University of Maryland Medical System Standardizes on Nextance's Contract Performance Management Technology; Contract Visibility Helps Drive Productivity, SOX Compliance and Bottom Line

Business Wire, Dec 12, 2005

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- Nextance Inc., the solutions provider setting the standard for contract performance management, today announced substantial results from its implementation at University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), one of the largest hospital groups in the state with a world-renowned shock trauma center. By rethinking its approach to managing contracts electronically, UMMS was able to drive positive changes upwards to serve its internal customers and community, as well as better manage supply-chain expenses more responsibly and efficiently.

Nextance helped UMMS to operate its contracting function more centrally, consistently and effectively. Now with unprecedented visibility into its supplier contracts - numbering in the thousands - and the capability to manage them, UMMS could drive greater relationships, productivity, compliance as well as its bottom-line with newfound purchasing power with its vendors.

Explained Carl Tietjen, UMMS' senior director of corporate contracts, "Nextance was exactly what we needed to solve some of these difficult business challenges. They have the ability to help us with end-to-end, seamless solutions and services. And Nextance offered expertise in migrating our high-value legacy contracts to the new system - ensuring the system was up and running quickly and saving us a lot of effort."

UMMS estimates that its Nextance investment will yield benefits in the hundreds of thousands of dollars over the next couple of years, and these benefits are continuing to accrue. With central visibility and coordination in contracting, UMMS could gather its collective purchasing power for more favorable and consistent pricing. As a non-profit organization, every dollar saved was reinvested into operational improvements or patient healthcare, to the ultimate benefit of the community at large.

The benefits from Nextance, however, stretched far beyond purchasing. The hospital group now had the visibility it needed to carefully manage and track its contracting process - providing an auditable trail that verifies all reviews and approvals were properly conducted, for instance, as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. That capability also meant a better handle on costs, including automatic price hikes with vendors, to improve financial planning and performance. Further, a central contract repository in Nextance and standardized processes boosted productivity, enabling UMMS to provide better service through virtually instant responses to its internal customers' inquiries, which could have previously taken up to several days.

"We are pleased to have the trust of one of the nation's most respected and established healthcare organizations," said Kyle Bowker, president and chief executive officer of Nextance. "Our success with UMMS shows that Nextance's solutions deliver clear benefits, prompting more and more large organizations to put contract performance management at the top of their priority lists."

About Nextance Inc.

Nextance is setting the standard for contract performance management (CPM) solutions with our Nextance Intelligent Enterprise(TM) software and best-practices professional services. Nextance is helping Global 2000 companies to better run their business by effectively controlling and actively managing their contractual relationships. Countrywide, Covenant Health, Eastman Chemical Company, Fireman's Fund, Genzyme Corporation, Sasol, Sun Microsystems, and others are using Nextance software every day to tap into the value that is written into each of their thousands of revenue, procurement, Intellectual Property licensing, and partners agreements. Nextance is based in Redwood City, CA, and is privately held. For more information, please visit our website at www.nextance.com.

(C) 2005 Nextance Inc. All rights reserved. Nextance(R) is a registered trademark of Nextance Inc. and Nextance Intelligent Enterprise along with its logos are trademarks or service marks of Nextance Inc.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.