Premier, Inc.'s Cloud-Based ERP Capabilities Score the Highest in Healthcare for Adaptability and Functionality, According to KLAS

Healthcare Insights Acquisition to Enhance PremierConnect(R) With Market-Leading Budgeting Analytics


CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 17, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Premier, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:PINC) cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution has received the highest scores in healthcare for adaptability, functionality, and supply chain and financial management, according to leading research firm KLAS.

In the recent KLAS report, Is Cloud Disrupting Stagnant ERP Market?: ERP Performance 2015, healthcare organizations from across the country evaluated ERP vendor performance and ranked Premier the highest for combining strong cloud technology with collaborative development, as well as quickly implementing user suggestions in beneficial, easily installed upgrades.

Powered by the PremierConnect® performance improvement platform, Premier's ERP capabilities were recently introduced in its PremierConnect Supply Chain solution. Incorporating capabilities from Aperek, acquired by Premier last year, PremierConnect Supply Chain is a comprehensive, cloud-based procure-to-pay and supply chain analytics suite. Users integrate, monitor and manage supply chain and financial work streams across a broad network of acute and non-acute care facilities to synchronize and standardize the procurement process.

KLAS notes that Premier "leads the pack" in providing mature and intuitive analytics and reporting capabilities in its report. It also points out that although Premier delivers an extremely user-friendly system with robust functionality and healthcare-specific capabilities to drive costs down, the addition of budgeting analytics would be an opportunity for further enhancement.

Understanding the market need for budgeting capabilities, Premier announced that it acquired Healthcare Insights, LLC last week, ranked number one as the KLAS category leader in budgeting analytics for the past four years. Premier plans to integrate this technology into its existing ERP and labor solutions.

"A proof point to our leadership in adaptability, Healthcare Insights' capabilities create a more complete solution that brings additional value to health systems," said Keith J. Figlioli, senior vice president, healthcare informatics, Premier. "To address emerging market needs, health systems need confidence that their data is integrated and standardized so they can make the right decisions quickly. We provide a flexible and economical ERP solution with speedy implementation, and we handle all technical and advisory needs, so as health systems expand, they can easily and rapidly extend these capabilities."

PremierConnect Supply Chain enables data-driven purchasing and operational decisions across hospitals, health systems and growing integrated care delivery networks alike. Its interoperable functionality allows it to easily communicate with other technologies, including electronic health records (EHRs).

Since the launch of PremierConnect Supply Chain in March 2015, nearly 20 health systems have adopted one or more of its capabilities, including Baystate Health of Springfield, Mass, which has a total of 1,002 beds across five facilities.

"Providers are finding that they need real-time, comprehensive supply chain data to drive quick, holistic decisions," said Michael J. Alkire, chief operating officer, Premier. "Health systems across the country are using PremierConnect Supply Chain to integrate daily work streams, improve outcomes and reduce costs across all sites of care."

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.

CONTACT: Morgan Guthrie, Premier, Inc.; Morgan_Guthrie@PremierInc.com; 704.816.4152