health care organizations. The affiliate agreement between MedAssets and MCHC to enhance the financial performance and business processes of MCHC's member organizations was effective August 1, 2006.

The affiliation with MedAssets will drive supply cost savings to MCHC members through MedAssets Supply Chain Systems' group purchasing contracts; Aspen Healthcare Metrics' cost management programs for clinical service lines; and MedAssets Analytical Systems' best of breed supply chain technology, data cleansing, and analytics. This affiliation also equips MCHC with the ability to offer the MedAssets Net Revenue Systems' suite of revenue cycle management tools for linking the hospital supply chain item file to the chargemaster, defensible pricing, chargemaster management, charge capture auditing, and denials management within the Chicago health care community.

"MCHC has very in-depth knowledge of the needs of the Chicago health care community and will work closely with its member organizations to implement the MedAssets programs that will be beneficial to each facility," said Jeff Pickering, senior vice president, MedAssets Supply Chain Systems. "The complimentary goal of MedAssets and MCHC is to help health care organizations perform at an optimal level. This affiliation will drive improvements that will allow Chicago health care facilities to continue to provide the quality of care their communities need."

MCHC is a recognized leader in complex health care issues such as supply chain strategies, health care financing, employee benefits, emergency planning and data analysis. MCHC's goal is to provide products and services that will allow members to meet their missions while remaining financially stable, which is a challenge in today's health care environment.

"MCHC exists as an advocate for Chicago area hospitals, and we continually look for partners that are in business to advance the performance of the health care industry," said Dan Yunker, vice president and CFO, MCHC. "After months of due diligence, we identified a company that has been successful in finding new ways to improve the cash flow and operational efficiencies of health care organizations. We believe our members will we see enhanced financial and clinical benefits as a result of our affiliation with MedAssets."

About MedAssets

MedAssets, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, improves healthcare providers' margin and cash flow through revenue cycle and supply chain initiatives as well as decision support technology and services. As a strategic business partner, MedAssets can replace multiple vendors and decrease supply costs by 3-10% and increase net patient revenue by 1-3%. MedAssets Net Revenue Systems provides best-of-breed revenue solutions including defensible pricing, pre-bill charge capturing, and ongoing chargemaster management tools, all of which have been Peer Reviewed by the Healthcare Financial Management Association. MedAssets Net Revenue Systems also offers denials management and a tool to link supply cost data with charge data. MedAssets Supply Chain Systems is one of the fastest growing group purchasing organizations in the U.S. and builds customized solutions encompassing procurement of common medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, physician preference supplies, food and nutrition items, and capital equipment. The newly formed MedAssets Analytical Systems offers supply chain analytics and decision support tools while clinical and operational consulting services are provided through MedAssets' subsidiary, Aspen Healthcare Metrics. Avega Health Systems, a subsidiary of MedAssets, ranked "Best in KLAS" in Business Decision Support - KLAS Enterprises, LLC 2005. For more information about MedAssets go to www.medassets.com or contact Gary Johnson, corporate senior vice president of Marketing and Marketing Services, 100 North Point Center East, Suite 200, Alpharetta, GA 30022.

About the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council

MCHC is a membership and service organization dedicated to improving the health of the public by enhancing access to health care and in assisting its members in improving the delivery of services in the greater metropolitan Chicago area.

The Council accomplishes its mission by:

--Advocating member positions before government, business, the public and others

--Enhancing the positive image of the membership

--Developing and providing cost-effective programs that add value to the operations and management of our members and customers

--Researching, analyzing, interpreting, forecasting and effectively communicating pertinent information

--Providing educational forums to enhance management, clinical and administrative skills

For more information about the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, visit www.mchc.org.