LOUISVILLE, KY (January 31, 2011)

The management of Alliant Purchasing, LLC (Alliant) is pleased to announce that Health Affiliated Services, LLC, (HAS) an Abilene, Texas-based group purchasing organization, has been acquired by Alliant.

HAS is a group purchasing organization serving over 2,000 healthcare providers in 48 states. Alliant is a joint venture between Blue & Co., LLC (Blue) and Norton Healthcare with 1,000 healthcare clients in 24 states. Alliant provides clients with access to vendor contracts for medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, food programs and service agreements of Premier, Inc. Premier is one of the nation's largest group purchasing organizations (Revenues $36+ billion) servicing more than 2,400 U.S. hospitals and 72,000-plus other healthcare sites.

The combination of HAS with Alliant creates the fifth largest owner based affiliate program in the Premier system with contract volume of over $450 million.

"Teaming with Health Affiliated Services continues our growth into new geographic areas," said Joe Broyles, President, Alliant Purchasing. "Both HAS and Alliant are well established organizations that exemplify the best provider models among the Premier Purchasing Alliance. Both firms place a high value on quality member services and pricing. The synergy created by this acquisition will further our mission of providing unsurpassed services and continue to create an overall customer experience second to none in the industry."

"We're excited about the prospect of working with Alliant's industry specialists and being able to offer both firms' expertise and services to our combined client base," said Robert Pollan, President of Health Affiliated Services. "Both firms have built reputations centered on customer service, industry knowledge, and competitive pricing. This combination will only further our commitment to both firms' clients and will provide more opportunities for growth in the healthcare industry."

"The 2010 Healthcare Reform legislation will require organizations to focus on reducing operating cost due to reductions in reimbursement from governmental programs such as Medicare and Medicaid," said Mike Stigler, Managing Partner of Blue's Louisville East office and Member Representative of Alliant Purchasing. "Healthcare supplies can represent 20-25% of a hospital or surgery center's operating costs. It will be imperative that healthcare providers focus on cost reduction and efficiency to ensure that they remain profitable in an environment where reimbursement rates are declining. Alliant is positioned to offer its clients one of the most aggressive pricing programs and support its clients with service personnel that can help make financial decisions that maximize the benefits of the Premier Portfolio of products and services."