Premier agreements fit like a glove

By Ken Inchausti, Premier, Inc.
November 13, 2002

Health alliance revises exam, surgeon gloves agreement to diversify choices as part of strategic contract refresh initiative

Chicago, IL (November 13, 2002) – The group purchasing arm of Premier, Inc., announced new contracts as part of a comprehensive refinement of its examination and surgeon gloves category. These new, 18-month agreements replace an expiring agreement with an enhanced contract structure that takes advantage of a diverse set of suppliers of multiple scales.

The suppliers contracted for exam gloves include:

▼ Adenna Inc. (Santa Fe Springs, CA)
▼ Allegiance Healthcare Corporation (McGaw Park, IL)
▼ Broadline Medical Systems (San Leandro, CA)
▼ Cypress Medical Products (McHenry, IL)
▼ Forever Fresh Global, Inc. (Detroit, MI)
▼ Medgluv Inc. (Pompano Beach, FL)
▼ Medline Industries (Mundelein, IL)
▼ Tradex International, Inc. (Cleveland, OH)
▼ World Healthcare Systems (Chattanooga, TN)

For surgeon gloves, Premier contracted with:

▼ Allegiance Healthcare Corporation (McGaw Park, IL)
▼ Maxxim Medical (Waltham, MA)

"Our members look to us for effective contracting options that open savings opportunities as well as meet their clinical expectations. The contracting committee took this charge and has delivered what we believe are some unique and positive agreements for Premier hospitals," says Howard Sanders, senior vice president and executive responsible for Premier’s group purchasing services. "We’re also pleased that a number of these suppliers are minority-owned – an important segment of our industry that demonstrates time and again that quality service and products come from companies of all sizes."

Premier’s Nursing Committee, consisting of directors, clinicians, purchasing directors from member hospitals, along with support from Premier Supplier Diversity Initiative, began assessing the production capacity, breadth of product lines, and product quality of a broad list of manufacturers. An online bidding event was structured for pre-qualified manufacturers to help determine suppliers’ ability to deliver clinically acceptable products at competitive prices.

"This strategy and contract structure created a framework to building new, quality product choices that benefit from benchmark pricing," adds Shawn O’Connell, senior director, Nursing contracting at Premier. "Our members purchase 1,100 different SKUs of product, so we had to make sure that the contract could adequately cover members’ needs."

Pricing data from the auction and traditional proposals, as well as an analysis of quality, costs of conversions, and customer satisfaction helped the committee make a final determination in late August 2002.

About Premier

Premier, Inc., is a strategic alliance in U.S. healthcare, entirely owned by more than 200 of the nation's leading hospital and healthcare systems. These systems operate or are affiliated with more than 1,500 hospital facilities and hundreds of other care sites. Premier provides an array of resources supporting health services delivery, including group purchasing for more than $17 billion annually in supplies and equipment. Other resources offered by Premier are insurance programs and performance improvement services of many kinds. Premier is headquartered in San Diego, CA, with other major facilities in Chicago, IL, and Charlotte, NC. Advocacy and policy offices are located in Washington, DC. For more information, visit www.premierinc.com.