Premier Inc. forms Contigo Health
Premier Inc. (Charlotte, NC) announced it has formed Contigo Health, a new organization focused on optimizing care through clinically led partnerships with large, national employers and their health plans. Contigo Health is designed to be a clinically driven network of health systems collaborating with employers and their health plans to deliver the best care possible for their employees. Contigo Health plans to launch pilot programs with employers by partnering with health systems in select markets to eliminate unwarranted variation in care delivery. The goal is to avoid unnecessary invasive treatments and focus on delivering the most appropriate care to improve quality and reduce costs. A group of 35 leading health systems, representing more than 440 hospitals, have already signed letters of intent to participate in Contigo Health’s provider network. Contigo Health is also working with several large national employer partners, which it expects to announce in the coming months. Jonathan R. Slotkin, MD, will serve as Contigo Health’s chief medical officer to lead its clinical innovation, strategy and operations, while continuing to care for patients as a neurosurgeon at Geisinger. Learn more here.
VCU Health System partners with Premier Inc.
VCU Health System (Richmond, VA), a comprehensive Level I trauma center verified in adult, pediatric and burn trauma care, is collaborating with Premier Inc. (Charlotte, NC) to support efforts to preserve, sustain and advance VCU Health’s mission. Premier will work with VCU Health to design and implement an innovative financial strategy and roadmap focused on advancing cost management, savings and investment opportunities. VCU Health will access Premier’s supply chain services, including its group purchasing organization and advanced analytics. The health system will use PremierConnect, Premier’s cloud-based performance improvement platform, to aggregate, standardize and analyze spend and utilization data for full visibility into systemwide cost savings opportunities. VCU Health will also implement Premier’s service line analytics, which provide unique insights on pharmaceutical spend and clinical utilization trends to reduce high-cost drug utilization and improve outcomes. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Univ. of Michigan Medicine breaks ground on $920M inpatient facility
University of Michigan Medicine (Ann Arbor, MI) has broken ground on a $920 million inpatient facility. The 12-story, 690,000-square-foot building will be located on the main medical campus at the corner of Ann Street and Zina Pitcher, just west of the Frankel Cardiovascular Center. It will include 110 beds from University Hospital, plus 154 new beds, for a total of 264 beds. There will also be 23 procedural suites for surgical and interventional radiology. The added capacity supports Michigan Medicine’s clinical strategy, including more onsite tertiary and specialty care. Construction is expected to be completed in 2024. Read more about the building’s plans here.
81-bed Alabama hospital to join UAB Health System
The 81-bed Russell Medical (Alexander City, AL) has entered into an agreement to become a member of the UAB Health System (Birmingham, AL). The UAB Health System will have representation on the Russell Medical board of directors and will work in collaboration with the directors and the existing management team. Russell Medical has been a strategic affiliate of UAB for several years, participating in cancer and telemedicine networks along with outreach in a few medical specialties, including cardiovascular care, urology and surgery. Read more here.
Tenet promotes Saum Sutaria to president and COO
Tenet Healthcare Corporation (Dallas, TX) announced that COO Saum Sutaria, MD, was promoted to president and COO of Tenet, effective immediately. As president and COO, Sutaria will continue to be responsible for the company’s Hospital Operations segment, which includes acute care hospitals, hospital-affiliated outpatient centers and employed physicians. Additionally, he will assume direct responsibility for United Surgical Partners International and Conifer Health Solutions. Sutaria will continue reporting to executive chairman and CEO Ron Rittenmeyer. Prior to joining Tenet as COO in January 2019, Sutaria worked for McKinsey & Company for 18 years. Learn more here.
Premier launches new e-commerce marketplace
Premier Inc. (Charlotte, NC) has launched stockd., an e-commerce marketplace for healthcare and business supplies, to meet the procurement demands of providers in the non-acute care space. stockd is designed to meet the needs of small- to medium-sized healthcare businesses. Through stockd., alternate-site healthcare providers can access better pricing for everyday items, such as office, personal and medical supplies, including gloves, apparel, linens and cleaning products. The stockd. marketplace unites national and entrepreneurial sellers, bringing reliable, innovative manufacturers into the alternate-site supply chain on a single online purchasing platform, the company said. stockd. delivers products from reputable manufacturers and distributors, with transparent pricing listed directly on the site. Premier plans to leverage the stockd. marketplace for philanthropic causes. In October, to dovetail with National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, stockd. has partnered with Medgluv to donate 5% of Medgluv’s Pink Glove sales made on its platform to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The stocked. marketplace is open to purchasers outside of healthcare as well as those within a GPO.
Walgreens explores going private
Walgreens Boots Alliance is exploring going private in what could mark the largest leveraged buyout in history, according to CNBC. The international retailer has reached out to private equity firms, including KKR, which has a history with the retailer. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a market capitalization of roughly $55 billion, making it a large purchase for a single buyer. Shares of Walgreens have dropped 22% during the past 12 months as consumers are increasingly shopping for drugstore staples online. Read more here from CNBC.