• Introduction and background
• Goals
• Strategies
• Oversight
• Reverse auction
• Resources
• Contracted suppliers
• Premier’s environmental leadership for healthcare
• Sharing of best practices, programs, services

Introduction and background

SPHERE -Securing Proven Healthcare Energy Reduction (for the) Ecosystem is an initiative being launched by Premier in collaboration with members and industry partners to have a positive impact on climate change and public health while reducing energy costs.

This energy initiative builds on Premier’s nationally recognized and award-winning environmental leadership platform - GreenHealthy™ - led by the Premier Safety Institute. GreenHealthy™ includes Premier's Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) program, internal corporate-wide Yes to Green program and the newly launched energy initiative, SPHERE.

SPHERE builds on Premier’s environmental leadership and commitment to a healthy environment, focusing now on the urgent need to reduce the healthcare industry’s carbon footprint and significant contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, air pollution and related negative health effects, e.g., asthma and other respiratory illnesses.

• Healthcare ranks as the country’s second most energy intensive industry, spending more than $8 billion each year while experiencing double-digit cost increases. Volatile energy prices are squeezing operating margins and diverting money needed for critical healthcare quality and safety improvements.
• Hospitals are the sector’s largest energy consumer and producer of GHG. The industry’s reliance on conventional, non-renewable energy sources (oil, coal) contributes disproportionately to the emission of GHG, driving climate change and impacting public health from air pollution.
• Only 7 percent of the entire U.S. energy consumption is from renewable energy sources, including biofuels such as ethanol, solar, hydroelectric and wind power.
• A large scale collaborative healthcare industry effort is needed to address the energy and climate crisis that will save institutions money while decreasing healthcare’s carbon footprint through measurable reductions in the amount of GHGs directly released in the delivery of patient care.

Premier is taking a leadership role to address these pressing environmental issues on national scale to bring together the right combination of technology, access to information, and expertise to create an energy initiative that shapes and influences how the healthcare industry responds to the energy and climate crisis.

Through collaboration, SPHERE will demonstrate healthcare’s leadership and commitment to the energy and climate crisis by collectively reaching a measurable reduction in overall energy usage and increase in use of renewable energy that will significantly reduce their carbon footprint and its negative impact on climate change and public health. Significant opportunities for cost savings can be realized through energy performance improvements and the purchase of lower cost energy; these savings can be used to improve the safety and effectiveness of patient care processes.

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Goals

The program’s primary goals are to help Premier alliance members reach measurable targets to:

• Reduce energy cost;
• Reduce overall energy usage and GHG emissions for positive public health impact; and
• Increase use of cleaner, renewable energy.

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Strategies

The goals of SPHERE will be accomplished through the following strategies:

• Partnerships with recognized experts, organizations and companies in the environmental and energy-related field with shared goals to bring best practices, solutions and programs to our members.
• Establishing measurable targets and assisting members with calculating, tracking, analyzing and benchmarking their energy usage, GHG emissions/carbon footprint, and energy costs.
• Offering reverse auction purchasing of lower cost energy to include cleaner and renewable energy through a partnership with Practice Greenhealth (PGH) and their Healthcare Clean Energy Exchange (HCCE).
• Sharing best practices, tools, programs, and management plans from healthcare; promoting energy efficient products, equipment, services and engineering/construction design contracts from Premier contracted suppliers, and actively promote participation in EPA Energy Star program.

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Oversight

SPHERE will be led by Premier's Safety Institute in partnership with group purchasing, with input and guidance from members, industry experts, Premier contracted suppliers, and collaborative and strategic partner organizations.

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Reverse auction

Premier has partnered with Practice Greenhealth and its Healthcare Clean Energy Exchange to offer a electronic reverse auction for energy to save money, lock in more stable pricing and increase their percentage of green/renewable energy purchases.

Visit our Reverse Auction web page for more information.

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Resources

Visit our Additional energy resources web page.

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Contracted suppliers

Premier contracted suppliers with energy efficient products, equipment, services and engineering/construction design web page.

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Premier’s environmental leadership for healthcare

Premier is committed to protecting the environment and maintaining a safety and healthy climate for our patients, workers, and communities. Visit the Premier Safety Institute public Web site for more information, tools and resources on Premier’s GreenHealthy™ program, including SPHERE

Premier leads the industry, being named a "Champion for Change" award recipient from Practice Greenhealth (PGH) seven years in a row - firmly establishing Premier and its members as leaders in healthcare and setting the bar in the industry for commitment to environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP) and sustainability best practices. Read press release.

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Sharing of best practices, programs, services

Please contact our Premier Safety Institute for additional information or to share best practices, tools, white papers, educational materials, or resources:

• Email: Safety_Institute@premierinc.com
• Telephone: 704.733.5865

 

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