Premier Forms New Collaboration for Supply Chain Improvements
Premier established a new collaborative effort today to improve the healthcare supply chain. The goal of the new effort is to improve supply chain efficiency and performance.
The collaboration, ASCEND (Accelerated Supply Chain Endeavor), is developing a new protocol to improve the supply chain for the healthcare environment. Members who participate in the Premier purchasing alliance are eligible to sign up for participation in the new ASCEND program.
The ASCEND system is unique because it considers a multitude of factors simultaneously, including economic factors such as standardization and volume. The system broadens the traditional metrics employed by financial officers in healthcare facilities.
The system will further incorporate the QUEST program from Premier. It will additionally utilize the benchmarks established by the pay for performance program from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Data will additionally be shared among members participating in the new collaborative. Sharing of information will facilitate the identification of best practices, as well as simplified means to replicate these programs.
Additional benefits for those organizations that choose to participate in ASCEND include specially negotiated rates and new benchmarks to assess opportunities to improve the supply chain and leverage cost savings.
June 27, 2008 Related topics: Policies & Procedures, Group purchasing & GPOs, Cost savings, Materials Management