Members of the Premier healthcare alliance recorded savings of more than $1.45 billion last year by collaborating to improve performance, integrating and comparing data, and using innovative purchasing practices, on top of an additional $2.75 billion in savings from lowering product pricing for hospitals. The total savings for Premier members was $4.2 billion, to which the for-profit collaborative of hospitals and non-acute care clinics, accounts to its various performance improvement strategies.

Those strategies included the QUESTHigh Performing Hospitals collaborative, Partnership for Care Transformation (PACT), and various regional and national purchasing collaborative efforts. Based on research by Lawton R. Burns, Ph.D., on hospital purchasing alliances, Premier says it helped hospitals reduce costs by 14 percent of its purchasing volume last year. The alliance also returned a record $295 million in cash distributions to its owner hospitals and health systems.

“The Commonwealth Fund has suggested that by sharing best practices, the U.S. could reap substantial benefits to overall health, patient experiences and cost savings,” stated Rich Statuto, president and CEO of Bon Secours Health System Inc., who received the Premier Excellence Award in 2011. “That’s what the Premier alliance does. We benefit from our membership every day, as we focus on delivering high-quality care across the continuum and improving the health of our population.”

Some of the members that Premier has noted for their work in savings were:

• Banner Health, a nonprofit health system serving seven Western states, saved $41.5 million by standardizing clinical and supply chain processes to improve care and reduce costs.
• University Hospitals, a leading health system serving Northeast Ohio, saved $18 million while providing high-quality, patient-centered medical care.
• Crittenton Hospital Medical Center, a 290-bed hospital, saved $4 million, reduced overtime and increased patient satisfaction.