What We’re Watching: June 25, 2019

THERE’S A RECORD

Our annual Breakthroughs Conference and Exhibition occurred last week. The week was inspiring and filled with incredible learning opportunities for its 4,000+ attendees. Keynote sessions by Premier's CEO Susan DeVore and President Michael J. Alkire were recorded and are available on Facebook (they will come to YouTube soon), if you’d like to check them out.

NEW(ISH) FRIENDS!

Premier announced a partnership with Pensiamo Inc., a cognitive supply chain company, to launch an AI-powered pharmaceutical supply chain solution that was co-developed with UPMC.

What we’re saying: The solution – CognitiveRx – is a comprehensive pharmaceutical supply chain offering that uses machine learning to predict, manage and solve for challenges related to drug shortages, inflation, declining reimbursement and other factors impacting the life sciences supply chain. UPMC will be the first to implement it to more precisely monitor market demand signals, predict shortage risk and recommend inventory levels that support its ability to insulate patient care from supply disruption.

ALWAYS SOMETHING TO SAY

Comments in response to the FY2020 hospital inpatient prospective payment system (PPS) and long-term care hospital (LTCH) PPS proposed rule were due to CMS yesterday.

What we’re saying: Premier has expressed general support for the proposed rule’s direction, which included a payment update for hospitals, a proposal on the data used in CMS’ calculations of uncompensated care and changes to the measures included in quality reporting and the promoting interoperability programs. We express concerns, however, with CMS’ proposed use of unendorsed or invalidated quality measures. For more information, Premier hosted a webinar on this last month.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

• McLaren Health Care Wins 2019 Premier Alliance Excellence Award
• Premier’s Draft Comments on FY 2020 Hospital Inpatient PPS and LTCH Proposed Rule
• Premier Inc. Recognizes Hospitals, Health Systems and Suppliers for Improving Healthcare Quality and Costs
• Premier Inc. Innovation Celebration Features Range of New Healthcare Products
• Lifehouse Maternity Home Wins National Award and $100,000 for Community Initiative
• Premier Submits Comments on FY 2020 SNF Proposed Payment Rule
• Premier Inc. Partners with Pensiamo Inc. and UPMC to Launch AI-Powered Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Solution
• Maximizing MACRA with Medicare ACOs and Bundled Payments
• Premier Provides Comments on the 2nd Draft of the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement

What We’re Watching is a weekly blog focused on the current events Premier is following and their relevance to the work of Premier and its members. Check out last week's update.