Premier Honors Contracted Suppliers Whose Performance Demonstrates Operational Excellence

Premier's fourth annual Pinnacle and Performance Awards applaud the efforts of contracted suppliers in meeting or exceeding operational expectations. In selecting recipients, performance data is collected and scored over four successive calendar quarters. Contracted suppliers scoring 95 percent or higher earn the Pinnacle Award; organizations scoring between 85 percent to 94 percent earn the Performance Award.

Additionally, Premier honored select winners of the Pinnacle and Performance Awards with its first annual Polaris Award. Cardinal Health of Dublin, Ohio, and Owens & Minor Inc. of Mechanicsville, Va., received the award, which celebrates suppliers that have exceeded operational expectations and excelled at the qualitative aspects of service. Premier members ranked the winners through a survey on the top five Pinnacle and Performance Award winners who scored 90 percent or better on their scorecard.

"Premier is pleased to recognize our top performing suppliers that strive for collaboration and performance excellence to the benefit of the alliance," said Premier Purchasing Partners President Mike Alkire. "These suppliers work to exceed the needs of alliance member hospitals, and we commend their unsurpassed efforts to the alliance as we help them better serve their communities."

Award winners were recognized at the 2009 Premier Annual Breakthroughs Conference and Exhibition in Anaheim, Calif. on June 17.

The 19 Pinnacle Award winners for 2009 are: Aesculap Inc. - A B. Braun Company; Aspen Surgical; AVID Medical Inc.; BIOTRONIK Inc.; Cardinal Health; Edwards Lifesciences; Fisher HealthCare; Iris Diagnostics; Kreisers Inc; Covidien; MEDRAD Interventional/Possis; Michael Foods Inc.; Owens & Minor Inc.; Southmedic/Personna Medical; Phoenix Textile Corporation; Precept Medical Products Inc.; Trident Seafoods; Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics; and Sysmex America Inc.

For more information, please visit: http://www.premierinc.com/about/news/awards/index.jsp.

About Premier Inc., 2006 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient

The Premier healthcare alliance is more than 2,100 U.S. hospitals and 58,000-plus other healthcare sites working together to improve healthcare quality and affordability. Premier maintains the nation's most comprehensive repository of clinical, financial and outcomes information and operates a leading healthcare purchasing network. A world leader in helping deliver measurable improvements in care, Premier works with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the United Kingdom's National Health Service North West to improve hospital performance. Premier has offices in San Diego, Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia and Washington.

Premier Inc.
Alven Weil, 704-733-5797