Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from Mitra Ramgopal with Sidoti & Company.
Mitra Ramgopal - Sidoti & Company, LLC
First if you can just sort of help me with the CLAVE sales. It was a lot stronger than I was expecting. I don’t know if there is anything in there that was driving it.
Scott Lamb
Well as we mentioned earlier on, in the beginning of 2008, Hospira’s HPG and HGA contract, we certainly started to see those conversions start to take place in the second half of the year and those continued into the fourth quarter.
Mitra Ramgopal - Sidoti & Company, LLC
Okay and again, if you look at the, I think you mentioned you want to increase the sales force. If you can give us a sense of where you are today with the sales people you have and you’re adding 20 in the first half. Is the plan to keep going or would that kind of get you to where you need to be?
George Lopez M.D.
We think that is enough, Mitra. Twenty people are enough to cover. We need to cover the Premier accounts because it is an open opportunity for us to take advantage of. Of the 20 at least 12 of them have already been hired and are being trained, as we speak, in Florida.
Mitra Ramgopal - Sidoti & Company, LLC
Okay and would any of these sales people also be working on selling the critical care products or just strictly um?
George Lopez M.D.
No. The main focus is oncology.
Mitra Ramgopal - Sidoti & Company, LLC
Okay and with regards to both Premier and MedAssets, as you sort of look to provide the guidance. I know it is a little early yet in the game, but what are your expectations really? How much are you sort of building in, in that guidance? Are you being pretty conservative?
George Lopez M.D.
[Interposing] the sales and the bottom 9 to 12 months to become productive we are going to do what we have done in the past and we are going to say that the first two quarters, very little new business. Second, third and fourth quarters are where all the business will come in.
Scott Lamb
And that is baked into the guidance that we gave, heavily loaded third and fourth quarters.
Mitra Ramgopal - Sidoti & Company, LLC
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