Premier Healthcare Alliance Launches MS-DRG Reimbursement Calculators to Help Members...

Premier Healthcare Alliance Launches MS-DRG Reimbursement Calculators to Help Members Highlight Avoidable Financial Loss

Cardiovascular, Orthopedic and Spine Calculators Are Designed to
Compare the Individual Hospital Cost to the National Average Medicare
Reimbursement Rate
CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(Business Wire)--
The Premier healthcare alliance has launched a set of
reimbursement calculators to help member hospitals compare the
individual hospitals' costs to the reimbursement offered under the
Medicare Severity Diagnosis Related Group (MS-DRG) system.

Available for cardiovascular, orthopedics and spine implants, the
calculators can assist in reducing the number of inaccurate claims
that result in lowered Medicare reimbursement without impacting the
quality of patient care. The calculators automatically compare
national average base reimbursement rates to the payment for a
particular MS-DRG. In addition, hospitals can populate their
individual reimbursement rates for a more customized report. The
calculators also track reimbursement trends by displaying both the
percentage and dollar amount changes in reimbursement payments from
year to year.

"The changes in MS-DRG reporting present a challenge to hospitals
nationwide, in particular from a coding standpoint," said Michael
Schroeder, Material Services Assistant Surgical at SSM St. Mary's
Health Center in Madison, WI. "By utilizing the calculators from
Premier, we were able to avoid some of these potential pitfalls that
could have had a negative effect on our bottom line."

"With these calculators, our alliance hospitals will be able to
track the areas in which reimbursement has changed," said Mike Alkire,
president of Premier Purchasing Partners. "This allows them to weigh
options along the lines of cost and make changes as needed."

DRGs were developed for Medicare to classify hospital cases into
groups expected to have similar hospital resource use. MS-DRGs were
created to more accurately account for the severity of a patient's
condition. The MS-DRG prospective payment system went into effect in
October 2007.

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

Serving more than 2,000 U.S. hospitals and 53,000-plus other
healthcare sites, the Premier healthcare alliance and its members are
transforming healthcare together. Owned by not-for-profit hospitals,
Premier operates one of the leading healthcare purchasing networks and
the nation's most comprehensive repository of hospital clinical and
financial information. A subsidiary operates one of the nation's
largest policy-holder owned, hospital professional liability
risk-retention groups. A world leader in helping healthcare providers
deliver dramatic improvements in care, Premier is working with the
United Kingdom's National Health Service North West and the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services to improve hospital performance.
Headquartered in San Diego, Premier has offices in Charlotte, N.C.,
Philadelphia and Washington. For more information, visit
www.premierinc.com.

Premier Inc.
Alven Weil, 704-733-5797
Alven_weil@premierinc.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008