Walking the Walk

University Hospitals (UH) is a $4 billion network of 11 community hospitals, three joint-venture hospitals and more than 50 health centers in Northeast Ohio - including its flagship academic center, the 1,000-bed Cleveland Medical Center.

In an effort to improve its operational performance and reduce costs, UH leveraged Premier's database of labor productivity benchmarks, clinical performance comparative data, and insights to forecast an aggressive $300 million cost reduction plan. And that was only the beginning.

So far, results have included cost savings from labor, supply chain and pharmacy, as well as reductions in the variation of care across the system.

Specifically:

• $300 million in cost reduction over the past five years
• Targeting $80 million in savings per year for the next five years

"We could not do any of this without Premier. I don't see another vendor in the market that can provide their integrated capabilities," said Mike Szubski, Chief Financial Officer, UH.