Thomson Healthcare Endorsed as Preferred Vendor of Information Products and Services for Virginia...( ANN ARBOR Mich. Sept. 26 /- Thoms...),Health

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Sept. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Thomson Healthcare (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC) and the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association (VHHA) have entered into an agreement that gives the association access to Thomson Healthcare's expertise and data assets to support its advocacy goals.

Under the agreement, VHHA Services will offer Virginia hospitals and health systems special pricing on Thomson Healthcare information tools and services that improve care, enhance operational performance, and reduce costs.

"After a competitive request-for-proposals, and with the unanimous recommendation of a hospital advisory group, we are very pleased to be entering into this strategic partnership with Thomson," said Chris Bailey, senior vice president of VHHA. "We found that Thomson's data assets, experience serving multiple healthcare sectors, and market-leading forecasting and benchmarking tools are best positioned to help Virginia's hospitals and health systems drive healthcare value improvement."

Under terms of the agreement, VHHA Services endorses several Thomson Healthcare information tools, including:

-- ACTION O-I(R), which delivers comparative operational and financial

information at the health system, hospital, and department level.

-- Care Discovery(TM), which provides insights into clinical performance

and supports continual quality improvement.

-- Market Expert(R), which provides local data and forecasting

intelligence to assist strategic planning tailored to a specific

market.

-- Core Measures, which delivers accurate and timely reporting to JCAHO,

CMS, and other data aggregators.

-- Ascent(R), which
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