HCA Launches Parallon Business Solutions

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HCA (NYSE:HCA) today announced it has launched Parallon Business Solutionssm, a new subsidiary that offers healthcare providers a complete range of industry-leading business services. The creation of the new subsidiary was announced in February.

"HCA has developed a number of best demonstrated business practices that leverage our collective experience, scale and expertise in a way that is unprecedented in the healthcare industry," said Richard M. Bracken, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of HCA. "Now, the customers of Parallon Business Solutions will be able to benefit from this knowledge."

Through its business units, Parallon Business Solutions will provide revenue cycle and other business processes, workforce management solutions, supply chain services and the purchasing power of HealthTrust Purchasing Group®, one of the nation's leading group purchasing organizations. Parallon Business Solutions is led by longtime HCA veteran Beverly B. Wallace, who was named President of the new subsidiary earlier this year. Prior to that, Wallace was President of HCA's Shared Services Group, which was responsible for providing several business services functions for the company's more than 160 hospitals. Wallace reports to HCA President and Chief Financial Officer R. Milton Johnson.

"We are excited to launch Parallon Business Solutions by bringing together this team of leaders that has been providing these services to our HCA facilities for years," said Wallace. "We already have received a great deal of interest from potential customers, and we are confident Parallon Business Solutions has the right people, processes and technology to bring significant value."

The Parallon Business Performance Groupsm is a Parallon Business Solutions business unit that has responsibility for revenue cycle management, payroll, health information management and physician credentialing. Initial product offerings from the Parallon Business Performance Group will include hospital revenue cycle outsourcing, consulting, management services, collection agency services, and payment compliance and denial management. Eric Ward, who has been with HCA for more than 20 years and has held similar responsibilities for the company since 2000, is President and CEO of Parallon Business Performance Group.

Parallon Workforce Management Solutionssm is led by President and CEO Jack Lisle who has been with HCA for 23 years and has been responsible for the company's supplemental staffing organization for the last nine years. Parallon Workforce Management Solutions provides strategic healthcare staffing and recruiting solutions to improve patient care and enhance operational performance with leading technology and services. This business unit of Parallon Business Solutions helps healthcare providers reduce the use and cost of contract labor and the need for premium pay, increase operational efficiencies and improve employee satisfaction.

Parallon Supply Chain Solutionssm is led by Jim Fitzgerald who has served as HCA's supply-chain officer since 1994, and has been with HCA for 29 years. This part of Parallon optimizes facility inventory, spend and standardization to ensure healthcare providers have the right products at the right time. Parallon Supply Chain Solutions will provide outsourcing, consulting, and management services.

Fitzgerald also serves as President and CEO of HealthTrust Purchasing Group, of which HCA is the majority owner with five other equity partners. HealthTrust was established in 1999 and supports over 1,400 not-for-profit and for-profit acute care facilities, as well as ambulatory surgery centers, physician practices and alternate care sites. Parallon will offer the services of this leading group purchasing organization to its customers along with the broader capabilities of the new organization.

The name Parallon was created uniquely for the organization to indicate that Parallon Business Solutions works side-by-side, or in parallel, with healthcare providers to enhance their performance. Parallon's tagline is "The Business of Healthcare Transformedsm." Its website, www.parallon.net, is expected to launch in June.

All references to "Company" and "HCA" as used throughout this release refer to HCA Holdings, Inc. and its affiliates.