New Agreement with ServiShare of Iowa Allows Iowa Hospitals Access to Premier Healthcare Alliance Contracts

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Health Enterprises Cooperative (HEc) of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has formed a new partnership with ServiShare of Iowa, the shared services arm of the Iowa Hospital Association (IHA). ServiShare now offers the Premier healthcare alliance’s group purchasing network to affiliated hospitals as well as many State of Iowa facilities and agencies.

“Our partnership will provide ServiShare members new opportunities to improve supply chain management through Premier’s best-in-the-country pricing, extensive portfolio and online data management tools.”

Four hospitals have already switched to the new venture, which was formalized on July 1. Several more are scheduled make the change in coming weeks. ServiShare had been affiliated with Provista and Novation.

“We are excited about our new partnership with Health Enterprises and Premier,” said Dennis White, ServiShare senior vice president. “Not only will our hospitals have national GPO pricing and support, but they now will have a strong Iowa advocate in HEc to assist with vendor relations, contracting and other supply chain issues. With our team helping to aggregate volumes, our member hospitals can attain maximum value from the volume HEc already has in place in the state.”

“Many of our hospitals are critical access facilities, so everything we can do to help make them successful keeps healthcare services available even in the most rural areas,” White explained. “With ServiShare, HEc, and Premier working together on their behalf, they will get vendor service that much larger hospitals typically receive.”

Health Enterprises President and CEO Eric L. Lothe said, “We are particularly pleased to be to strengthened considerably through our new relationship with many more Iowa hospitals as well as IHA, while at the same time increasing hospital options for hospital supply chain affiliation. This has been a major priority for us. It’s a win-win-win for Iowa hospitals, ServiShare and Health Enterprises.”

Premier Purchasing Partners President Mike Alkire said, “We are proud to work with Health Enterprises to support ServiShare’s efforts of making available the most affordable hospital supplies to its members. Their job is not easy. We’re glad to bring the full force of our group purchasing network to bear on their behalf through HEc.”

According to Jeanie Brown, Health Enterprises vice president, “Our partnership will provide ServiShare members new opportunities to improve supply chain management through Premier’s best-in-the-country pricing, extensive portfolio and online data management tools.

“Premier’s online capabilities are far superior,” Brown continued. “Through HEc, ServiShare hospitals will have access not only to online pricing and price activation, but also to never-before-available data analytics through SpendAdvisor MySpend, Premier’s spend management decision support tool. We will also offer at no cost a benchmarking program through Premier’s SupplyFocus that will allow Critical Access hospitals to benchmark among themselves for the first time.”

Lothe also noted that the new affiliation would make possible new opportunities for IHA to work with Premier’s strong advocacy program in Washington.

HEc, owned by 16 Iowa hospitals and health systems, is celebrating 25 years of fostering collaborative and innovative hospital relationships to improve healthcare in areas served by its members. HEc also provides support and access to the Premier portfolio to 350 non-acute entities in various classes of trade in eight states. Wholly owned by IHA, ServiShare provides quality, cost-effective products and services to association members.

About ServiShare

ServiShare is the wholly owned shared service corporation of the Iowa Hospital Association. Its primary mission is to provide quality cost-effective products and services to IHA members. Those product areas include volume purchasing, insurance and food distribution. ServiShare staff helps IHA members find cost-effective, appropriate solutions to their operational challenges. ServiShare’s profits support association programs including Iowa Hospital Education and Research Foundation scholarships to Iowa college students studying in healthcare fields. For more information, go to www.ihaonline.org.

About Health Enterprises Cooperative (HEc)

Part of the Health Enterprises of Iowa family of companies, HEc is focused solely on group purchasing. Established in 1983, it makes Premier programs, services and contracts available to its member and affiliates and also creates regional group purchasing programs that compliment Premier’s national programs. Other Health Enterprises services include mobile imaging services; physical, occupational, or speech therapy; and shared certified registered nurse anesthesia. For more information about the Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based organization, go to www.healthenterprises.org.

About Premier Inc., 2006 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient

Serving more than 2,000 U.S. hospitals and 53,000-plus other healthcare sites, the Premier healthcare alliance and its members are transforming healthcare together. Owned by not-for-profit hospitals, Premier operates one of the leading healthcare purchasing networks and the nation's most comprehensive repository of hospital clinical and financial information. A subsidiary operates one of the nation's largest policy-holder owned, hospital professional liability risk-retention groups. A world leader in helping healthcare providers deliver dramatic improvements in care, Premier is working with the United Kingdom's National Health Service North West and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to improve hospital performance. Headquartered in San Diego, Premier has offices in Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia and Washington. For more information, visit www.premierinc.com.