(Charlotte, N.C.) Banner Health, a 22-hospital system headquartered in Phoenix, has confirmed its ownership in the Premier healthcare alliance to further improve patient care while safely reducing associated costs. Banner Health has been a Premier owner since December 2000.

Banner Health is using Premier’s products and solutions to integrate cost and quality data and achieve success under new health reform provisions. As a Premier owner, Banner Health benchmarks its performance and collaborates with 2,300 of the nation’s leading hospitals to improve clinical outcomes and patient safety, enhance efficiencies and reduce overall costs. Banner Health also has access to the nation’s most comprehensive repository of clinical, financial and outcomes information while benefiting from Premier’s market-leading purchasing network.

“Having worked with Premier for over a decade, we’ve experienced their ability to help providers drive quality and efficiency improvements,” said Peter S. Fine, FACHE, president and CEO of Banner Health. “With the advent of reform, we are well-positioned to navigate this new terrain and continue to achieve successes.”

Premier President and CEO Susan DeVore said, “We have first-hand knowledge of how Banner Health’s membership has benefited the alliance. We’re honored to have an organization of their stature as an owner of Premier and look forward to continuing to work with the system to help them improve the health of the communities they serve.”

Banner Health uses Premier’s performance and cost improvement solutions, including its leading healthcare purchasing network and SpendAdvisor® MySpend™ products to manage supply costs; Quality Manager™ to enhance efficiency and quality care measures; OperationsAdvisor® to better manage labor costs; SafetySurveillor® – Infection Control to help prevent healthcare-associated infections; SupplyFocus® to benchmark supply costs; and the Premier Performance Improvement Portal™, a library of industry best practices and a networking community for knowledge sharing and interaction with industry experts.

Said Brigita Bilsens, Premier region vice president, “For the past 10 years, we have partnered with Banner Health to drive more than $140 million in total value while also supporting their efforts to improve their quality and safety outcomes. We’re honored to have the opportunity to sustain this valuable relationship and continue the journey of cost and quality integration.”

Banner Health affiliate Page Hospital was recognized as a 2009 Premier Supply Chain Excellence Award winner, honoring the nation’s top hospitals achieving superior supply expense performance. Banner Health’s McKee Medical Center received a 2008 Premier Award for Quality for its commitment to outstanding patient care and operational efficiency.

Banner Health is one of the largest, nonprofit healthcare systems in the country. The system owns or manages 22 acute-care hospitals, long-term care centers and an array of other services including family clinics, home care services, a nursing registry and home medical equipment services in seven states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming. To learn more about Banner Health, go to www.bannerhealth.com.

Premier is a performance improvement alliance of more than 2,300 U.S. hospitals and 67,000-plus other healthcare sites working together to achieve high quality, cost-effective care. Owned by not-for-profit hospitals, Premier maintains the nation’s most comprehensive repository of clinical, financial and outcomes information and operates a leading healthcare purchasing network. A world leader in helping deliver measurable improvements in care, Premier works with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the United Kingdom’s National Health Service North West to improve hospital performance. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Premier also has offices in San Diego, Philadelphia and Washington. www.premierinc.com