To support members’ emergency preparedness efforts, the Premier alliance is the first healthcare group purchasing organization to offer a group buy opportunity for “meals-ready-to-eat” (MREs).
The six-month group purchasing event with Ameriqual Group of Evansville, Ind., and The Wornick Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, began June 15 and ends December 15, 2007. These agreements will offer special savings to all members of the Premier alliance including acute and continuum of care healthcare providers, as well as college and university, and commercial members.
Premier’s member Foodservice Committee carefully evaluated the product category to support members’ emergency preparedness efforts. Healthcare facilities and their staffs play a key role in community emergency preparedness efforts for all types of events, including natural or man-made disasters, pandemic influenza outbreaks, or terrorist attacks. It is essential that healthcare providers are able to accommodate any surge in demand for care related to a public health emergency.
The chair of Premier’s Disaster Preparedness Task Force, established in 2006, applauded the group buy. “As we approach the height of hurricane season, and as communities around the country face devastating floods and wildfires, emergency preparedness becomes a paramount concern,” said Dave Edwards, Premier vice president of Supplier Relations and Business Development.
The 2008 updated Joint Commission emergency management standards require a healthcare organization to have response efforts to manage critical functions for 96 hours; this would include an adequate supply of food. “Our group buy opportunity supports Premier members’ emergency planning efforts by offering an attractive solution for a vital component – food,” Edwards noted.
In light of past recent experiences with devastating Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Premier healthcare alliance continues to work with members and suppliers to prepare for potential emergencies. The Premier Safety Institute offers publicly accessible and free information and tools to assist healthcare organizations in their emergency preparedness efforts. For more information, visit www.premierinc.com/safety.
“We want to help our members prepare for large scale emergencies and to minimize the disruption in providing patient care,” said Gina Pugliese, vice president, Premier Safety Institute. “This contracting opportunity is another example of how Premier’s vast healthcare resources compliment its purchasing options to provide members with practical solutions to highly complex issues.”
The first offering of the MRE products comes through Premier’s innovative and successful group buy program. Group buys offer coordinated, limited-time, volume driven purchasing opportunities and feature savings beyond regular contract pricing and may also include special rates for related services. Savings vary, but are often 5 percent to 15 percent lower than the standard contract discounts.
About Premier, 2006 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient
Serving 1,700 hospitals and more than 47,000 other healthcare sites, Premier is the largest healthcare alliance in the United States dedicated to improving patient outcomes while safely reducing the cost of care. Owned by not-for-profit hospitals, Premier operates the nation's largest healthcare purchasing network, the most comprehensive repository of hospital clinical and financial information and one of the largest policy-holder owned, hospital professional liability risk-retention groups in healthcare. Headquartered in San Diego, Premier has offices in Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia and Washington. For more information, visit www.premierinc.com.