Riverside Health System has received Premier, Inc.'s 2015 Richard A. Norling Premier Alliance Excellence Award for its commitment to transforming healthcare.
The annual award, named in honor of Premier's CEO from 1997 to 2009, recognizes a Premier member that is a leader in leveraging the collaborative power of the alliance to drive higher-quality, safer and more cost-effective healthcare. Riverside is the sole winner among Premier's alliance of approximately 3,400 U.S. health systems.
"Riverside is honored to be recognized by Premier for accelerating innovation in care delivery," said William B. Downey, president and CEO of Riverside. "So many alliance members are leaders in this area and we are thrilled to be among the best in driving healthcare excellence. Collaborating with other Premier members, we become stronger and are able to accelerate the changes needed to our country's healthcare delivery system."
A regional integrated delivery network, Riverside has been recognized as one of the most wired health systems for the past 10 years. The health system provides local, affordable access to more than 550 physician specialists and 130 care locations, including eight hospitals.
"Riverside has demonstrated a consistent drive for excellence and superior performance," said Susan DeVore, Premier president and CEO. "Essential to the Premier alliance, they've helped other providers reach new standards of high-quality, cost-effective care. We're happy to present them such well-deserved recognition for their many accomplishments."
Since becoming a Premier member-owner more than five years ago, Riverside has saved more than $24 million by sharing data and best practices to improve care delivery. In 2014, Riverside won Premier's Supply Chain Excellence Award for achieving superior supply expense performance.
Riverside engages in healthcare improvement initiatives with Premier alliance members to improve quality and reduce costs, such as comparative effectiveness programs to reduce the cost of physician preference items, as well as data-driven collaborative to set new standards of excellence in quality and population health management. In addition, health system representatives serve on Premier quality improvement, supply chain oversight and materials management committees to further lead alliance members in efforts to transform healthcare.
Riverside accepted the 2015 Richard A. Norling Premier Alliance Excellence Award on February 24, 2015, during Premier's annual Governance Education Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. Previous award winners include Mercy Health (Cincinnati), Texas Health Resources (Arlington, Texas), Banner Health (Phoenix), and Bon Secours Health System, Inc. (Marriottsville, Maryland).