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Hospitals Save Nearly $9 Million in Only Six Months of Premier Healthcare Alliance Breakthrough Series

Posted on: Thursday, 5 June 2008, 12:01 CDT

Hospitals and healthcare systems participating in the Premier healthcare alliance's Seventh Annual Collaborative Breakthrough Series (BTS) already have achieved nearly $9 million in supply chain cost savings - 90 percent of their combined goal - in just six months of the nine-month effort.

Nineteen teams representing 14 organizations are participating. The goal is to reduce supply chain costs for participating Premier members by at least $9.7 million on an annualized basis from concentrated efforts during October 2007 to June 2008.

The BTS wraps up at Premier's annual Breakthroughs Conference and Exhibition, June 10-13, 2008, at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, Tenn.

Saint Francis Health System in Tulsa, Okla., has participated in the BTS for five consecutive years including the current session. Its 11 teams have validated savings of $12 million, an average of about $1.1 million per team.

"There's always something new in healthcare," said Gregg Yocum, MBA, executive director of materials management, at Saint Francis. "The only thing constant about healthcare is that it's constantly changing. By utilizing the BTS processes - and I've recommended it to my peers around the country - it keeps you focused on keeping your costs low and outcomes high."

Yocum and his two teams in cardiovascular and perioperative are on track to save about $2.25 million in the seventh annual BTS. Through March, combined savings for the two tracks are $1.9 million.

Results at Johnson City Medical Center in Tennessee are similar. A part of Mountain States Health Alliance, JCMC's cardiovascular and pulmonary services have participated in the BTS for four consecutive years. Savings total more than $3.4 million over that period.

"Collaboration" is the key, said Ed Stump, director of cardiovascular and pulmonary services. "Being able to talk with other hospitals and find out what tactics they're using has helped me negotiate contracts with vendors. You always hear from your vendors that 'This is the best I can do' or 'You're getting my best price.' Through collaboration we now know for sure. We've found it to be extremely valuable."

Dawn Terry, Premier Consulting Solution's managing principal for BTS and CV Services, explained that through concerted efforts in a short period of time, "participating hospitals achieve accelerated savings that enable them to invest new resources to improve the health of communities they serve. More than three-fourths of the healthcare organizations have participated before, a genuine endorsement that our Collaborative Breakthrough Series offers great value to members. The track record is hard to match."

Since Premier member hospitals launched the Breakthrough Series seven years ago, more than 240 teams have taken part, capturing cumulative validated savings of more than $170 million. BTS is a nine-month collaborative process that fosters interaction, knowledge sharing among participants and a structured approach to identify and rapidly implement improvements in both supply chain and clinical quality.

BTS uses the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's model for improvement. Participants commit to collaborate with peers from other healthcare organizations to accelerate improvements and break through barriers. Participants pledge to implement changes in nine months that will significantly improve operations and potentially eliminate millions of dollars of unnecessary expenses. Teams meet in face-to-face learning sessions three times, reinforced by monthly reports and conference calls as well as daily communications through an e-mail discussion list.

The seventh annual collaborative addressed three clinical areas: perioperative, cardiovascular, and orthopedics/spine. Recruitment for the eighth annual BTS will begin in June.

About Premier Inc., 2006 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient

Serving more than 2,000 U.S. hospitals and 51,000-plus other healthcare sites, the Premier healthcare alliance and its members are transforming healthcare together. Owned by not-for-profit hospitals, Premier operates one of the leading healthcare purchasing networks and the nation's most comprehensive repository of hospital clinical and financial information. A subsidiary operates one of the nation's largest policy-holder owned, hospital professional liability risk-retention groups. A world leader in helping healthcare providers deliver dramatic improvements in care, Premier is working with the United Kingdom's National Health Service North West and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to improve hospital performance. Headquartered in San Diego, Premier has offices in Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia and Washington. For more information, visit www.premierinc.com.

Source: Business Wire

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