DUBLIN, Ohio, and MELVILLE, N.Y. — Cardinal Health Inc. has entered a long-term agreement in which it will consolidate its physician office commercial organization into the medical group of health care supplier Henry Schein Inc.
Under the deal, announced Friday, Henry Schein also has committed to buy Cardinal Health-brand products and use Cardinal as a primary source for various medical products.
The companies said the agreement will create one of the most comprehensive service and product offerings for office-based medical practices, providing improved efficiency, a wider range of products and more value for the benefit of the patient.
"We are delighted to be able to bring to our customers the know-how and efficiency of Henry Schein’s service model in office-based physician practices. We believe this alliance will enable us to more cost-effectively bring our products and services to our integrated network customers, as well as individual physician practices," stated George Barrett, chairman and chief executive officer of Cardinal Health. "This collaboration reinforces our commitment to value creation for customers and patients across the continuum of care."
Plans call for the physician office sales team and physician office distribution business of Cardinal’s Medical segment, with annual sales of more than $300 million, to be transitioned into Henry Schein’s Medical Group. Cardinal also will transition to Henry Schein the servicing of the medical product needs of more than 25,000 doctor’s office customer locations and about 200 employees.
"Henry Schein is committed to being a reliable network of trusted advisors for all office-based practitioners, whether in our traditional customer base of individual practices or those affiliated with an integrated delivery network," commented Stanley Bergman, Henry Schein’s chairman and CEO. "Our agreement with Cardinal Health furthers this commitment by offering customers access to Cardinal Health’s leading branded products and leveraging Cardinal Health’s experience in serving health care systems across multiple sites of care. We look forward to this transaction advancing the wide range of value-driven solutions that we offer to help practitioners operate efficiently and deliver quality patient care."
