El Camino Hospital, in Silicon Valley, has expanded its relationship with the Premier healthcare alliance to access products and services that will significantly reduce costs while supporting improvements in clinical quality and patient safety.

El Camino Hospital has been an alliance member affiliate since 2006, and is now among the 200 hospitals and health systems that own Premier.

[See also: El Camino Hospital launches HIE in Silicon Valley.]

“Premier’s understanding of what is needed to help providers address performance improvement is proven through its ownership,” said Ken King, chief administrative services officer at El Camino Hospital. “We clearly see the value of being an owner in this alliance, as Premier supports our vision to give each patient convenient, compassionate and comprehensive care every time.”

As a Premier owner, El Camino Hospital will leverage a national purchasing network delivering industry leading contract pricing with more than 2,500 alliance members and 73,000 other healthcare sites.

The not-for-profit provider will also use Premier’s SpendAdvisor MySpend supply chain improvement technology. With MySpend, El Camino Hospital can easily examine supply spend data for cost saving opportunities. Carteret General Hospital of Morehead City, N.C., saved $300,000 with MySpend and more than $1 million by joining the Premier alliance, according to Premier.

“In today’s healthcare environment, it is necessary to focus on supply chain improvements that change practice and purchasing patterns to simultaneously improve outcomes and reduce costs," said Mike Alkire, Premier Purchasing Partners president. "Health organizations such as El Camino Hospital are well-positioned to do just that, and we look forward to aligning with and supporting them as we take the next steps to transform care delivery.”

[See also: El Camino Hospital puts the focus on Web performance.]

Through El Camino Hospital’s partnership with Premier, it was able to transition its pharmacy department from outsourcing to insourcing, which will better impact the bottom line and help guide supply chain leaders in making the best purchasing decisions possible. The hospital’s supply expense through Premier is approximately $60 million.

Additionally, the health system can take advantage of legislative information streaming from Premier Advocacy, the Washington, D.C.-based arm of Premier that continually informs members of issues relating to health policy.

El Camino Hospital Mountain View has received national recognition for its high-tech equipment and innovative technologies to improve medical care. These technologies enhance communication and save resources. They include robots that run errands, devices that keep noise to a minimum and patient beds that help translate doctors' orders.

[See also: El Camino expands robotic surgery program.]