Premier Inc. is joining forces with America's Essential Hospitals, which champions care for vulnerable populations, in a bid to improve quality, cost and population health at its member hospitals.
With the partnership, Premier will help develop and promote best practices in clinical care, cost reduction and population health management across AEH's nearly 275 members – many of which are urban academic medical centers that don't currently work with Premier.
Premier and AHE also will collaborate on new models to improve outcomes and efficiencies that target the unique needs hospitals that care for vulnerable populations with specialized social and medical needs.
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Starting in 2017, Premier will become AHE's preferred group purchasing organization partner and a new corporate affiliate member of America's Essential Hospitals, giving access to Premier's integrated financial, operational and clinical analytics and its supply chain and integrated pharmacy programs, officials said.
"We believe Premier is a leader in improving quality and reducing costs in hospitals, and we recognize the value that this partnership can create for our member hospitals," America's Essential Hospitals President and CEO Bruce Siegel, MD, said in a statement. "Our members will see better quality and affordability – and their patients will benefit – from the highly differentiated supply chain and population health management expertise Premier brings to the table."
Premier CEO Susan DeVore added that the deal will bring providers tools and to succeed in the shift from volume to value and toward population health management practices for low-income and other vulnerable populations.
Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN
Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com
