Addition of New Laboratory Affiliate Delivers $500,000 Savings for Members of Iowa Purchasing Cooperative.CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The members of Iowa-based Health Enterprises Cooperative will save $500,000 through enhanced use of Premier Inc.'s group purchasing contracts thanks to the addition of a new laboratory member. Health Enterprises Cooperative (HEc), a shareholder in the Premier healthcare alliance, recently recruited Weland Clinical Laboratories, P.C. for membership in Premier's Continuum of Care program, which serves non-hospital healthcare providers. Health Enterprises Cooperative is the regional group purchasing organization A group purchasing organization is an entity that leverages the purchasing power of a group of businesses to obtain discounts from vendors based on the collective buying power of the GPO members. Many GPOs are funded by administrative fees that are actually paid by the vendors. of Health Enterprises, Cedar Rapids Cedar Rapids, city (1990 pop. 108,751), seat of Linn co., E central Iowa, on the Cedar River; inc. as a city 1856. The second largest city in Iowa, it is named for the surging rapids in the river. , IA. Weland Clinical Laboratories, also headquartered in Cedar Rapids, has served Eastern Iowa for more than 35 years. A full-service, pathologist-owned and directed laboratory, it operates in five Iowa locations. "It is a win-win for everyone - our hospitals and the lab," said Jeanie Brown, vice president of HEc. "The addition of Weland stimulated us to aggregate lab volumes for our hospitals, something we had not done before. That aggregation plus the new volume from Weland pushed us to a new tier, one we could not have reached without Weland's volume." Most of the savings came as a result of Roche Diagnostics Roche Diagnostics Division is a subsidiary of Hoffmann-La Roche which manufactures equipment and reagents for research and medical diagnostic applications. Internally, it is organized into six major business areas: Roche Applied Science, Roche Centralized Diagnostics, Roche Corporation's chemistry and immunochemistry Immunochemistry A discipline concerned both with the structure of antibody (immunoglobulin) molecules and with their ability to bind an apparently limitless number of diverse chemical structures (antigens); with the structure, organization, and rearrangement products, which are on contract with Premier, Brown said. There very well may be more savings to come since HEc recently signed Collaborative Laboratory Services, L.L.C., of Ottumwa, IA, as well. Collaborative Laboratory Services, is an independent laboratory owned by Ottumwa Regional Health Center (an HEc member), the University of Iowa Not to be confused with Iowa State University. The first faculty offered instruction at the University in March 1855 to students in the Old Mechanics Building, situated where Seashore Hall is now. In September 1855, the student body numbered 124, of which, 41 were women. Community Medical Services and Community Pathology Consultants. The new lab's volume has yet to be aggregated, Brown said. In addition, she said, HEc is "strategically targeting freestanding laboratories in 2006 and there are some excellent prospects." "The power of aggregation is evident in this successful affiliation," said Kristi Biltz, Premier Continuum of Care region director for the area. "Leveraging the volume of this continuum of care affiliate raised tier levels for all HEc members, both acute and non-acute." Premier's Continuum of Care program (www.premierinc.com/continuumofcare) offers the advantages of group purchasing to physician offices, long-term care facilities long-term care facility n. See skilled nursing facility. , ambulatory surgery centers ambulatory surgery center A free-standing center that performs various types of surgery , outpatient clinics, infusion suites, home care agencies and a host of other healthcare facilities. Premier serves more than 37,000 sites in the continuum of care. About Health Enterprises Cooperative (HEc) Health Enterprises Cooperative is a regional group purchasing organization based in Cedar Rapids, IA. Established in 1983, it is part of the Health Enterprises Family of Companies that creates and manages services to support community-based hospitals and related organizations. HEc facilitates the relationship between its members and affiliates and Premier Inc. Using a member-driven approach, HEc selectively aggregates volumes within the Premier contract portfolio through the Continuum of Care program. HEc also negotiates and writes selected regional contracts that complement the national portfolio of Premier. About Premier, Inc. Premier Inc., helps hospitals accelerate performance on both clinical outcomes and supply chain costs. Premier is a healthcare alliance entirely owned by more than 200 of the nation's leading not-for-profit hospital and healthcare systems. These organizations operate or are affiliated with nearly 1,500 hospitals and more than 37,000 other healthcare sites. Premier Purchasing Partners provides an array of services supporting health services health services Managed care The benefits covered under a health contract delivery including group purchasing totaling more than $25 billion annually in supplies and equipment purchasing, as well as supply chain and clinical performance improvement services. Premier Healthcare Informatics Same as information technology and information systems. The term is more widely used in Europe. offers performance measurement, benchmarking, and reporting products and advisory services advisory services advisory services provided to the public, in their capacity as owners and managers of animals, are an important part of veterinary science. They may be provided by government bureaux, by commercial companies who deal in pharmaceuticals or animals or animal supporting quality improvement. Premier Insurance Management Services helps hospitals manage insurance costs and improve risk management and claims capabilities. Headquartered in San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. , CA, Premier has offices in Charlotte, NC, Chicago, and Washington, DC. For more information, visit www.premierinc.com. |
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