9.15.2004 ET

(CSRwire) SAN DIEGO - Premier, Inc. and its Premier Safety Institute today unveiled the Executive Scorecard for the Environment, a Web-based tool designed exclusively for medical facility administrators to assess environmentally preferred purchasing, waste reduction, mercury elimination, recycling, and resource conservation.


The assessment and Scorecard results are designed to help executives prioritize goals and action plans while providing valuable information to hospital and medical groups' governing boards, sponsors and communities.

The Scorecard, produced by Premier with assistance and support by Health Care Without Harm and Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E), is unique because it is designed specifically for executives looking for a high-level assessment. It complements H2E's more-comprehensive Self Assessment Guide, which leads facilities in the subsequent steps of setting goals, collecting baseline data, developing action plans and tracking progress.

"This is a great tool that will help hospitals assess their environmental performance - a crucial first step in making changes that will ultimately reduce pollution and protect community health," said Jamie Harvie of Health Care Without Harm.

The Scorecard reinforces Premier's strong commitment to assisting its members with socially responsible purchasing while achieving the national goals of waste and toxicity reduction and mercury elimination established by H2E, which has awarded its Champions for Change award to Premier for the last two years.

"Premier's members asked for a way to measure the effectiveness of their environmental programs so they could prioritize their initiatives," explained H2E's Laura Brannen. "Premier, as a committed environmental leader, responded with this scorecard to help not only its members, but the broader healthcare community as well."

The Scorecard rates the implementation status of specific elements within Environmentally Preferred Purchasing (EPP), Solid Waste Reduction, Regulated Medical Waste Reduction, Mercury Elimination, Hazardous Waste Reduction, Computers and Electronics, Facilities and Environment. The Web tool also measures administrators' efforts in communicating environmental progress to the community.

"Premier, in support of our members, has a longstanding commitment to the health and safety of patients, employees and the communities they live in and serve," said Gina Pugliese, vice president of Premier's Safety Institute. "Our Premier members that have implemented comprehensive environmental programs report cost savings, better staff and community relations, and measurable environmental improvements. The Executive Scorecard for the Environment gives them a meaningful measure of where they are, and what remains to be done."

The Scorecard is available at www.Premierinc.com/safety.

About Premier

Premier, Inc. is a strategic alliance in U.S. healthcare, entirely owned by 200 of the nation's leading hospital and health care systems. These systems operate or are affiliated with approximately 1,500 hospital facilities in 50 states and hundreds of other care sites. Premier provides an array of resources supporting health services delivery in the key areas of supply chain improvement and group purchasing, comparative data and benchmarking, and insurance. Premier adopted its EPP program in 2000 and was the first Group Purchasing Organization to win the H2E Champions for Change award. Premier won the H2E award again in 2004. Premier is headquartered in San Diego, Calif., with offices in Chicago and Charlotte, N.C. Advocacy and policy offices are located in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.premierinc.com.

The Premier Safety Institute provides free resources, tools and news on patient, worker and environmental safety on its Web site at www.premierinc.com/safety.

About Hospitals for a Healthy Environment

The Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) program is a landmark initiative designed to improve environmental performance in health care. Healthcare facilities join this free voluntary program as Partners, and commit to work towards eliminating mercury from their facilities and reducing the volume and toxicity of all of their waste. These goals are part of the H2E Program, a joint effort by the American Hospital Association, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the American Nurses Association and Health Care Without Harm, to provide environmental tools and resources to health care professionals.

As of August 23, 2004, H2E has 855 partners representing 3,033 facilities: 936 hospitals, 1,528 clinics, 218 nursing homes and 351 other types of facilities.

About Health Care Without Harm

Health Care Without Harm is an international coalition of 437 organizations in 52 countries working to transform the health care industry so it is no longer a source of harm to people and the environment. Health Care Without Harm's broad-based coalition consists of hospitals and health care systems, medical professionals, community groups, health-affected constituencies, labor unions, environmental and environmental health organizations, and religious groups.

For more information on H2E or Health Care Without Harm, please contact Kelly Heekin, Media Coordinator, Kelly.heekin@h2e-online.org, 202-234-9656.

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