With an average ROI of 14:1, LaborConnect tracks labor productivity, performance and costs to help hospitals succeed in a reform environment

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (August 26, 2010) – During a period of economic uncertainty, 150 hospitals and healthcare systems saved more than $120 million in labor and supply costs over the past year by participating in LaborConnect^®, a Premier healthcare alliance labor management program.

Premier healthcare alliance's QualityAdvisor helps hospitals identify performance gaps and best practices to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of care

Issue: Healthcare reform will increasingly tie hospital reimbursement to quality and safety performance. To prepare, hospitals need to understand and manage: readmissions, hospital-acquired conditions (HACs), complications, evidence-based measures and professional practice evaluations.

How: Integrate quality, safety and cost data to identify performance gaps; enhance communication between executives, doctors and data analysts; and leverage proven best practices that can help enhance performance.

Solution: Premier's enhanced QualityAdvisor™ and performance improvement collaboratives are helping hospitals significantly reduce mortality, readmissions, harm and costs to preserve Medicare margins, and enhance patient outcomes.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (August 24, 2010) – The Premier healthcare alliance has officially launched its QualityAdvisor solution to help hospitals prevent harm, reduce costs and readmissions, and improve overall outcomes.

National collaborative reducing preventable birth injuries stresses adherence to evidence-based best practices, communications, simulation and teamwork among OB suite; participants also reducing supply chain costs

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (August 19, 2010) – The Department of Health & Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has awarded a three-year demonstration grant for not-for-profit entities to Fairview Health Services in Minneapolis to extend a national collaborative that is reducing birth-related injuries.

Premier's QualityConnect helps providers address impact of healthcare reform to reduce HACs, readmissions and length of stay, enhance OPPE efforts

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (August 16, 2010) – Hospitals participating in a Premier healthcare alliance quality improvement program have saved more than $284 million over the past year through improvements in clinical performance and enhancements in professional practice evaluation.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (August 12, 2010) – More than 40 leading health systems have joined the Premier healthcare alliance's Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Readiness Collaborative. Working together, participating health systems will develop the organization, skills, team and operational capabilities necessary to become effective ACOs capable of lowering costs by improving care coordination, efficiency, quality and patient satisfaction.

Rural Iowa hospital to use OperationsAdvisor, a Web-based labor management solution that is part of Premier's LaborConnect program

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (August 9, 2010) – Ottumwa Regional Health Center of Ottumwa, Iowa, is expanding its Premier healthcare alliance relationship by joining LaborConnect^®, Premier's labor management program to help hospitals succeed under the changes coming in healthcare reform.

Practitioner profiles in Premier's QualityConnect program helped Knapp Medical Center prevent 27 deaths, eliminate 1,304 days of care and 98 readmission days, and avoid complications in 28 cases

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (August 5, 2010) – Knapp Medical Center of Weslaco, Texas, saved $2.8 million in one year using the Premier healthcare alliance's QualityConnect™ performance improvement program.

ValueConnect, to be demonstrated at AHRMM10, uses Premier data and resources to align supply chain, finance and clinical teams, engage hospitals around effectively evaluating product and treatment options

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 28, 2010) – To help hospitals effectively evaluate product and treatment options that help improve the quality and safety of care while reducing costs, the Premier healthcare alliance has enhanced ValueConnect™, its value analysis program.

Premier’s Supply Chain Advisor now allows hospitals to more easily identify environmentally preferred purchasing contracts to help improve environmental health, reduce costs

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 26, 2010) – To help its member hospitals improve environmental health and reduce costs, the Premier healthcare alliance has enhanced Supply Chain Advisor® (SCA), its electronic contract catalog.

Methodist Healthcare System, an equal partnership between the Methodist Healthcare Ministries and HCA, to participate in QUEST collaborative, access solutions addressing impact of healthcare reform to reduce HACs and readmissions, support The Joint Commission OPPE requirements

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 22, 2010) – Methodist Healthcare System of San Antonio, Texas, has joined a trio of Premier healthcare alliance efforts aimed at addressing the strategic implications of health reform while driving quality and cost improvements.

DICON and Premier's SafetyConnect help to enhance infection control, avoid Medicare payment penalties

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 20, 2010) – In an ongoing effort to improve patient safety, The University of Tennessee Medical Center (UT Medical Center) of Knoxville, Tenn., will use the Premier healthcare alliance's SafetyConnect™ patient safety program complete with the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network's (DICON) online educational modules.

California Labor Management Collaborative participants to access labor benchmarking and productivity tools from the Premier healthcare alliance

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 14, 2010) – To help reduce costs without negative effects on quality, hospitals and health systems in California are joining a labor-related management collaborative managed by the Premier healthcare alliance.

Participating hospitals, industry experts share successes in preventing hospital-acquired conditions, reducing costs through proper resource utilization and improving the patient experience

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 12, 2010) – As healthcare providers prepare for the implications of reform, the more than 200 hospitals participating in the QUEST^®: High Performing Hospitals collaborative are already achieving the goals of improving patient care and reducing costs.

Glen Cove, N.Y., Chef Lyndon Espiritu selected by audience of peers for Peruvian pork tenderloin dish

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 8, 2010) – Lyndon Espiritu, assistant director of Dietary at Glen Cove Hospital in Glen Cove, N.Y., has been named the winner of the Premier healthcare alliance's 2010 Culinary Creations Award.

The more than 160 participants representing $3.3 billion in supply chain purchasing volume have reduced supply expenses up to 37 percent

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 7, 2010) – Hospitals and health systems participating in the Premier healthcare alliance's ASCEND^® (Accelerated Supply Chain Endeavor) program could save $5.5 million through the standardization of supply chain contract agreements sourced specifically for the program.

Twenty-nine IPC hospitals working to reduce healthcare supply chain costs to channel additional resources to improving patient care

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 30, 2010) – In nearly four years, 29 hospitals in the Illinois Purchasing Collaborative (IPC), a program of the Illinois Hospital Association, have achieved more than $10 million in supply chain savings with the Premier healthcare alliance.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 29, 2010) – Leaders from the Premier healthcare alliance will speak across the country in July discussing methods to succeed under new healthcare reform scenarios by improving care quality, safety and cost-effectiveness.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 23, 2010) – The Premier healthcare alliance has recognized the winners of its fifth annual awards for suppliers exceeding operational and quality expectations.

Three Premier healthcare alliance foodservice directors cited for exceptional leadership

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 21, 2010) – The Premier healthcare alliance has announced winners of the 2010 Illuminating Excellence Award, which recognizes accomplishments and improvements in foodservice operations.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 17, 2010) – Nearly 4,000 hospital and healthcare professionals, providers and suppliers convened in the Washington, D.C., area last week at the nation's largest performance improvement event dedicated to transforming healthcare.

Six hospitals are winners of the Premier AEIX Risk Management Award

CHARLOTTE, N.C. and WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 16, 2010) – Premier Insurance Management Services Inc. (PIMS) of the Premier healthcare alliance has honored six alliance member health systems with the American Excess Insurance Exchange (AEIX) Risk Management Awards, which are presented annually.

TriHealth and GE Healthcare winners of the 2010 Premier Diversity Award

CHARLOTTE, N.C. and WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 15, 2010) – The Premier healthcare alliance has named TriHealth Inc. of Cincinnati and GE Healthcare of Waukesha, Wis., winners of its 2010 Premier Diversity Award. The annual award recognizes a Premier member hospital or health system and a Premier contracted supplier for efforts to purchase goods and services from Premier contracted diverse suppliers, as well as develop procurement strategies aligned with the communities they serve.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. and WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 14, 2010) – The Premier healthcare alliance has honored three members with its fourth annual Supply Chain Innovation Award for achieving successful innovations that have created new levels of performance and competitive advantage.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. and WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 10, 2010) – The Premier healthcare alliance has recognized 27 alliance members as winners of its fourth annual Supply Chain Excellence Award. Premier honored the winners, selected from its more than 2,300 eligible hospitals nationwide, at the 2010 Premier Annual Breakthroughs Conference and Exhibition in Washington.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. and WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 9, 2010) – The Premier healthcare alliance will recognize the nation's top hospitals and health systems for their commitment to outstanding patient care and operational efficiency with the 2010 Premier Award for Quality (AFQ). Premier will announce the 21 hospital and three healthcare system winners tonight at its annual Breakthroughs Conference and Exhibition in Washington.

PharmacyConnect™ features a newly designed pharmacy website to help hospitals improve quality and safety, reduce costs

CHARLOTTE, N.C. and WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 8, 2010) – An interactive television system allowing patients to view on-demand entertainment, order meals and request more blankets or pillows. A system of badges and sensors that audibly alerts caregivers to wash their hands before treating a patient. A mobile software solution delivering critical medical information, including fetal heartbeat and maternal contraction patterns, directly from hospital monitors to physicians' smart phones.

These are among 23 medical innovations selected by a committee of clinicians and other Premier healthcare alliance hospital members to be on display at Premier's second Innovation Celebration. These new devices and products, chosen based on their ability to impact the safety, quality and cost-effectiveness of care, will be showcased to more than 3,500 healthcare providers and experts.

PharmacyConnect™ features a newly designed pharmacy website to help hospitals improve quality and safety, reduce costs

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 3, 2010) – The Premier healthcare alliance is launching a revamped and more comprehensive pharmacy support program to help alliance members enhance their clinical and supply chain operations through integrated solutions and knowledge sharing.

Endorsement of Allied World offers discounts for Premier healthcare alliance members

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 2, 2010) – Premier Insurance Management Services Inc. (PIMS) today announced the endorsement of Allied World Assurance Company (U.S.) and its affiliates ("Allied World") for primary hospital professional liability coverage offering risk management and hospital medical malpractice protection to not-for-profit hospital members of the Premier healthcare alliance.

Phoenix-based health system using Premier products and solutions to integrate cost and quality data, benchmark against other top performers while preparing for implications of reform

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 1, 2010) – Banner Health, a 22-hospital system headquartered in Phoenix, has confirmed its ownership in the Premier healthcare alliance to further improve patient care while safely reducing associated costs. Banner Health has been a Premier owner since December 2000.

Southern California Patient Safety Collaborative working to reduce hospital-acquired conditions and sepsis, improve perinatal care among 96 hospital participants; Project addressing pressing issues presented by health reform

LOS ANGELES AND CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 26, 2010) – To help reduce avoidable patient harm and healthcare costs, 96 members of the Hospital Association of Southern California (HASC) will have access to a knowledge and expertise-sharing portal to develop and share evidence-based best practices and proven strategies for improving patient safety.

Three additional St. Elizabeth Healthcare hospitals will use Premier's SafetyConnect to help prevent healthcare-associated infections, optimize antimicrobial use

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 24, 2010) – The Premier healthcare alliance today announced that three more hospitals from Edgewood, Ky.-based St. Elizabeth Healthcare selected Premier's SafetyConnect™ patient safety program to further increase patient safety. All six St. Elizabeth hospitals now use SafetyConnect to protect patients more effectively while safely reducing hospital costs.

1.2 million patients to benefit from integrated care that improves quality and safety, reduces unnecessary medical costs

Washington, DC (May 20, 2010) – The Premier healthcare alliance and 19 of its leading health system members have launched two Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Collaboratives designed to evolve today's sick care system to one that improves health in local communities. Working together, participating health systems will create the first ACOs in the market, accepting accountability for the health of more than 1.2 million patients and committing to lower costs by improving care coordination, efficiency, quality and patient satisfaction.

Presbyterian Healthcare Services projects an additional $7 million in savings in 2010 with Premier's LaborConnect^® labor management program

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 18, 2010) – Presbyterian Healthcare Services of Albuquerque, N.M., realized $10 million in labor savings with the Premier healthcare alliance through the use of LaborConnect^®, Premier's labor management program. Presbyterian projects an additional $7 million in savings in 2010.

Premier healthcare alliance Perinatal Safety Initiative enhances communications, reliable use of evidence-based quality measures among obstetric units; Standardized physician order sets, creation of care guidelines among participant achievements

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 13, 2010) – Hospitals participating in the Premier healthcare alliance's Perinatal Safety Initiative are achieving sustained improvements in their delivery of obstetric care.

Premier honored for eighth consecutive year with "Champion for Change" award from Practice Greenhealth

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 12, 2010) – The Premier healthcare alliance and 61 of its alliance member hospitals have been honored by Practice Greenhealth (PGH) in recognition of their environmental leadership.

19th annual Premier Cares Award application period now open for not-for-profit organizations providing support to medically underserved communities; winner receives $70,000, five finalists receive $24,000 each

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 11, 2010) – The Premier healthcare alliance has launched its annual search for not-for-profit community organizations providing commendable and innovative efforts to improve the health of the medically underserved.

One of the largest private group medical practices in Wisconsin to have access to nation's most comprehensive healthcare data, best practices from national quality and cost improvement collaboratives

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 10, 2010) – Marshfield Clinic, one of the largest private group medical practices in Wisconsin and in the United States, has joined the Premier healthcare alliance.

Premier healthcare alliance sessions to feature healthcare expert insights around coverage expansion, payment reductions, physician alignment, and quality and cost measurement

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 5, 2010) – To prepare healthcare providers for the strategic implications of reform and the tools needed for future success, the Premier healthcare alliance will host a series of Health Reform Executive Briefings.

Research will test new methods for automating surveillance of central-line associated bloodstream infections to better predict adverse events and healthcare-associated infection reporting

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 3, 2010) – The Premier healthcare alliance and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced today a joint research initiative to test new technologies for predicting incidents of central-line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs), as well as to automate the reporting of these adverse events to the CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN).

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 29, 2010) – Leaders from the Premier healthcare alliance will speak across the country in May discussing healthcare reform legislation, accountable care organizations (ACOs), patient safety, green initiatives, and how to improve quality while safely reducing associated costs.

New Informatics leadership, strategic direction will help hospitals prepare for and succeed under healthcare reform

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 28, 2010) – The Premier healthcare alliance has launched a major new strategic plan that will help hospitals leverage performance improvement data and knowledge sharing to prepare for and succeed under healthcare reform.

Premier healthcare alliance program first of its kind bringing together multiple providers and suppliers to prepare for industry deadline

Participants include Geisinger Health System and Medline Industries, Aurora Health Care and Baxter International, and Mission Hospital and Owens & Minor

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 21, 2010) – With the industry deadline for the adoption of healthcare data standards rapidly approaching, participants in a Premier healthcare alliance project are seeing benefits in preparing for implementation that lay the groundwork for improved patient safety and healthcare cost reduction.

e-Stewards® Recyclers are selected as e-waste management providers to support public health, environment 

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 15, 2010) – The Premier healthcare alliance announced today that it has joined a select group of companies and institutions known as e-Stewards® Enterprises, committed to using electronics recyclers that meet the world’s highest standards for responsible recycling.

Premier healthcare alliance SafetySurveillor able to report positive influenza cases across the hospital setting

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 13, 2010) – St. Joseph Health System – Humboldt County (SJHS-HC), a member of St. Joseph Health System based in Orange, Calif., was able to track potential influenza cases minutes after California health officials released new requirements regarding influenza reporting. The SJHS-HC hospitals achieved this

As overall market inflation rates increase, Premier healthcare alliance rates remain stable, well below industry average

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 8, 2010) – To help its 2,300 not-for-profit hospital members better estimate supply cost inflation during their budget processes, the Premier healthcare alliance has released the March edition of its semiannual Economic Outlook analysis.

Key lessons learned from hospitals participating in Premier healthcare alliance HIT Collaborative featured in April issue of Health Affairs

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 6, 2010) – To help hospitals effectively implement electronic health records (EHR) to improve the health of their communities, experts from leading not-for-profit hospitals have created an electronic health record (EHR) Meaningful Use (MU) Implementation best-practices library.

Executives from Banner Health and Alexian Brothers Health System named to Premier's Group Purchasing and Member Relations Committee

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 1, 2010) – The Premier healthcare alliance board of directors has named leaders from two top U.S. not-for-profit health systems to a stockholder committee that provides strategic oversight to the Premier alliance.

Premier one of five healthcare companies honored in 2010

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (March 25, 2010) – For the third year in a row, the Premier healthcare alliance has been named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute. Ethisphere selected Premier from among a record number of applicants from across the globe.

Frederick Memorial Healthcare System utilizes Premier on-site performance improvement expert, Web-based labor benchmarking product to successfully implement new labor management program

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (March 11, 2010) – Frederick Memorial Healthcare System, of Frederick, Md., achieved more than $5 million in labor cost savings with the Premier healthcare alliance through the use of LaborConnect™, Premier's labor management program.

Premier Safety Institute Web site provides guidelines to help healthcare organizations properly recycle, dispose of information technology to reduce threat to public health, environment  

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (March 10, 2010) – Computers and electronic products containing toxic materials pose a significant threat to public health and the environment when improperly disposed. For the fifth consecutive year, employees of the Charlotte-based Premier healthcare alliance have properly recycled and disposed of 10 tons of outdated computer equipment in an environmentally safe manner. 

ValueConnect uses Premier data and resources to align supply chain, finance and clinical teams, engage hospitals around effectively evaluating product and treatment options

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (February 25, 2010) – The Premier healthcare alliance has introduced a new value analysis solution to help hospitals effectively evaluate product and treatment options to improve quality and safety while reducing costs.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (February 24, 2010) – Leaders from the Premier healthcare alliance will speak around the country in March sharing insights regarding accountable care organizations (ACOs), value-based purchasing (VBP) and health information technology (HIT), as well as improving quality while safely reducing costs.

QualityAdvisor supports The Joint Commission OPPE recommendations, combines clinically proven analytical methods with a benchmark database of more than 600 facilities to provide timely, actionable information across a healthcare organization

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (February 17, 2010) – The Premier healthcare alliance today announced that Carolinas Medical Center NorthEast (CMC-NorthEast) of Concord, N.C., selected Premier's QualityAdvisor™ solution to improve delivery of patient care and safely reduce costly avoidable patient events.

Collaborative projects help hospital members improve quality of patient care, safely reduce hospital costs

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (February 10, 2010) – The Premier healthcare alliance generated record validated member savings of more than $1 billion in its fiscal 2009, while the alliance grew to more than 2,300 not-for-profit hospitals and 64,000-plus other healthcare sites.

All 22 Banner hospitals will use OperationsAdvisor, part of Premier's LaborConnect program, to better manage labor costs, improve quality

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (February 3, 2010) – Leaders from the Premier healthcare alliance will speak around the country in February sharing insights regarding value-based purchasing (VBP), meaningful use, evidence-based care, labor management and improving quality while reducing costs.

All 22 Banner hospitals will use OperationsAdvisor, part of Premier's LaborConnect program, to better manage labor costs, improve quality

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (February 2, 2010) – Banner Health is expanding its relationship with the Premier healthcare alliance to include Premier's OperationsAdvisor^® (OA) Web-based labor benchmarking solution. All 22 hospitals in the Phoenix-based healthcare system will utilize OA, part of Premier's LaborConnect™ program, to better manage labor costs while improving quality and safety.

Centering Healthcare Institute "CenteringPregnancy Group Prenatal Care" program selected as 2010 Monroe E. Trout Premier Cares Award winner

PHOENIX (January 27, 2010) – Centering Healthcare Institute has been honored by the Premier healthcare alliance with the 18th Annual Monroe E. Trout Premier Cares Award for its CenteringPregnancy Group Prenatal Care program, which provides an innovative prenatal group care model now present in more than 300 sites across America. Centering Healthcare Institute last night received the Cares Award and $70,000 for the work it has done to provide care to mothers and babies nationwide.

Premier member hospitals now able to leverage synchronized data through 1SYNC™ to complete purchase transactions with suppliers

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (January 26, 2010) – As the healthcare industry moves toward universal data standards to improve patient safety and reduce supply chain costs, 60 healthcare suppliers working with the Premier healthcare alliance have successfully synchronized standardized product data as of December 31, 2009. The suppliers are using 1SYNC™, a certified Data Pool in the GS1 Global Data Synchronization Network^® (GDSN^®).

41 health systems, hospitals share Excess Workers' Compensation profits

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (January 25, 2010) – Premier Insurance Management Services Inc. (PIMS) has returned nearly $1,363,052 in experience credit payments to 41 Premier healthcare alliance hospitals and healthcare systems that participate in the PIMS Excess Workers' Compensation sponsored insurance program.

Health system takes steps to reduce healthcare's greenhouse gas production; exceeds Pennsylvania's Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard

BETHLEHEM, PENN. AND CHARLOTTE, N.C. (January 21, 2010) – St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network has taken a major step towards reducing its carbon footprint. By purchasing 10 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources, the health system will realize an annual 2,900 ton reduction of carbon dioxide, a significant component of greenhouse gas. St. Luke's also avoided more than $1 million in their annual electricity purchase costs through a competitive electronic procurement process run on the World Energy Exchange^®.

Hospitals reducing mortality, implementing evidence-based care more often as a part of QUEST; Initiative serving as a test bed for critical healthcare reforms

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (January 20, 2010) – Premier healthcare alliance expert Leslie Schultz, PhD, CPHQ, senior director of QUEST and Knowledge Transfer, will discuss Premier's national quality and cost improvement collaborative successes at the Healthcare Financial Management Association's 2010 Mid-Winter Conference on January 21 in Orlando, Fla.

Executives from 12 leading hospitals and healthcare systems named to Group Purchasing and Member Relations Committee, Quality Improvement Committee

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (January 19, 2010) – The Premier healthcare alliance board of directors has named leaders from 12 top U.S. not-for-profit hospitals and health systems to a pair of stockholder committees that provide strategic oversight to the alliance.

DICON, Premier's SafetySurveillor^® help providers enhance infection control programs to prevent healthcare-associated infections, optimize antibiotic use

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (January 13, 2010) – In an effort to enhance their infection control programs, three hospitals will leverage the Premier healthcare alliance's SafetySurveillor^® automated surveillance solution and the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network (DICON).

Participation in Premier's ASCEND™ program drives contract savings of up to 37 percent

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (January 11, 2010) – St. Anthony's Medical Center, St. Louis' largest free-standing hospital, has achieved one-third of an expected $9 million in savings in just one year of membership in the Premier healthcare alliance.

Premier’s LaborConnect™ integrates productivity and benchmarking, comparative data analysis and on-site consulting to better manage labor costs, improve quality at small, rural hospital

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (January 7, 2010) – Haywood Regional Medical Center, a rural facility, licensed for 189-beds in Clyde, N.C., achieved savings of $3.62 million in labor costs in six months with the Premier healthcare alliance through the use of LaborConnect™, Premier's labor management solution.

Heartland Health engages Premier Consulting Solutions and Premier technologies to improve care, eliminate waste and inefficiencies

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (January 6, 2010) – Heartland Regional Medical Center of St. Joseph, Mo. has saved more than $3.3 million by utilizing Premier Consulting Solutions™ (PCS) and Premier healthcare alliance technologies to improve quality and safety in cardiovascular services while delivering cost-effective care.

27 hospitals, health systems share Fidelity & Fiduciary Liability profits

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (December 29, 2009) – Premier Insurance Management Services Inc. (PIMS) has returned more than $104,000 in experience credit payments to 27 Premier healthcare alliance member hospitals and healthcare systems that participate in the PIMS Fidelity and Fiduciary Liability sponsored insurance program.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. and PORTLAND, Ore. (December 21, 2009) – Public employees in the state of Oregon will soon have access to a wider range of prescription medication at lower costs.

Oregon-based public employees receiving prescription drugs as part of their benefits program will have the opportunity to leverage the full portfolio of Premier Purchasing Partners pharmaceutical contracts, announced through the addition of a new Premier group affiliate, the Oregon Prescription Drug Program (OPDP).

Methodist Hospital among approximately 150 hospitals representing $3 billion in purchasing volume collaborating to drive rapid supply chain performance improvements

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (December 14, 2009) – Methodist Hospital of Henderson, Ky., has realized significant supply chain savings by participating in the Premier healthcare alliance's ASCEND™ program and by using Premier's SpendAdvisor^® MySpend™ spend management decision-support solution.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (December 11, 2009) – Craig McKasson, the Premier healthcare alliance's vice president of finance and corporate controller, will be promoted to senior vice president and chief financial officer (CFO) effective January 1, 2010. As CFO, McKasson will join Premier's executive leadership team and will report directly to Susan DeVore, Premier's president and CEO. McKasson will replace Ann Rhoads, who is resigning her position after 11 years of service, following a recently announced office consolidation that is expected to be complete by February 2011.

Endorsement of HRAdvance provides human resource professionals and senior management teams with best practice hosted solutions deployed without capital expenditure or IT dependency

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (December 8, 2009) – Premier Insurance Management Services Inc. (PIMS) today introduced HRAdvance, the established leader in dependent eligibility audits for healthcare organizations, to the 2,200 members of the Premier healthcare alliance.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (December 3, 2009) – Leaders from hospitals nationwide and the Premier healthcare alliance will speak at the Institute for Health Improvement (IHI) 21st Annual National Forum on Quality Improvement in Healthcare on December 8 in Orlando, Fla., sharing insights regarding Premier's QUEST®: High Performing Hospitals program and improving quality while safely reducing costs.

New five-year contract with U.S. Foodservice offers best-in-industry savings

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (November 18, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance today announced a new five-year contract with U.S. Foodservice for food service distribution. The new, sole source contract will provide significant savings opportunities to the Premier members. The agreement will take effect on July 1, 2010.

Close to 200 providers now part of project addressing health reform goal of improving quality while reducing costs

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (November 12, 2009) – More than 30 hospitals have joined the expansion of the Premier healthcare alliance's QUEST^®: High Performing Hospitals collaborative. Approximately 200 hospitals representing 31 states are now participating in this project, which is currently linking the two main goals of health reform proposals being considered by Congress: quality improvement and cost reduction.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (November 11, 2009) – Leaders from the Premier healthcare alliance will speak around the country in November and December, sharing insights regarding Premier's QUEST^®: High Performing Hospitals program, Premier's Performance Improvement (PI) Portal™ and improving quality while safely reducing costs.

Premier's support of global data standards in line with recent House health reform legislation requiring FDA to develop tracking system to properly recall medical devices

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (November 10, 2009) – The United States Department of Defense (DoD) has recognized a Premier healthcare alliance expert for his efforts to enhance patient safety while reducing healthcare costs.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (November 5, 2009) – More than 1,000 volunteers from the Charlotte, N.C.-based Premier Inc. healthcare alliance donated over 4,000 hours of community service on November 3 at 38 locations across the Charlotte region.

Twenty-six Premier alliance hospital members part of magazine’s top 100 list

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (November 2, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance has been ranked among the top 10 best places to work in the healthcare industry by Modern Healthcare magazine. Twenty-six Premier alliance hospital members were also named to the 100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare list.

ProviderConnect™ utilizes Premier data and analytics to engage physicians around service line development, physician preference items, revenue cycle and reimbursement

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (October 28, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance is offering a new program to bridge the gap between clinical and business processes by helping hospitals and health systems improve quality and outcomes, control costs and increase profitability.

New participant in Premier's QUEST initiative will use SafetySurveillor^® to help prevent healthcare-associated infections and optimize antibiotic use

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (October 26, 2009) – St. Joseph's/Candler Health System (SJ/C) of Savannah, Ga., is expanding its relationship with the Premier healthcare alliance by implementing Premier's SafetySurveillor^® Web-based infection tracking and antimicrobial utilization solution. The health system will join the more than 270 hospitals that have chosen SafetySurveillor to help prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and optimize antibiotic use, with a goal of protecting patients more effectively while safely reducing hospital costs.

Premier healthcare alliance QUEST initiative serving as a test bed for critical healthcare reforms, shows higher quality care can lead to lower costs

Washington, DC (October 21, 2009) – As policymakers struggle to find practical solutions that improve healthcare quality and control spending, hospitals participating in the Premier healthcare alliance's QUEST: High Performing Hospitals national collaborative have saved an estimated total of 8,043 lives and $577 million in one year. Of the approximately 2.3 million patients treated annually in these hospitals, 24,818 additional patients received treatments that met the highest quality patient care standards when compared to baseline performance at the outset of the project.

Addition of Zurich offers dual market options for Premier healthcare alliance members

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (October 19, 2009) – Premier Insurance Management Services Inc. (PIMS), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Premier healthcare alliance, today announced a new healthcare property risk management program designed to help healthcare providers reduce costs, improve coverage, minimize losses and deliver a superior level of claims service.

SEEDS™ supplier diversity program provides opportunity for minority-, women- and veteran-owned suppliers and small businesses to do business with Premier alliance hospital members

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (October 12, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance today announced that seven new hospital supplier agreements have been launched in its supplier diversity program aimed at increasing the number of small, diverse and regional enterprises doing business with members of the Premier alliance.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (October 7, 2009) – Leaders from the Premier healthcare alliance will speak around the country in October, sharing insights on supply chain, patient safety, clinical outcomes, healthcare finance and current healthcare reform legislation.

Program evaluation uses objectively scored, structure, process and outcome criteria representing industry standards and best practices which enable Premier healthcare alliance members to compare their results against similar healthcare systems

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (October 1, 2009) – Premier Insurance Management Services Inc. (PIMS), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Premier healthcare alliance, has introduced a new Clinical Risk Management (CRM) assessment program designed to evaluate performance and collaboration across the risk management, safety and quality functions in hospitals and healthcare systems.

Premier’s SafetySurveillor^® helps to prevent healthcare-associated infections and optimize antibiotic use

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (September 28, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance today announced that Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center of Midlothian, Va., selected Premier's SafetySurveillor^® Web-based infection tracking and antimicrobial utilization tool. More than 270 hospitals use SafetySurveillor to help prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and optimize antibiotic use, thereby protecting patients more effectively while safely reducing hospital costs.

New participant in Premier's QUEST initiative will use SafetySurveillor to help prevent healthcare-associated infections and optimize antibiotic use

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (September 23, 2009) – Monongalia Health System of Morgantown, W.Va., is expanding its relationship with the Premier healthcare alliance by implementing Premier's SafetySurveillor^® Web-based infection tracking and antimicrobial utilization solution. The health system will use SafetySurveillor to help prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and optimize antibiotic use, thereby protecting patients more effectively while safely reducing hospital costs.

Total purchasing spend among more than 61,000 members now exceeds $5.3 billion annually

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (September 21, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance today announced that its Continuum of Care (CofC) division added 9,500 of its more than 61,000 non-acute care members during its fiscal year 2009. The new members represent $1 billion of Premier's CofC $5.3 billion annual supply purchasing spend. The CofC is comprised of non-acute care sites, including long-term care, surgery centers, physician practices, senior living residences, imaging centers, home care facilities and numerous other market segments across the continuum of care.

Projected inflation estimates for Premier purchasing contracts less than 1 percent, well below industry averages

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (September 17, 2009) – Inflation rates for healthcare supplies are projected to remain unchanged through 2010, according to an analysis released by the Premier healthcare alliance.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (September 16, 2009) – Leaders from the Premier healthcare alliance will speak around the country in September, sharing insights on value-based purchasing, healthcare reform, GS1 traceability standards and how to achieve high-value healthcare to improve quality and safely reduce costs.

Premier Purchasing Partners first group purchasing organization to feature innovative solution from AirStrip Technologies

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (September 14, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance has contracted with AirStrip Technologies™, L.P. to offer its 2,200 hospitals members a mobile healthcare information technology (HIT) solution to improve obstetrical (OB) care, patient safety and communication among healthcare providers.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (September 10, 2009) – Hospitals and health systems participating in the Premier healthcare alliance's ASCEND™ (Accelerated Supply Chain Endeavor) program have reduced their supply expenses in recently launched categories by up to 24 percent since May 2009. More than 90 participants that represent approximately $2.7 billion in supply chain purchasing volume and close to 24,000 hospital beds are collaborating to share best practices in supply chain efficiency as a part of the program.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (September 4, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance has named Keith Figlioli senior vice president of its Healthcare Informatics division dedicated to helping member hospitals improve quality of care while reducing costs.

Healthcare system will deploy online staff scheduling and shift management system to improve employee satisfaction and better manage labor costs

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (September 1, 2009) – Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System (SRHS) in Spartanburg, S.C., is expanding its participation in the Premier healthcare alliance LaborConnect™ program.

Program offers opportunities to reduce purchasing expense and allow members access to high-quality products at lower prices

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (August 27, 2009) – At a time when hospital operating margins are paper thin, the Premier healthcare alliance is helping its members achieve enhanced savings through its hospital group buy program. Members who utilized the program generated savings of more than $74 million in 2008.

Premier’s ClinicalAdvisor^® now offers reports to identify potential overpayments prior to RAC audits, practitioner profiling to support The Joint Commission Ongoing Professional Practice Evaluations

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (August 25, 2009) – To help hospitals achieve maximum revenue retention as a part of Medicare's Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program, the Premier healthcare alliance has enhanced its quality benchmarking and regulatory reporting solution to include RAC capabilities.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (August 19, 2009) – Premier healthcare alliance's Gina Pugliese, vice president of Premier's Safety Institute, will share insights on safe injection practices to improve patient and worker safety at the Joint Commission Infection Control Conference on August 21 in Crystal City, Va.

CMS, Premier healthcare alliance HQID project now recognizes participants for quality improvement, performance; hospitals continue to outperform non-participants, 225 receive 1,258 awards in Year 4 alone

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (August 17, 2009) – As policymakers search for models of healthcare payment and delivery reform, fourth year results from the nation's largest hospital value-based purchasing (VBP) program to improve hospital quality of care show that it is helping patients live longer and receive recommended treatments more frequently.

Contracted portfolio changes can be analyzed with new impact analysis tool to automatically identify price changes and savings opportunities. Industry-first contracts also classified according to safety attributes.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (August 12, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance launched new contracts for approximately 10,500 drugs used in the hospital pharmacy. These 36-month contracts include the majority of products in the Premier generic pharmacy portfolio, as well as several branded and nondrug product categories. New contracts represent savings over the current portfolio of 2.8 percent, which should save Premier members $60 million to $70 million a year.

Safety net hospitals enhanced quality, reduced variation in care delivery in just three years

Washington, D.C. (August 6, 2009) – Safety net hospitals have improved patient quality and reduced care variation as a part of the nation’s largest hospital value-based purchasing (VBP) program, according to an analysis released today by the Premier healthcare alliance.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 27, 2009) – The San Diego Business Journal named Premier healthcare alliance Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Ann Rhoads the 2009 CFO of the Year in the Private Company category.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 23, 2009) – Hospitals participating in the Premier healthcare alliance's QUEST: High Performing Hospitals project have achieved successes in the reliable delivery of clinical and financial outcomes to improve quality and patient safety while reducing costs.

Solution offers Premier healthcare alliance members risk management and hospital medical malpractice protection to reduce risk, improve patient safety and avoid adverse outcomes

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 20, 2009) – Premier Insurance Management Services Inc. (PIMS) today announced a new professional medical liability insurance program offering risk management and hospital medical malpractice protection to not-for-profit hospital members of the Premier healthcare alliance.

Premier Purchasing Partners first healthcare group purchasing organization to set specific quality and safety guidelines for suppliers

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 13, 2009) – To ensure patients receive the highest quality and safest food possible, the Premier healthcare alliance today released a set of standards for foodservices delivered to hospitals.

Estimated $19.5 million supply spend across categories that include Materials Management, Nursing, Women's and Children's Services, Food Services and IT Services

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 8, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance today announced eight new hospital supply categories were added to help members achieve industry-leading savings. With an estimated member spend of $19.5 million, the categories include Materials Management, Nursing, Women's and Children's Services, Food Services and Information Technology (IT) Services.

SEEDS supplier diversity initiative increases the number of minority-, women- and veteran-owned suppliers and small businesses doing business with Premier alliance hospital members

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 7, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance today announced that three new hospital supplier agreements have been launched in its supplier diversity program aimed at increasing the number of small, diverse and regional enterprises doing business with members of the Premier alliance.

Premier also launches a Pediatric Safety Web site to help research the issues and access key resources

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 1, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance released a new comprehensive pediatric catalog to help member hospitals quickly and easily find products that are specifically designated for use with babies, children and adolescents. The 547-page catalog contains 8,713 items in 84 product categories representing 127 suppliers.

At the same time, Premier's Safety Institute also developed a publicly accessible Pediatric Safety Web site to provide a comprehensive collection of key resources, legislation and updates from governmental and professional organizations focused on improving the quality and safety of pediatric care. The Web site is intended to help the public better understand the issues around pediatric safety, providing a single resource of credible, expert information.

Recent acquisition of Phase 2 Consulting complements Premier Consulting Solutions' existing RAC preparation and management offerings

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 30, 2009) – Over a two-year period from 2006 to 2008, Medicare's Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) demonstration program corrected more than $1.03 billion in improper Medicare payments. During the demonstration, auditors recouped $992.7 million in Medicare payments, or 96 percent of the improper payments; more than 85 percent of those overpayments were collected from our nation's hospitals. And 60 percent of these payment recoveries occurred in 2008, suggesting a continued trend of hospitals returning funds to Medicare once the permanent RAC program is fully implemented by January 1, 2010.

To help hospitals properly prepare for a nationwide RAC program, the Premier healthcare alliance has enhanced its RAC preparation and management solutions that assist providers in achieving maximum revenue retention.

Three Premier foodservice directors cited for exceptional leadership

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 24, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance today announced winners of the 2009 Illuminating Excellence Award, which recognizes accomplishments and improvements in foodservice operations.

Henry Ford Health System and Owens & Minor Inc. winners of the 2009 Premier Diversity Award

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 23, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance has named Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) of Detroit and Owens & Minor Inc. of Mechanicsville, Va., as winners of the 2009 Premier Diversity Award. The annual award recognizes a Premier member hospital or health system and a Premier contracted supplier for efforts to purchase goods and services from Premier contracted diverse suppliers, as well as develop procurement strategies aligned with the communities they serve.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 17, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance has recognized the nation's top hospitals for their commitment to outstanding patient care and operational efficiency with the 2009 Premier Award for Quality (AFQ). Premier announced the 23 winners of the award, out of more than 3,796 eligible hospitals nationwide, at Premier's annual Breakthroughs Conference and Exhibition in Anaheim, Calif.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 17, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance's Purchasing Partners division today recognized 26 alliance members as winners of its second annual Supply Chain Excellence Award. Premier honored the winners – selected from its more than 2,100 eligible hospitals nationwide – at the 2009 Premier Annual Breakthroughs Conference and Exhibition in Anaheim, Calif.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 17, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance has honored three alliance members with its third annual Supply Chain Innovation Award for achieving successful innovations that have created new levels of performance and competitive advantage.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 17, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance's Purchasing Partners, LP division today recognized winners of its annual awards for suppliers exceeding operational and quality expectations.

Hospitals from Baystate Health, Fairview Health Services and Summa Health System receive Premier AEIX Risk Management Award

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 17, 2009) – Premier Insurance Management Services Inc. (PIMS), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Premier healthcare alliance, has honored three alliance member health systems with the American Excess Insurance Exchange (AEIX) Risk Management Awards, which are presented annually.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 16, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance today announced that it will offer its alliance members a capital equipment catalogue from Attainia Inc.

Solutions introduced address infection and disease prevention, improved patient-physician communications and patient satisfaction

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 16, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance today will celebrate supplier innovation at its first Innovation Celebration. This event, which will be held annually, recognizes advances in healthcare while highlighting healthcare industry suppliers committed to improving patient outcomes.

Potential cumulative savings could be realized by 2019

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 15, 2009) – In a letter sent to President Obama and House and Senate leaders today, the Premier healthcare alliance and GNYHA Ventures, Inc., Greater New York Hospital Association's supply chain enterprise that includes group purchasing organizations (GPOs), said that hospitals could improve healthcare quality and achieve cumulative savings of $317 billion if certain policies are enacted to create a more competitive and transparent purchasing environment. The savings are based on an analysis conducted by the two groups and projected over 10 years, to be fully realized by 2019.

SupplyFocus™ enhancement driven by increased use among 700-plus hospitals, will focus on pharmaceutical cost-saving opportunities

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 11, 2009) – To help its member hospitals control supply chain costs while improving quality, the Premier healthcare alliance has released an enhanced version of SupplyFocus™, the healthcare industry's leading supply cost benchmarking and comparative analysis tool.

Acquisition will strengthen Premier Consulting Solutions division, provide resources to meet increasing consulting demand

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 2, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance has acquired Phase 2 Consulting (P2C), a leading provider of consulting services to hospitals and health systems.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 1, 2009) – Leaders from the Premier healthcare alliance will speak around the country in June, sharing insights regarding health plan claims data technology, as well as effective healthcare organizational leadership as defined by Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 21, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance has named a healthcare industry expert to lead its QUEST: High Performing Hospitals collaborative. Carolyn Scott, R.N., M.ED., M.H.A., has joined Premier as vice president of Performance Improvement and Quality and will oversee QUEST, a nationwide hospital quality and cost improvement collaborative.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 19, 2009) – Premier Insurance Management Services, Inc. (PIMS), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Premier healthcare alliance, announced that it is offering new captive insurance management, claim management and risk management consulting services. These services will help Premier members manage the costs associated with healthcare liability and litigation to improve the quality of clinical care, reduce risk exposure, lower liability-related costs and operate alternative risk financing facilities.

More than 80 hospital members of the alliance also honored

Charlotte, N.C. (May 19, 2009) — The Premier healthcare alliance received the “Champion for Change” award from Practice Greenhealth (PGH) in recognition for leadership in advancing environmental best practices in healthcare. This marks the seventh consecutive year that Premier has been awarded this distinction.

Premier Perinatal Safety Initiative designed to enhance communications, reliable use of evidence-based quality measures; Healthcare experts to serve as advisors, provide expertise

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 14, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance has launched a second Premier Perinatal Safety Initiative (PSI), a national collaborative designed to achieve the consistent delivery of evidence-based care with the goal of eliminating preventable birth-related injuries and deaths.

30 health systems, hospitals share Fidelity & Fiduciary Liability profits

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 13, 2009) – Premier Insurance Management Services Inc. (PIMS), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Premier healthcare alliance, has returned more than $119,000 in experience credit payments to 30 hospitals and healthcare systems that participate in its Fidelity and Fiduciary Liability sponsored insurance program.

Launches collaborative projects to help members improve quality of patient care, safely reduce hospital costs

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 12, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance generated record validated member savings of more than $780 million in its fiscal 2008, while the alliance grew to more than 2,100 not-for-profit hospitals and 55,000+ other healthcare sites, such as surgery centers and long-term care facilities.

OperationsAdvisor (OA) Productivity now allows for daily data submission and labor practice reporting

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 6, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance has released an enhanced version of its labor management solution used by hospitals to track labor productivity, performance and costs. OperationsAdvisor (OA) Productivity now allows Premier alliance members to submit data and analyze performance on a daily basis.

Power of volume aggregation key to Oconee Medical Center's savings

CHARLOTTE, N.C. and ASHEVILLE, N.C. (April 30, 2009) – Oconee Medical Center, a 160-bed hospital in the foothills of South Carolina, is expected to realize nearly $1 million in annualized supply chain savings as a result of joining the Premier healthcare alliance and the WNC Health Network (WNCHN).

New offering automatically calculates pharmacy budgets based on contract pricing data, expected inflation indices and new generic drug approvals

Charlotte, N.C. (April 15, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance released an enhanced version of its drug budgeting tool to help member hospitals build more accurate pharmacy budgets based on their individual purchasing patterns, inflationary indices and expected generics competition in specific therapeutic categories.

Premier selected for business ethics honor from among 10,000 worldwide applicants

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 14, 2009) – For the second year in a row, the Premier healthcare alliance has been named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute. Ethisphere, a think-tank dedicated to the research and promotion of profitable best practices in global governance, business ethics, compliance and corporate responsibility, selected Premier from among 10,000 applicants from across the globe.

Participants represent more than $2 billion in purchasing volume; ASCEND simplifies purchasing processes, leverages volumes, improves collaboration for sharing best practices

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 8, 2009) – Seventy-seven hospitals and health systems nationwide representing more than $2 billion in supply chain purchasing volume have to date joined the Premier healthcare alliance ASCEND™ program.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 2, 2009) – Leaders from the Premier healthcare alliance will speak around the country in April, sharing insights regarding healthcare supply chain data standardization, innovations in healthcare information technology, linking reduced supply chain costs to clinical outcomes and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

Columbia, SC (February 4, 2009) – In an effort to reduce avoidable deaths, patient harm and healthcare costs, all 65 acute care hospitals in South Carolina have joined a collaborative aimed at eliminating preventable healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) statewide while safely reducing associated costs.

Orlando Health “Help Understand and Guide Me (HUG-Me)” program selected as 2009 Monroe E. Trout Premier Cares Award winner

PHOENIX (January 28, 2009) — Orlando Health has been honored by the Premier healthcare alliance with the 17th Annual Monroe E. Trout Premier Cares Award for its Help Understand and Guide Me (HUG-Me) program, which provides comprehensive HIV care to individuals in Central Florida. HUG-Me last night received the Cares Award and $70,000 for the work it has done to provide care to individuals in Central Florida infected with, affected by and at risk for HIV.

32 health systems, hospitals share Excess Workers’ Compensation profits 

CHARLOTTE, NC (January 27, 2009) – Premier Insurance Management Services Inc., (PIMS) a wholly owned subsidiary of the Premier healthcare alliance, has returned nearly $680,000 in experience credit payments to 32 hospitals and healthcare systems that participate in its Excess Workers’ Compensation sponsored insurance program.

Web-based access to programs for employee scheduling and effective shift management now available through Premier LaborConnect program

SAN DIEGO – (January 22, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance is expanding the scope of its labor management support by partnering with Concerro (formerly BidShift). The two San Diego-based companies today jointly announced a partnership to offer comprehensive shift management systems that match nursing and other healthcare employees with available shifts, online and in real time.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (January 20, 2009) — The Premier healthcare alliance will host a national webcast on Wednesday, January 21, from 2:30-3:30 p.m. ET, to discuss lessons learned in patient quality and safety through the QUEST project.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (January 15, 2009) – Twenty-seven hospitals and health systems have joined a new Premier healthcare alliance program designed to help participants achieve and sustain rapid improvements in supply chain performance.

Kankakee, Ill., hospital expects to save $500,000-plus by joining 26 Illinois, Indiana hospitals working together to reduce supply costs

NAPERVILLE, Ill. and CHARLOTTE, N.C. (December  16, 2008) – Riverside Medical Center of Kankakee, Ill., expects supply savings of more than half a million dollars by joining the Illinois Purchasing Collaborative (IPC), an Illinois Hospital Association (IHA) program that partners with the Premier healthcare alliance to reduce members’ supply chain costs.

Subscribers to Premier’s newly enhanced SafetyConnect program will have online access to proven, ready-to-implement educational tools and strategies

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (December 11 , 2008) – The Premier healthcare alliance today announced it will partner with the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network (DICON) in the fight against healthcare associated infections (HAIs) which infect more than 2 million hospital patients and cost the U.S. healthcare system more than $6.25 billion each year.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (December 5, 2008) – Leaders from the Premier healthcare alliance will speak around the country in December, sharing insights regarding healthcare legislation and supply chain efficiency, as well as quality improvement based on the QUEST: High Performing Hospital collaborative.

Premier healthcare alliance QUEST initiative also tests healthcare innovations to reduce HAIs and emergency response times, improve doctor-nurse communications

Washington, DC (December 3, 2008) – Patient mortality could be reduced by 17 percent and reliability of care could improve by nearly 13 percent if the not-for-profit hospitals participating in a nationwide collaborative attained the project’s quality goals, according to an analysis released today

Regional Health, its employees share in savings on employer-paid term life, employee-paid long-term disability; employees pleased with sign-up process

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (November 24, 2008) – Regional Health in Rapid City, S.D., and its employees will save more than $500,000 during the next three years on insurance premiums as a result of purchasing products through the employee benefit sponsored insurance arrangements with Premier Insurance Management Services Inc. (PIMS), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Premier healthcare alliance.

T.J. Samson Community Hospital to use OperationsAdvisor and Performance Partner to implement, manage labor productivity system

CHARLOTTE (November 20, 2008) — T. J. Samson Community Hospital, a Planetree model hospital serving Glasgow and Barren County, Kentucky, is expanding its relationship with the Premier healthcare alliance to include Premier’s labor management program. Premier’s OperationsAdvisor^TM tool and comparative database will be included, as well as the services of a Premier Performance Partner to help implement and monitor labor use.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (November 4, 2008) – Leaders from the Premier healthcare alliance will speak around the country in November, sharing insights regarding healthcare legislation, supply chain efficiency and pay-for-performance (P4P) based on the Premier, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration.

Additional 3,000 hours of volunteer service donated to Charlotte-area nonprofits through Hands On Charlotte, Premier healthcare alliance

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (October 31, 2008) – Families with young children from eight locations across the area received new playsets as a part of an annual day of volunteerism conducted by two local organizations.

Cumberland, Md., hospital will use Web-based infection tracking tool to prevent healthcare-associated infections, optimize antibiotic use

CHARLOTTE (October 30, 2008) – Western Maryland Health System (WMHS) in Cumberland has expanded its relationship with the Premier healthcare alliance by agreeing to implement Premier’s SafetySurveillor™ to prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and optimize antibiotic use, thereby protecting patients more effectively and reducing hospital costs.

Charlotte, N.C. (October 23, 2008) – The Premier healthcare alliance has launched a set of reimbursement calculators to help member hospitals compare the individual hospitals’ costs to the reimbursement offered under the Medicare Severity Diagnosis Related Group (MS-DRG) system.

Partnership between Charlotte-based organizations is natural expansion of existing clinical improvement collaboration

Charlotte, N.C. (October 22, 2008) – Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS), the third largest public healthcare system in the United States, has taken steps to further improve patient care while safely reducing the cost of care by becoming a member of the Premier healthcare alliance.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (October 7, 2008) — Health Enterprises Cooperative (HEc) of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has formed a new partnership with ServiShare of Iowa, the shared services arm of the Iowa Hospital Association (IHA). ServiShare now offers the Premier healthcare alliance’s group purchasing network to affiliated hospitals as well as many State of Iowa facilities and agencies

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (September 8, 2008) – Premier Insurance Management Services, Inc. (PIMS) today announced the addition of two new employees to assist with the underwriting and risk management aspects of the Premier healthcare alliance’s insurance offerings.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (September 5, 2008) – The University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville has expanded its relationship with the Premier healthcare alliance, selecting Premier as its supply chain performance partner and realizing savings of more than $1 million in the first six months of conversion.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (August 22, 2008) – Central DuPage Hospital (CDH) of Winfield, Ill., a suburb west of Chicago, has signed a three-year extension with the Premier healthcare alliance, reaffirming its 15-year ownership in the purchasing network. The new partnership will help CDH’s efforts to promote the health and wellness of area residents.

SAN DIEGO (August 21, 2008) — Sharp HealthCare and the Premier healthcare alliance, both based in San Diego and both recipients of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, are expanding their collaborative relationship.

Unique product for Premier healthcare alliance members offers comprehensive, value-added protections in fast growing area of sophisticated cyber liability risk

Value analysis identifies supply spend inefficiencies; implementation achieved without sacrifice to quality

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (August 7, 2008) – Cape Fear Valley Health System (CFVHS) in Fayetteville, N.C., a member of the Premier healthcare alliance, has announced $5.34 million in supply chain cost reductions in just 14 months through focused work with Premier Consulting Solutions (PCS). These savings will be reinvested into providing for the health of the Fayetteville community.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (August 1, 2008) – Leaders from the Premier healthcare alliance will speak around the country in August, discussing healthcare insurance management offerings, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and QUEST: High Performing Hospitals, a Premier hospital collaborative to improve patient safety and quality while safely reducing costs.

CHARLOTTE, NC (July 31, 2008) – Registration is underway for teams to participate in the Premier healthcare alliance’s Eighth Annual Collaborative Breakthrough Series (BTS 8). In seven years, the series has captured more than $170 million in savings for Premier member hospitals and healthcare systems.

Joins growing list of academic medical centers in healthcare alliance

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 29, 2008) –Tufts Medical Center in Boston has chosen the Premier healthcare alliance as its group purchasing performance partner to help realize its vision of delivering excellent medical care, advancing knowledge through research and training future generations of medical leaders.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 22, 2008) – The newest version of the Premier healthcare alliance’s widely adopted SpendAdvisor spend management decision support tool can identify and measure the drivers of supply cost, and a new tier analyzer report will measure performance of all contracts against tier requirements.

St. Louis (July 16, 2008) - The St. Louis-based Nurses for Newborns Foundation (NFNF) Bridge to the Future program has been recognized by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) for its work to improve the health of special needs babies.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 25, 2008) — The Premier healthcare alliance today announced a new collaborative to help participating members achieve rapid improvements in supply chain performance and efficiency.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 24, 2008) – Stan Hodes, executive chef and operations manager for Baptist Hospital of Miami, an affiliate of Baptist Health South Florida, has been named the winner of the Premier healthcare alliance 2008 Illuminating Excellence Award for his exceptional leadership in the healthcare foodservice field.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 23, 2008) – Bryon Jessee, production manager and head chef at Bon Secours Memorial Regional Medical Center in Mechanicsville, Va., has been named the winner of the Premier healthcare alliance’s 2008 Culinary Creations Award.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 23, 2008) – Stan Hodes, executive chef and operations manager for Baptist Hospital of Miami, an affiliate of Baptist Health South Florida, has been named the winner of the Premier healthcare alliance 2008 Illuminating Excellence Award for his exceptional leadership in the healthcare foodservice field.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 19, 2008) – The Premier healthcare alliance has named Summa Health Systems of Akron, Ohio, and Abbott of Abbott Park, Ill., as winners of the 2008 Premier Diversity Award. The annual award recognizes a Premier member hospital or health system and a Premier contracted supplier for efforts to purchase goods and services from Premier contracted diverse suppliers, as well as develop procurement strategies aligned with the communities they serve.

Charlotte, N.C. (June 16, 2008) – The Premier healthcare alliance’s Purchasing Partners division last week recognized the winners of its third annual Pinnacle Award and Performance Award at the 2008 Premier Annual Breakthroughs Conference & Exhibition in Nashville, Tenn.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 9, 2008) — More than 3,000 individuals representing members of the Premier healthcare alliance as well as innovative contracted suppliers, leading hospitals experts and Premier staff will converge on Nashville, Tenn., June 10-13, 2008, to share best practices for increasing the quality and safety of care and reducing costs.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 29, 2008 ) – The Premier healthcare alliance today announced upgrades to its SpendAdvisor^TM Pharmacy Spend analytics tool that will allow users to easily estimate possible reimbursement opportunities that result from being forced to purchase an “off contract” pharmaceutical because the “on contract” product was on backorder.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 28, 2008) – The Premier healthcare alliance today announced the release of significant enhancements to SupplyFocusTM, the industry’s leading supply chain benchmarking tool. The application, being used by more than 700 hospitals and healthcare systems, allows participants to more quickly and easily identify cost-saving opportunities, benchmark performance against peers and track progress toward improvement goals.