A longtime leader in healthcare improvement, we’re developing new ways to revolutionize the industry.
Premier applauds the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for taking action to ensure that safe, decades-old drugs are still available at competitive prices. For more than two decades, healthcare providers and consumers have experienced price gouging and drug shortages as an unintended consequence of the Drug Efficacy Study Implementation (DESI) process. We saw this with potassium chloride, which jumped from $40.86 in 2015 to $236.93 in 2016 due to the DESI drug pathway. In addition, it created a sole source situation that placed the drug at great risk for shortage. Premier has long highlighted this unintended consequence of the policy, and we strongly support keeping permanently closed this window of opportunity that has fostered anticompetitive behavior.
We also call on FDA to fully utilize real-world data and evidence to demonstrate the safety and efficacy for these drugs. Only then will we have a sustainable and attainable solution that will truly impact drug prices and save patients money.
Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC) is a leading healthcare improvement company, uniting an alliance of more than 4,350 U.S. hospitals and health systems and approximately 300,000 other providers to transform healthcare. With integrated data and analytics, collaboratives, supply chain solutions, consulting and other services, Premier enables better care and outcomes at a lower cost. Premier plays a critical role in the rapidly evolving healthcare industry, collaborating with members to co-develop long-term innovations that reinvent and improve the way care is delivered to patients nationwide. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Premier is passionate about transforming American healthcare. Please visit Premier’s news and investor sites on www.premierinc.com; as well as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram and Premier’s blog for more information about the company.
Contact: Public_Relations@premierinc.com