University Hospitals Wins 2018 Premier Alliance Excellence Award

Premier Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC), a leading healthcare improvement company, has named University Hospitals (UH), an integrated academic health system in northern Ohio, the winner of the 2018 Richard A. Norling Premier Alliance Excellence Award.

UH, which combines a network of 18 hospitals, more than 50 outpatient health centers and 200 physician offices, won the annual award for exemplifying the highest level of industry innovation and advancements in delivering high-quality, cost-effective care. The health system was selected from Premier’s nationwide alliance of approximately 3,900 U.S. hospitals and 150,000 other provider organizations.

“UH has taken a leadership role in accelerating innovative scientific and medicinal breakthroughs that enhance the lives of the 1.2 million patients across their community,” said Susan DeVore, president and CEO of Premier. “Premier is proud to present UH with the 2018 Premier Alliance Excellence Award. Their focus on high-reliability medicine, lean care delivery practices and community-based care models, as well as their approach to teaching and research to advance the science of health, has created new standards of care not only for Premier alliance members to follow but for the healthcare industry overall.”

As the largest primary care network in the region, UH is home to the UH Seidman Cancer Center, the first proton therapy center in Ohio and the internationally renowned UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital. It also operates one of the largest accountable care organizations (ACOs) in the U.S., covering 350,000 lives, and a comprehensive self-funded employee health plan. For the past three years, UH has been named a Most Wired Hospital by Hospitals & Health Networks and its flagship academic medical center ranks on the nation’s Top 50 list for America’s Best Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report.

UH has been a member of Premier for nearly 14 years, working in partnership with the company to achieve continuous improvements in healthcare costs, patient safety and quality. In doing so, UH saved more than $165 million in 2017 by leveraging Premier’s group purchasing organization and cost management consulting services. It also lowered sepsis mortalities by 38 percent – saving 183 lives in 2017 alone – by leveraging the PremierConnect® performance improvement platform. Additionally, the health system has achieved nearly half a million dollars in savings on total joint replacement surgeries in the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative as a member of Premier’s Bundled Payment Collaborative.

“For more than 150 years, UH has been advancing its mission To Heal. To Teach. and To Discover.,” said Thomas F. Zenty III, CEO of UH. “Premier has been our strategic partner in our effort to deliver high-value care. We have built a healthcare system that puts the patient front-and-center with regard to every decision we make and every strategic initiative we deploy. This recognition is representative of our commitment and obligation to the betterment of our community by blending the science of healthcare with the art of compassion.”

UH accepted the Premier Alliance Excellence Award on June 21, 2018 in front of more than 4,000 peers during an awards ceremony held at Premier’s annual Breakthroughs Conference. The award is presented to Premier members that have best demonstrated excellence in delivering innovative, high-quality, cost-effective healthcare. Previous award winners include Baystate Health (Springfield, MA), Banner Health (Phoenix), Bon Secours Health System, Inc. (Marriottsville, Maryland), Inova (Falls Church, VA), Mercy Health (Cincinnati), Texas Health Resources (Arlington, Texas), and Riverside Health System (Newport News, Virginia).

About University Hospitals

Founded in 1866, University Hospitals serves the needs of patients through an integrated network of 18 hospitals, more than 50 outpatient health centers and 200 physician offices in 15 counties throughout northern Ohio. The system’s flagship academic medical center, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, located on a 35-acre campus in Cleveland’s University Circle, is affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The main campus also includes University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, ranked among the top children’s hospitals in the nation; University Hospitals MacDonald Women's Hospital, Ohio's only hospital for women; and University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, part of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. UH is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research programs in the nation, including cancer, pediatrics, women's health, orthopedics, radiology, neuroscience, cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, digestive health, transplantation and urology. UH Cleveland Medical Center is perennially among the highest performers in national ranking surveys, including “America’s Best Hospitals” from U.S. News & World Report. UH is also home to Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals – part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development. UH is one of the largest employers in Northeast Ohio with 26,000 employees. UH’s vision is “Advancing the science of health and the art of compassion,” and its mission: “To Heal. To Teach. To Discover.” Follow UH on Facebook @UniversityHospitals and Twitter @UHhospitals. For more information, go to UHhospitals.org.

About Premier Inc.

Premier Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC) is a leading healthcare improvement company, uniting an alliance of approximately 3,900 U.S. hospitals and health systems and approximately 150,000 other providers and organizations. 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 for more information about the company.

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