Premier, one of the largest hospital alliances in the country, has added seven hospitals and health systems to its bundled payment program.
The seven new members to join Premier's Bundled Payment Collaborative are Adventist Health in Roseville, Calif., Centra Health in Lynchburg, Va., El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, Calif., Regional Health in Rapid City, S.D., Regional Medical Center in Orangeburg, S.C., Rockford (Ill.) Memorial Hospital and Southwest General Health Center in Middleburg Heights, Ohio. The BPC now includes 17 health systems with more than 45 hospitals.
Premier launched BPC in July 2012, originally with 50 participating hospitals. The initiative was created to help hospitals and other providers develop and implement successful bundled payment arrangements with public and private payers.
Members of BPC are able to share data and collaborate on best practices for bundled payment programs. In addition, Premier's program helps hospitals analyze their Medicare Part A and Part B claims data, find cost reduction opportunities by MS-DRG, redesign care across an episode of care, provide legal templates and financial models for gainsharing and support hospitals wanting to participate in CMS' Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative.
Premier's initiative focuses on improving care and reducing costs in six primary episodes of care: hip/knee joint replacement, lumbar spine fusion, coronary artery bypass graft, heart valve replacement, percutaneous coronary intervention and colon resection.
Earlier this fall, Premier went public and closed on its initial public offering, netting roughly $821.7 million. More than 2,900 hospitals are members of Premier.
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