Company's New Business Model for Orthopedic Implants and Services Reduces Cost and Complexity of One of Health Care's Largest Specialties

DUBLIN, Ohio, July 18, 2012 -Cardinal Health today announced the launch of its new Orthopedic Solutions offering, an integrated offering that will allow hospitals and surgery centers to access high quality, fair priced orthopedic products through the company's medical distribution platform.

Orthopedics is one of the largest specialties in health care, but hospitals and providers continue to face cost pressures as product pricing has increased at an average rate of 5-15 percent annually without simultaneous increases in reimbursement.[1]

"Based upon our market and customer research, we believe that U.S. healthcare providers are ready to support a simpler, more transparent, fair priced orthopedic business model," said Lisa Ashby, president, Category management at Cardinal Health. "Cardinal Health is committed to bringing innovative product and service solutions to our customers, and we believe our unique blend of product and distribution expertise positions us well to help our orthopedic customers drive cost-effectiveness and efficiency."

The Cardinal Health Orthopedic Solutions offering comprises three key components: fair priced products with supporting supply chain services, and data analytics. In prime vendor relationships, the model allows Cardinal Health customers to buy medical devices through Cardinal Health, enabling customers to reduce both their ordering costs and their on-hand inventory. Data analytics tools that will allow hospitals and surgery centers to have better visibility to their total orthopedic procedural spend are also included.

 To support the Cardinal Health Orthopedic Solutionsmodel, the company also has created a specialized version of its ValueLink® Par Optimization program to help reduce trauma implant inventory inside hospitals' central processing area. The Cardinal Health ValueLink® Par Optimization program uses proprietary calculations with customer supply chain data and clinical insights to align par levels with demand and drive inventory right-sizing efforts.

 In support of its new Orthopedic Solutions business model, Cardinal Health also announced its strategic partnership with Emerge Medical, a provider of high quality, fair priced trauma products. The companies have entered into a commercialization solutions agreement where Emerge trauma products, including cannulated screws, drill bits and guide wires, will be purchased through and distributed by Cardinal Health. These industry standard trauma products will be available at a 30 - 50 percent savings over other currently available products.

"We're very excited to be entering into an exclusive distribution partnership with Cardinal Health so our customers can benefit from Emerge's high quality, fair priced trauma products and Cardinal Health's efficient supply chain network," said John Marotta, CEO Emerge Medical.  "Together we will provide a low cost trauma solution that will drive simplicity and transparency to this pressured healthcare environment."

About Cardinal Health

Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) is a $103 billionhealth care services companythat improves the cost-effectiveness of health care. As the business behind health care, Cardinal Health helpspharmacies,hospitals ,ambulatory surgery centersandphysician officesfocus on patient care while  reducing costs, enhancing efficiency and improving quality.Cardinal Health is an essential link in the health care supply chain, providing pharmaceuticalsand medical productsto more than 60,000 locations each day. The company is also a leading manufacturer of medical and surgical products, including gloves, surgical apparelandfluid managementproducts. In addition, the company supports the growing diagnostic industry by supplying medical products to clinical laboratoriesand operating the nation's largestnetwork of radiopharmaciesthat dispense products to aid in the early diagnosis and treatment of disease. Ranked #21 on the Fortune 500, Cardinal Healthemploys more than 30,000 peopleworldwide. More information about the company may be found atcardinalhealth.com and@CardinalHealthon Twitter.

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