Ballad Health and Premier Inc. Partner on Enterprise-wide Performance Improvement Initiative

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Premier Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC), a leading healthcare improvement company, has expanded its partnership with Ballad Health, an integrated health system that serves 29 counties across four Southeastern states. Ballad Health will implement Premier’s performance improvement infrastructure and leverage strategic supply chain services to drive high-value care across its enterprise.

Formed in 2018 by the merger of two regional health systems, Ballad Health includes 21 hospitals across Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. Before the merger, one of the health systems (formerly Mountain States Health Alliance) worked with Premier for more than two decades. With a new goal to transform health beyond the community and across its region, all Ballad Health facilities are expected to leverage Premier’s group purchasing organization, as well as a variety of cost, quality, reporting and workforce analytics, solutions, and services. Ballad Health has also joined Premier’s SURPASS^™ highly committed purchasing program to drive compliance and scale for the purchasing of clinically efficacious products.

“Every day we’re adding to our story on our journey toward a stronger future,” said Alan Levine, Executive Chairman and CEO at Ballad Health. “It’s a story that Premier has been part of for quite some time and one that is built on trust. We are excited about this strategic partnership because it gives Ballad Health a single source of truth through business intelligence that enables greater connectivity across our network. Additionally, as a core member of SURPASS, we will work with an engaged group of health systems that understand the need to optimize the supply chain while delivering more value to patients. We believe Premier’s experts and solutions are unmatched and rely on evidence-based insights to align operations, promote continuous improvement and rationally deploy resources.”

Specifically, Ballad Health will leverage the PremierConnect^® performance improvement platform to integrate and align its people, processes and technologies. This includes Premier’s enterprise-wide operational, clinical, service line and supply chain analytics. Through SURPASS, Ballad Health will also contribute to an evidence-based, supply chain decision-making strategy by actively participating in negotiations and clinically vetting products and supplies. Ballad Health will also use Premier’s purchased services program to create system-wide standardization and reduce total costs. As part of the partnership, Premier’s industry-leading consultants and technology-enabled insights will support Ballad Health in achieving overall financial, operational and clinical success.

“Managing and improving margins is a strategic imperative as the industry transitions to value-based care and payment models,” said Susan DeVore, CEO at Premier. “Key health system decision makers need holistic and trusted data, insights and expertise in order to flourish in the future. We look forward to working with Ballad Health to optimize efficiencies, influence high-quality clinical care and materially impact total care delivery costs across its system.”

The financial impact of the agreement was not disclosed.

Forward-looking statements

Matters discussed in this release that are not statements of historical or current facts, such as Ballad Health’s anticipated use of Premier’s supply chain and performance services at expected levels, as discussed herein, are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Premier to be materially different from historical results or from any future results or projections expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward looking statements. In addition to statements that explicitly describe such risks and uncertainties, readers are urged to consider statements in the conditional or future tenses or that include terms such as “believes,” “belief,” “expects,” “estimates,” “intends,” “anticipates” or “plans” to be uncertain and forward-looking. Forward-looking statements may include comments as to Premier’s beliefs and expectations as to future events and trends affecting its business and are necessarily subject to uncertainties, many of which are outside Premier’s control. More information on potential factors that could affect Premier’s financial results is included from time to time in the “Forward Looking Statements,” “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections of Premier’s periodic and current filings with the SEC and available on Premier’s website at investors.premierinc.com. Forward looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Premier undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise that occur after that date.

About Ballad Health

Ballad Health is an integrated healthcare system serving 29 counties of Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, Northwest North Carolina and Southeast Kentucky. Ballad Health operates a family of 21 hospitals, including three tertiary medical centers, a dedicated children’s hospital, community hospitals, three critical access hospitals, a behavioral health hospital, an addiction treatment facility, long-term care facilities, home care and hospice services, retail pharmacies, outpatient services and a comprehensive medical management corporation. https://www.balladhealth.org/.