Premier CEO Susan DeVore detailed how the group purchasing organization pivoted to help its member hospitals and health systems secure supplies when the COVID-19 pandemic brought a huge surge in demand during a March 1 seminar hosted by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the Charlotte Business Journal reported.
"There were no perfect answers in any of this," Ms. DeVore said. "It's hard to be critical when we've never faced anything like this before, and we had to react immediately."
Ms. DeVore said shortages of personal protective equipment forced Premier to work with non-contracted suppliers. The company, based in Charlotte, N.C., used strict standards to vet about 3,000 gray market suppliers, according to the Charlotte Business Journal. The company defines gray market suppliers as those with a 50-50 chance of being legitimate.
Premier inspected gray market suppliers' manufacturing plants, saw their product specifications and wouldn't send them money in advance, Ms. DeVore said.
The company ended up adding about 120 suppliers from the gray market, as well as seven more Asian factories, according to the Charlotte Business Journal.
Premier also searched for alternative supplies, such as KN95 masks in place of N95 masks.
The GPO decided it wouldn't send supplies to nonmember hospitals when its member hospitals didn't have the supplies they needed, Ms. DeVore said, the Charlotte Business Journal reported. But it did share some leads and other information to help nonmember hospitals and health systems secure supplies.
Premier also worked with Prestige Ameritech to boost mask production and DeRoyal Industries to boost medical gown production.
Ms. DeVore said Premier created a task force that used predictive data to determine where to send supplies, according to the Charlotte Business Journal.
Ms. DeVore announced last month that she will retire May 1 after 18 years with the company. Michael Alkire, current president of Premier, will succeed her as CEO and member of the board.
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