ProvideGx Partners with Pfizer Inc. to Secure the Supply of Five Essential Medications
January 21, 2021 at 06:00 pm
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Premier, Inc. announced that it has partnered with Pfizer Inc. to supply five essential medications to healthcare providers, helping to meet the immediate and long-term supply needs of medications necessary to a range of patient care interventions, including some that have been critical during the COVID-19 pandemic. The five medicines include: diazepam, labetalol, lorazepam, fentanyl citrate and 0.9% sodium chloride injection. Labetalol is a beta blocker that is used to treat high blood pressure. Lorazepam and diazepam are controlled substances used as anti-anxiety medications. Fentanyl is a controlled substance used to prevent pain for short periods of time, usually before anesthesia is administered or immediately after surgical procedures. The 0.9% sodium chloride injection is used to dilute other medications before injection. These five medications are critical for patient care and in some cases are necessary as part of COVID-19 treatments. As COVID-19 cases increase, demand for some of these medications has risen. For instance, fentanyl is often used to provide pain relief to patients receiving mechanical ventilation in their treatment for COVID-19, causing demand for this drug to spike 7.5X during peak periods. Guided by health systems with more than 1,600 hospitals across the nation, Premier’s ProvideGx program creates
long-term committed buying contracts that provide participating manufacturers with the surety needed to increase production or move into new markets. Premier’s programs, including ProvideGx, currently provide members access to more than 150 drugs that are or have been recently designated as shortage drugs, with a pipeline of
more than 50 additional drugs. The program has also ensured an adequate safety stock of medicines and has successfully protected supply even as demand surged more than 150% during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pfizer has made significant investments in its injectables manufacturing network to support increased capacity
and order fulfillment rates. The enhanced agreement with Premier helps facilitate increased access to these medicines for Premier member institutions and their patients.
Premier, Inc. is a healthcare improvement company uniting an alliance of approximately 4,350 United States hospitals and health systems and approximately 300,000 other providers and organizations. It operates through two segments: Supply Chain Services and Performance Services. The Supply Chain Services segment includes the Companyâs group purchasing organizations (GPO), supply chain co-management, purchased services, and direct sourcing activities. The Performance Services segment consists of three sub-brands, which include PINC AI, the Companyâs technology and services platform; Contigo Health, the Companyâs direct-to-employer business; and Remitra, the Companyâs digital invoicing and payables business. It delivers technology-enabled platform that offers critical supply chain services, clinical, financial, operational and value-based care software as a service (SaaS) as well as clinical and enterprise analytics licenses, consulting services, and third-party administrator services.