MedAssets Supply Chain Systems announced last week 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.

According to Business Wire, 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."