CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- VCU Health System, a comprehensive Level I trauma center verified in adult, pediatric and burn trauma care located in Richmond, Virginia, is collaborating with Premier Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC), a leading healthcare improvement company, to support efforts to preserve, sustain and advance VCU Health’s mission.

As a new member of Premier, VCU Health joins a powerful alliance of health systems and will receive access to industry-leading resources and solutions that have been proven to enable operational excellence and organizational effectiveness. Premier will also 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 is committed to preserving and restoring the health of our communities through innovation in patient care, research and education,” said Stephen Kates, MD, Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at VCU Health. “We plan to work closely with Premier to implement supply chain and operational improvement strategies to focus our efforts on developing cost-effective services and experiences that meet the needs of our patients, providers and communities.”

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.

“We are thrilled to have VCU Health join our growing academic membership,” said Michael J. Alkire, President of Premier. “They are a powerful melding of industry-leading experts engaged in academic excellence and service with a strong passion for quality, safety, education, research and advanced medical care. We look forward to partnering with VCU Health to further strengthen their approach to consistently attaining top level performance.”

The financial impact of the agreement was not disclosed.

Forward-looking statements

Matters discussed in this release that are not statements of historical or current facts, such as VCU Health anticipated use of Premier’s performance and supply chain services at expected levels, as discussed herein, are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Premier to be materially different from historical results or from any future results or projections expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. In addition to statements that explicitly describe such risks and uncertainties, readers are urged to consider statements in the conditional or future tenses or that include terms such as “believes,” “belief,” “expects,” “estimates,” “intends,” “anticipates” or “plans” to be uncertain and forward-looking. Forward-looking statements may include comments as to Premier’s beliefs and expectations as to future events and trends affecting its business and are necessarily subject to uncertainties, many of which are outside Premier’s control. More information on potential factors that could affect Premier’s financial results is included from time to time in the “Forward-Looking Statements,” “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections of Premier’s periodic and current filings with the SEC and available on Premier’s website at investors.premierinc.com. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Premier undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise that occur after that date.

About Premier Inc.

Premier Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC) is a leading healthcare improvement company, uniting an alliance of more than 4,000 U.S. hospitals and health systems and approximately 175,000 other providers and organizations to transform healthcare. With integrated data and analytics, collaboratives, supply chain solutions, and consulting and other services, Premier enables better care and outcomes at a lower cost. Premier plays a critical role in the rapidly evolving healthcare industry, collaborating with members to co-develop long-term innovations that reinvent and improve the way care is delivered to patients nationwide. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Premier is passionate about transforming American healthcare. Please visit Premier’s news and investor sites on www.premierinc.com; as well as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Premier’s blog for more information about the company.

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Morgan Guthrie, Premier Inc.; Morgan_Guthrie@PremierInc.com; 212.901.1356

Source: Premier Inc.