Premier, Inc. Launches Premier SmartPO™, a Cost-Saving Digital Purchasing Platform Designed for Continuum of Care Providers

CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 24, 2023 — Premier, Inc., a leading technology-driven healthcare improvement company, today announced the launch of Premier SmartPO™, a digital supply chain procurement and inventory management technology designed specifically for continuum of care (CoC) providers. Premier SmartPO™ enables CoC providers to mitigate supply risk through full purchasing visibility, identify cost savings and more efficiently use staff resources amid today’s business challenges.

As inflation, supply chain issues and labor shortages in healthcare persist, providers across the CoC need strategies for reducing costs without compromising clinical quality. Utilizing Premier SmartPO™, providers can quickly order their preferred supplies from vendors of their choosing, create requisitions, manage formularies, easily track and maintain inventory levels to curb waste, receive products, route invoices, enter check requests for reimbursement and more – all in one fully automated, user-friendly interface via mobile or desktop devices.

Additionally, Premier SmartPO™ serves as a point of entry for purchasing across Premier’s group purchasing organization (GPO) portfolio. It automatically manages, tracks and audits pricing for Premier’s GPO contracts and highlights special pricing agreements so providers can rest assured knowing they are ordering at the correct price every time they place an order.

“While much of our lives can be managed with a simple click, technology enablement for healthcare provider organizations has largely not kept pace,” said Mitch Steiner, Group Vice President, Continuum of Care Programs at Premier. “CoC providers, such as physician practices, long-term care facilities and others facing tight margins, do not have the time or resources to deploy technologies used by larger healthcare organizations to effectively manage supply chain operations, which creates a critical gap. With Premier SmartPO™, we have scaled a solution to fit the unique needs of CoC providers that tech-enables their purchasing processes for greater transparency, supply chain resiliency and cohesive, high-quality care delivery.”

By digitizing workflows and improving efficiencies between CoC providers and the suppliers they do business with, Premier SmartPO™ serves as a labor extender, streamlining processes and providing complete visibility into the procurement process. The technology eliminates manual purchasing processes, which can lead to employee burnout and turnover, a critical risk among providers in the current environment of labor shortages. As a result, Premier SmartPO™ can help keep the CoC supply chain running smoothly, ensuring essential supplies are in the hands of clinicians when they need them most – at the point of patient care.

“Building on a successful platform serving the CoC market since 2007, the addition of Premier SmartPO™ to our Continuum of Care services portfolio highlights Premier’s investment in technology to streamline and automate manual processes. We look forward to reducing waste, ensuring accurate pricing and driving overall value for our member healthcare providers as well as our supplier and distributor partners,” said Steiner. “Through new technology offerings, our access to GPO solutions, advocacy efforts and more, we remain committed to optimizing the healthcare delivery system for all – ultimately benefiting patients across the care continuum.”