Premier Launches Mobile App With Real-Time Product Pricing for Healthcare Providers and Suppliers

Premier, Inc. introduces PremierConnect™ Price Lookup, a mobile app allowing its member healthcare providers and contracted suppliers instant and secure access to product pricing on all types of purchasing contracts.

“The app is extremely easy to use, and I can now check pricing right from my smartphone instead of needing to be at my desk in front of my computer,” says David Mimms, MBA, system director of materials management at Rush Health Systems in Meridian, Miss. “The convenience of having instant accesses no matter where I am helps me significantly during contract negotiations, or any time product pricing is called into question.”

PremierConnect Price Lookup is the first app to go live in the Apple App Store using Famo.us, a cutting-edge, open-source mobile application development framework. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in San Francisco, Famo.us is the fastest growing JavaScript platform on GitHub, a social coding service with more than 6 million users.

PremierConnect Price Lookup contains data for approximately 6.75 million items from over 1,000 suppliers. Using the app:
- Healthcare providers can search by product description, part number or manufacturer name to quickly find product pricing and key contract information such as specifics on price tiers, contract numbers and associated opportunities to reduce supply chain costs.
- Suppliers can validate pricing and price-activated tiers for specific healthcare facilities.

“We’re continually looking for innovative and efficient ways to meet the evolving needs of our members and contracted suppliers,” says Keith J. Figlioli, Premier senior vice president of healthcare informatics and a member of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT Standards Committee. “Instead of building separate apps for Apple and Android products, the Famo.us platform allowed us to develop and deliver a single high-quality, fluid mobile experience, with half of the investment typically associated with doing so.” 

The app, which is iPhone, iPad and Android compatible, can be accessed in the Apple App Store on iOS and through Google Play for Android devices.

“Our mission is all about helping people do amazing things with JavaScript on any device,” says Famo.us CEO Steve Newcomb, who is best known for founding Powerset, which was sold to Microsoft and is now part of Bing. “To have our technology play a role in helping Premier transform healthcare is a win-win for everyone."

PremierConnect Price Lookup users will also be able to network with their peers, access analytics and share best practices in private communities through the PremierConnect™ integrated technology and social networking platform. The platform aggregates patient data on 1 in 3 U.S. hospital discharges, evidence-based best practices from 2.5 million daily clinical transactions, and approximately $41 billion in annual provider purchases. It also enables real-time member interactions across the nation.

Source: Premier, Inc.