Foundation statements
Why do some companies sustain excellence over decades while comparable organizations decline? What sets apart those organizations called "visionary?"
Some defining characteristics, according to researchers: a strong sense of purpose and values, a clear long-term goal, the capacity to visualize what can be accomplished. And to act toward that picture over time.
In 1996, leaders of the hospital and health systems in Premier came together to reaffirm the foundations of the organization: why we and Premier exist, the core values held in common among Premier hospital and health systems and the company, and Premier’s roles. We drew our own envisioned future for healthcare in our communities. We documented our work in Premier’s Foundation Statements, listed below.
Can the vision we hold for healthy communities become a reality? We’re committed to efforts in that direction. Do you have a similar vision for the way healthcare could be? What details would you add? We’ll welcome your comments and feedback.
Our purpose
To improve the health of communities
Our values
- Integrity of the individual, the enterprise and the alliance.
- Passion for performance and a bias for action, creating real value for all stakeholders, and leading the pace.
- Innovation: Seeking breakthrough opportunities, taking risks, and initiating meaningful change.
- Focus on people: Demonstrating respect for all and mutual commitment to the success of the alliance, our employees, our business partners and the communities we serve.
The future we envision for healthcare
By the year 2020, we will have changed the world’s view of U. S. healthcare to "the best and most cost-effective" at sustaining the good health of populations. In the United States, the healthcare industry will be considered the best managed and most innovative of all the economic sectors.
Across the nation, our owners, physicians and other allies will lead the local transformations that are the building blocks of a reshaped healthcare system. These transformations will begin to make public health and health services indistinguishable, engaging citizens and civic resources in endeavors that attack the causes of illness and injury. Through efforts that go far beyond providing treatment, people will have a sense of responsibility for their own personal health and the health of their communities.
Together in Premier, we will invent new and superior models for delivering health services, and we will leverage the size, linkages, and resources of Premier to deliver those services to more people, at a lower cost and higher quality, than any others. Our owners will operate at costs in the lowest quarter among all similar organizations and at quality levels in the highest quarter. We will research and use the most effective and seamless clinical approaches to achieve superior health outcomes and increased value. Our competitive edge will be the unmatched ability to transfer and act on our collective experience and innovation.
Our owners will earn recognition as the most valued community resource for health. As a result of their efforts, "Premier" will be viewed as the hallmark of quality and value that all others seek to emulate. When people see our emblem, they will associate it with healthcare improvement and advances in health status.
Demonstrating a better way and supported by our constituencies, we will build consensus for national policy directions that stimulate and reward health and healthy communities.
We will indeed be premier.
Roles of our Premier enterprise
- Improve quality, reduce costs
- Improve financial health
- Create value for owners
- Improve organizational health
- Grow the enterprise
10- to 30-year goal
Premier's owners will be the leading healthcare systems in their markets, and, with them, Premier will be the major influence in reshaping healthcare.