MedAssets (NASDAQ: MDAS) today announced that Allina Health, a 12-hospital, not-for-profit health system, has expanded its relationship with the company to better align hospital and physician reimbursement strategies across the care continuum. Plans call for the Minneapolis-based system to extend use of MedAssets Contract and Episode Management Solutions into outpatient settings in a proactive move to prepare for accountable care organization (ACO) delivery models and new payment methodologies that encompass, in one payment, the services from pre-acute, acute and follow-up care providers.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes several payment reform initiatives that encourage physician-hospital integration, including ACOs, wherein all providers - hospitals, medical groups and independent physician practices - assume shared financial responsibility for both the cost and quality of a defined patient outcome. The goal of Allina Health's initiative is to incorporate insight from both hospital and professional claims gained from MedAssets contract modeling tools into its payor contract negotiations. This analytical insight factors in patterns of reimbursement in order to minimize financial exposure and payor underpayments, and identify savings opportunities.

"We have realized significant benefit from MedAssets Contract Management and Modeling tools during the past 10 years, in particular, the $6 million to $8 million in annual financial improvement by minimizing underpayments to achieve appropriate reimbursement for the quality care we've delivered to our patients," said Lee Peterson, manager, Finance, Payer Relations and Value Analysis, Allina Health. "Expanding our relationship with MedAssets for their episode of care solutions is a natural next step as we ramp up our ACO strategy and expand as a value-based organization."

Bridging the gap between fee-for-service and fee-for-value reimbursement models

In addition to its use of MedAssets Contract Management and Modeler for its inpatient services claims, Allina Health will implement additional interoperable solutions -- Contract Management Professional and Prospective Episode Manager -- that will enable the health system to prospectively model, bundle and price both hospital and professional claims under a single bundled contract.

"Value-based payment models are all designed to facilitate better coordination of care across settings and align financial incentives," said Mike Nolte, chief operating officer, MedAssets. "Accountable care delivery creates a dramatically more complex reimbursement environment. MedAssets Contract and Episode Management Solutions, as well as our breadth of performance improvement solutions, can serve as integral components in developing care management business strategies to compete with these new market factors."

About Allina Health

Allina Health is dedicated to the prevention and treatment of illness and enhancing the greater health of individuals, families and communities throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin. A not-for-profit health care system, Allina Health cares for patients from beginning to end-of-life through its 90+ clinics, 12 hospitals, 14 pharmacies, specialty care centers and specialty medical services that provide home care, senior transitions, hospice care, home oxygen and medical equipment, and emergency medical transportation services. Learn more atwww.allinahealth.org.

About MedAssets

MedAssets (NASDAQ: MDAS) is a healthcare performance improvement company focused on helping providers realize financial and operational gains so that they can sustainably serve the needs of their community. More than 4,200 hospitals and 122,000 non-acute healthcare providers currently use the company's evidence-based solutions, best practice processes and analytics to help reduce the total cost of care, enhance operational efficiency, align clinical delivery, and improve revenue performance across the are continuum. For more information, please visitwww.medassets.com.

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