CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 30, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Premier, Inc. (Nasdaq:PINC) has the best overall performance in providing services to support accountable care organization (ACO) initiatives, according to KLAS, an independent healthcare research firm.
In its October 2014 Performance Report on ACO Advisory Services: Navigating the Uncharted Territory of Accountable Care, KLAS reports that Premier received the highest marks from healthcare providers for having the most validated projects and deep expertise around government value-based programs including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Pioneer, Medicare Shared Savings and Bundled Payment programs. The report also states that Premier's unique ACO/population health collaboratives allow providers to share knowledge, best practices and expertise; and that Premier has the lowest average cost per engagement.
Premier offers comprehensive population health management services spanning readiness and gap assessments, strategy development and the implementation of core components, such as patient-centered medical homes, care coordination and management programs, and clinically integrated networks. With these services, Premier helps organizations prepare and succeed under new value-based payment arrangements.
"Transitioning from a volume-based to a value-based payment system is challenging for health systems," said Wes Champion, senior vice president of Premier Performance Partners™. "We have an outstanding team of experienced professionals in population health management helping them lead the way."
Joe Damore, FACHE, Premier's vice president of population health management, said, "Not only are many of our health system members the first organizations to create ACOs, but we feel this recognition from KLAS further validates that Premier's advisory services are helping to support them. Members of our population health collaborative significantly outperformed other ACOs in the first two years of the CMS Medicare Shared Savings Program."
To determine which firms are providing the best guidance for accountable care initiatives, KLAS spoke primarily with executives at 41 organizations to validate 66 projects done by seven different firms in the areas of readiness assessment, strategy development and implementation work.
Robin Jensen, manager of operations at Baycare Health Partners and Pioneer Valley Accountable Care, said "Our participation in Premier's PACT population health collaborative has been tremendously helpful. Having input from an objective, impartial party like Premier is very valuable. The balance of member sharing and advice from external speakers helps keep us at the cutting edge of payment reform and population health management."
Premier was designated an early leader in population health management by KLAS in 2013. In addition, a recent Chilmark Research report titled 2014 Analytics for Population Health Management Market Trends, gave Premier top ratings for its membership model, collaborative focus, massive data assets, and combined technology and services offerings.
Premier offers a variety of accountable care and population health management advisory and analytics services, including:
- Premier Performance Partners: Advisory services offering a data-driven approach and proven expertise in delivering results using population health management strategies, including clinical integration, at-risk contracting, care management and patient-centered medical homes.
- PACT™ Population Health Collaborative: More than 60 health systems with 380 hospitals working together to measure and improve the health of people in their communities. PACT is focused on connecting the different elements that affect care delivery, including measurably enhancing quality and patient experience, lowering costs, increasing hospital-physician alignment, designing and implementing new value-based payment models, and managing population health.
- Bundled Payment Collaborative: More than 100 hospitals working together to generate the knowledge and tools needed to successfully implement bundled payments and redesign care delivery.
- Population management analytics: Business intelligence and workflow apps on Premier's integrated technology platform PremierConnect® that support the full population management process, from risk and total cost of care analytics, to patient engagement and management, as well as provider performance management.
Download a free summary of Premier's profile in the KLAS report. Premier is also hosting a free webinar that will feature two of its member health systems' unique journeys to value-based care on December 2.
About KLAS
KLAS is a research firm on a global mission to improve healthcare delivery by enabling providers to be heard and counted. Working with thousands of healthcare professionals and clinicians, KLAS gathers data on software, services, medical equipment and infrastructure systems to deliver timely reports, trends and statistical overviews. The research directly represents the provider voice and acts as a catalyst for improving vendor performance. Follow KLAS on Twitter at www.twitter.com/KLASresearch.
About Premier, Inc.
Premier, Inc. (Nasdaq:PINC) is a leading healthcare improvement company, uniting an alliance of approximately 3,000 U.S. hospitals and 110,000 other providers to transform healthcare. With integrated data and analytics, collaboratives, supply chain solutions, and advisory and other services, Premier enables better care and outcomes at a lower cost. Premier, a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient, 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, Foursquare and Premier's blog for more information about the company.
CONTACT: Morgan Bridges-Guthrie, Premier, Inc.; Morgan_Bridges@PremierInc.com; 704.816.4152