Purchasing program
New program seeks best pricing in return for highest commitment
Best-in-market pricing, improved product quality and patient outcomes are three key aims of Premier’s SURPASS, a new, highly committed purchasing program.
“Yes, it’s about cost. Yes it’s about standardization. Yes it’s about utilization,” says David Hargraves, Premier’s senior vice president of supply chain. “But what differentiates this program from others is that we are going into negotiations with a very specific and detailed focus on clinical effectiveness. Does the product make a demonstrable difference in outcomes? Is it clinically efficacious?”
The program will be led by a group of core members with significant aggregated spend that can achieve and maintain compliance across their facilities, according to Premier. This group will develop and drive the strategy for the program, as well as make all contracting decisions. Additional participating members will be invited to join the program following the initial launch.
SURPASS is intended to complement Premier’s existing ASCEND performance group by offering greater savings at a correspondingly higher level of commitment. ASCEND represents more than 120,000 acute-care beds and a combined purchasing volume of more than $18 billion.
The program will also use Premier’s PACER (Partnership for the Advancement of Comparative Effectiveness Review) methodology, which brings together clinically led groups to make decisions about physician preference items, says Pam Daigle, vice president, strategic sourcing (who will head up SURPASS). In fact, many of the core members in SURPASS will be those that have also participated in PACER, she says.
Currently, the core members have created their initial product portfolio and bid calendar and are actively awarding SURPASS agreements, says Daigle. “It’s a member-led group. We’ll continue to let them define the process. We will use our data to show them where the opportunities lie, but they will figure out what makes the most sense for them.”
“Many members are looking at this as a platform to get to the next level of cost transformation; they see it as a way to lead change in their organizations,” says Hargraves. “Unquestionably, they are looking for best-in-market pricing coupled with intelligent product decisions – based not just on acquisition cost, but on total cost of care. And they expect to see an uptick in terms of improved quality and outcomes.”