Four leading health systems in the Charlotte, N.C.-based Premier healthcare alliance have formed a new collaborative to reduce supply costs and enhance care delivery.
Adventist Collaborative Group (ACG) members, which represent 140 hospitals across the U.S. and $1.5 billion in supply spend, include: Adventist Health System, Altamonte Springs, Fla.; Adventist Health, Roseville, Calif.; Adventist HealthCare, Gaithersburg, Md.; Kettering Health Network, Dayton, Ohio.
ACG members have saved $5.4 million since forming the initiative two years ago. This is on top of the more than $200 million combined in quality and cost improvement savings they achieved as Premier members over the past two years, according to Premier officials. Supply chain executives standardize and aggregate supply costs while sharing best practices and information to identify the most efficient purchasing opportunities.
“The Adventist Collaborative Group efforts and our work with Premier have contributed to a reduction in our supply costs,” Terry Shaw, CFO/COO of Adventist Health System, and Premier board member, said in a statement. “However, we know there is room for more savings. Having access to Premier data and technologies will help us explore all boundaries of contracting to drive additional significant value to the group.”
The ACG’s strategic direction is member-driven. Savings have been generated from extensive contract analysis and are the results of volume aggregation, conversion to primary source suppliers, group buys, strategic commitment and manufacturer rebates. The group provides customized, dedicated staffing support, access to Premier’s electronic sourcing, ongoing opportunity monitoring and transparency.
Members exchange information during routine conference calls, face-to-face meetings and through an online social networking community in PremierConnect, Premier’s integrated technology platform. PremierConnect enables providers to interact, and share learnings and data to accelerate the adoption of best practices that improve the health of communities.
Many health systems within the Premier alliance form regional and national collaboratives to identify greater savings than the already low Premier contracted pricing. In addition, ACG members participate in group buys to further coordinate volume-driven purchasing opportunities.
