CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 3, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Premier, Inc. (Nasdaq:PINC) has added seven new members to its Bundled Payment Collaborative, which now includes 17 healthcare provider systems with more than 45 hospitals across the nation.
With a focus on episode-based care, Premier's Bundled Payment Collaborative was launched in July 2012 to help providers develop, implement and succeed in using bundled payment arrangements in both public and private markets. The following new members will work together and with other members of the collaborative:
- Adventist Health, Roseville, Calif.
- Centra Health Inc., Lynchburg, Va.
- El Camino Hospital, Mountain View, Calif.
- Regional Health, Rapid City, S.D.
- Regional Medical Center, Orangeburg, S.C.
- Rockford Memorial Hospital, Rockford, Ill.
- Southwest General Health Center, Middleburg Heights, Ohio
New care delivery models are starting to have an impact on the healthcare industry. In fact, bundled payment care models are projected to save $2.4 billion nationwide over the next five years.
Bundled payment models allow providers to bid as a team to provide a continuum of services for a predetermined target amount to include physician payment, nursing-home care, surgery and other care, most commonly for treatments such as heart, colon and spinal surgery, as well as hip and knee replacements. Premier's Bundled Payment Collaborative serves as a convener, providing ongoing analysis, assessment, technical assistance, education and knowledge sharing to those interested in designing a bundled payment program.
Members of the collaborative are committed to sharing best practices and data with each other. They focus on improving care and reducing costs across multiple episodes of care, including hip/knee joint replacement, lumbar spine fusion, coronary artery bypass grafts, heart valve replacement, congestive heart failure, percutaneous coronary intervention and colon resection.
"Last year, Premier helped us design our bundled payment program to include care redesign analytics around the post-acute environment, risk track evaluation, gainsharing model design, and implementation planning," said Tammy Duvendack, vice president of care transformation at UnityPoint Methodist in Peoria, Ill., a Bundled Payment Collaborative member. "With years of experience and data from its other healthcare improvement collaboratives, Premier helped support our efforts to go live in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative."
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) created the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) initiative to link payments for the multiple services beneficiaries receive during an episode of care. Within BPCI's four broadly defined models, Premier is helping to support awardees that are focusing on hospital stay and post-acute care services.
"Through our strong relationship with CMS, the knowledge and information we've gained from our member base, and our integrated data solutions, we've developed the expertise to help providers improve patient care, engage physicians in effective partnerships, avoid Medicare penalties and better manage reimbursement reductions," said Wes Champion, senior vice president of Premier Performance Partners. "We're excited to work with these new providers to hear their insights and share our learnings and experiences."
Premier's Bundled Payment Collaborative provides:
- Ongoing analysis of Medicare Part A and Medicare Part B claims data;
- Insights into cost reduction opportunities by MS-DRG;
- Care redesign guidance across the entire episode;
- Gainsharing legal templates and financial models;
- Contracting and application support for both commercial and CMS bundled payment models;
- Exploration of bundling innovations such as ambulatory bundling; and
- Data, knowledge and best practices from other collaborative members.
Premier's Bundled Payment Collaborative members use Premier's integrated technology and social business platform, PremierConnect™. PremierConnect combines all of Premier's data assets – including data on 1 in 4 U.S. hospital discharges, evidence-based best practices from 2.5 million daily clinical transactions and $40 billion in annual provider purchases – on a single platform. It also serves as a hub for providers to network across the nation.
About Premier, Inc.
Premier, Inc. (Nasdaq:PINC) is a leading healthcare improvement company, uniting an alliance of more than 2,900 U.S. hospitals and nearly 100,000 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.