CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Premier Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC), a leading healthcare improvement company, is the highest overall rated organization in a new healthcare consulting report released today by KLAS, an industry research firm.

KLAS’s 2016 Healthcare Management Consulting report, the first of its kind, rated the performance of healthcare organizations and their solutions by collecting direct feedback from the providers that use them. Premier achieved an overall score of 95.6 – the highest of all companies featured in the report – for healthcare management consulting. In addition, Premier received the highest scores in the subcategories of value-based care and financial improvement. The report noted that Premier services have helped providers achieve improved efficiency, workflows and cost savings, and access insights from peers regarding best practices and benchmarking.

“Premier is extremely proud to be recognized as the leader in delivering valuable solutions to providers during this time of change in healthcare,” said Kelly Rakowski, senior vice president of advisory and collaborative services, Premier. “We remain deeply committed to continually engaging with our members to transform healthcare as their trusted partner in cost and quality improvement and population health management.”

KLAS reported that Premier uses a collaborative approach to deliver strategic guidance and significant, tangible outcomes. Premier was also the highest-rated company for providing strategic expertise, depth of insight and innovative solutions and methodology. Additionally, healthcare providers commended Premier for its range of performance improvement tools, from education to analytics, which are tailored to meet their unique needs.

Value-Based Care

Premier achieved a score of 96.1 for providing value-based care consulting services to improve quality and patient care, reduce population risk, and deliver better patient outcomes and experiences. Of the three subcategories within the report, value-based care is by far seeing the most activity.

Premier has extensive experience in helping providers implement value-based payment models. This includes a 100 percent success rate in helping providers apply for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Shared Savings (MSSP) and Next Generation Accountable Care Organization (ACO) programs. In addition, Medicare ACOs participating in Premier’s Population Health Management Collaborative outperform their peers in achieving shared savings and quality improvement by a margin of nearly two to one. Premier is also the only organization that holds the 2015/2016 Best in KLAS title for Value-based Care Advisory Services for having the broadest operational and clinical impact on healthcare organizations.

Financial Improvement

Premier achieved a score of 95.5 for helping providers improve financial performance by reducing costs, increasing net revenues and improving efficiency. Providers rated Premier the highest for its financial and clinical performance improvement, cost reduction and efficiency improvement services.

Strategy, Growth & Consolidation

Premier achieved a score of 97.8 for helping healthcare organizations achieve organic expansion and acquisitions, enhance integration between providers and payers and improve their ability to leverage growth strategies. Premier achieved high marks for its guidance on ambulatory surgery center strategy, medical staff development planning, strategy planning and product line development, acquisition transition support, and medical group contracting.

Using clinical insights on 40 percent of U.S. hospital discharges, forward-thinking performance improvement collaboratives and $48 billion in annual purchasing data, Premier consultants work to meet the needs of healthcare providers as embedded partners through onsite assessments, one-on-one coaching, collaborative groups, 24/7 on-demand data tools and virtual education.

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About Premier Inc.

Premier Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC) is a leading healthcare improvement company, uniting an alliance of approximately 3,750 U.S. hospitals and more than 130,000 other provider organizations. With integrated data and analytics, collaboratives, supply chain solutions, and advisory and other services, Premier enables better care and outcomes at a lower cost. Premier, a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient, 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, YouTube, Instagram and Premier’s blog for more information about the company.

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