CHARLOTTE, N.C. and TACOMA, Wash., Dec. 19, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MultiCare Health System of Tacoma, Wash. has joined Premier, Inc. (Nasdaq:PINC) as a new member and is expected to leverage Premier's full suite of performance and supply chain improvement services to drive cost and quality efficiencies, better outcomes and patient experiences, and advances in population health.
A leading not-for-profit integrated healthcare delivery system, MultiCare is made up of five hospitals and dozens of primary, urgent and specialty clinics. The health system chose Premier for access to the alliance's group purchasing organization, as well as performance and supply chain analytics and advisory services to accelerate enterprise-wide innovation in care delivery.
"The market is moving much faster than even healthcare reform demands," said Florence Chang, executive vice president, MultiCare. "As we focus on how to care best for the people we serve, we believe this partnership with Premier and its members, especially those located in our region, will help us accelerate comprehensive quality and cost efficiencies to further our efforts in providing healing and a healthy future for the people we serve."
MultiCare will use Premier's group purchasing organization to reduce expenses through the aggregation of data, purchasing and best practices. The health system will also access quality and supply chain improvement analytics in Premier's integrated technology platform PremierConnect® to enable enterprise-wide care delivery and purchasing decisions. These industry-leading analytics rapidly aggregate and normalize clinical and supply chain data across the continuum of care for access to actionable insights, all in one place. PremierConnect also enables real-time member interactions across the nation.
"At MultiCare, we hold ourselves accountable for excellent care quality, personal competence and operational performance," said Anna Loomis, chief financial officer, MultiCare. "We're working on improving our practices to not only support what our patients need, but to be a part of the solution to reducing the cost of healthcare in our community."
With patient data on 1 in 3 U.S. hospital discharges and approximately $41 billion in annual provider purchases, PremierConnect quality and supply chain analytics help providers enhance the quality of care management, improve resource utilization and eliminate unjustified variation in costs. PremierConnect can help support MultiCare in partnering with a regional network of Premier members to integrate their clinical and purchasing decisions. In doing so, they can help to lower the cost of care across their community, as well as improve the patient experience and overall outcomes.
"MultiCare has a long history of providing skilled and compassionate care by proactively responding to the needs of their community, and investing in technology and other necessary innovations as we continue to see changes in healthcare," said Michael J. Alkire, chief operating officer, Premier. "Premier is excited to welcome MultiCare to our alliance and become their partner in implementing advances in quality, efficiency and overall community health."
This is MultiCare's first engagement with Premier. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
About MultiCare
MultiCare Health System is a not-for-profit, locally based integrated system of health with 11,000 employees and a comprehensive network of services throughout Pierce, South King, Thurston and Kitsap counties.
Its heritage dates back to the founding of Tacoma's first hospital in 1882. Since then, MultiCare has grown to meet the ever-changing needs of its region – always focusing on excellence, innovation and patient care.
Today, MultiCare is made up of five hospitals including Allenmore Hospital, Auburn Medical Center, Good Samaritan Hospital, Mary Bridge Children's Hospital and Tacoma General Hospital, numerous outpatient specialty centers, primary and urgent care clinics, as well as a variety of other services and community outreach programs. MultiCare's patients are connected to the most advanced care available, and MultiCare has been recognized both locally and nationally for the care it provides, its commitment to patients, its investment in technology and its involvement in its community.
About Premier, Inc.
Premier, Inc. (Nasdaq:PINC) is a leading healthcare improvement company, uniting an alliance of approximately 3,400 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.
Forward-looking statements
Matters discussed in this release that are not statements of historical or current facts, such as MultiCare's anticipated use of Premier's performance and supply chain 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.
CONTACT: Morgan Bridges-Guthrie, Premier, Inc.; 704.816.4152; Morgan_Bridges@PremierInc.com