GHX Achieves SAS 70 Compliance

LOUISVILLE, Colo., April 10 /PRNewswire/ -- GHX has received an unqualified opinion from independent auditors as a result of its first Type II SAS 70 compliance audit. The SAS audit was conducted at GHX's world headquarters in Louisville, Colo. by a major U.S. accounting firm over a period of five months. The audit covered GHX's exchange services, which enable more than 6000 hospitals and other healthcare providers to conduct supply chain transactions with approximately 600 suppliers. An auditor's unqualified or "clean" opinion indicates that there were no exceptions noted during the audit and that the organization has established effectively designated control objectives and activities.

The Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 70, Service Organizations, developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), is an in-depth audit of a service organization's control objectives and activities, including controls over information technology and related processes. Application services providers (ASPs), such as GHX, must demonstrate that they have adequate controls and safeguards in place when hosting or processing customer data.

GHX underwent a Type II SAS audit, which includes detailed testing of controls over the extended audit period. A Type II audit is more comprehensive than a Type I SAS report, which describes an organization's description of controls at a specific point in time.

According to Charles Denyer, DuPont & Morgan, LLP, "SAS audits are widely becoming known as the 'de facto due diligence document' throughout the country and the world regarding the reporting on an organization's internal controls that have the ability to impact financial reporting."(1)

"GHX takes its responsibility to the organizations we serve very seriously," says Leigh Anderson, GHX Chief Technology Officer and Group Business Leader for GHX Exchange Services. "We are proud of the work we have done to achieve this unqualified opinion and are committed to maintaining the highest standards for the benefit of our growing customer base in the US, Canada, and Europe."

About GHX

GHX enables healthcare providers and suppliers in North America and Europe to reduce costs and improve margins by automating processes, reducing operating expenses and increasing knowledge-based decision making. Products and services include trading partner connectivity, order and contract management and validation, data synchronization, sales force automation and business intelligence. Equity owners of GHX are Abbott Exchange, Inc.; AmerisourceBergen Corp.; Baxter Healthcare Corp.; B Braun Medical Inc.; Becton, Dickinson & Co.; Boston Scientific Corp.; Cardinal Health, Inc.; Covidien; C.R. Bard, Inc.; Fisher Scientific International, Inc.; GE Healthcare; HCA; Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc.; McKesson Corp.; Medtronic USA, Inc.; Owens & Minor; Premier, Inc.; Siemens; University HealthSystem Consortium; and VHA Inc. For more information, visit www.ghx.com.

(1) Denyer, Charles (2007). An Introduction to SAS 70 Audits for I.T.

Professionals. Techlinks, June 14, 2007.

SOURCE GHX