Roche Diagnostics named sole source supplier for Premier's blood glucose monitoring devices

Roche Diagnostics announced today that it has been awarded contracts for blood glucose monitoring and clinical chemistry/immunoassay lab analyzers from Premier Purchasing Partners, L.P., Inc., the group purchasing unit of Premier, Inc. Roche was also named the sole source supplier for blood glucose in Premier's exclusive ASCEND supply chain performance program. When combined with an existing molecular diagnostics agreement, the contracts give Premier members streamlined access to virtually the entire Roche Diagnostics hospital product portfolio.

Based in Charlotte, N.C., the Premier healthcare alliance provides knowledge sharing and group contracting services to help its 2,300 member hospitals reduce staffing needs, improve productivity and lower expenses. Premier's ASCEND (Accelerated Supply Chain Endeavor) group purchasing program is a special initiative designed to enable a committed group of member hospitals to achieve rapid improvements in supply chain performance and efficiency.

"With the ASCEND program, we are raising the bar for the healthcare supply chain, and we're presenting members with a purchasing portfolio that offers the best value proposition in the industry," said Mike Alkire, president of Premier Purchasing Partners. "Members that commit to doing 80 percent of their business with all Premier ASCEND contractors have access to special pricing and to exclusive benefits, including benchmarking to help them measure their performance and identify opportunities to reduce operating costs." Roche was selected as the single supplier for the ASCEND program in the blood glucose category.

Roche products covered by the glucose contracts include the ACCU-CHEK® Inform and ACCU-CHEK Aviva blood glucose monitoring systems, test strips and lancets, RALS® information management solutions and 24/7/365 customer service. The clinical chemistry/immunoassay contract includes Roche's full line of laboratory analyzers, such as the integrated cobas® 6000 analyzer series, as well as automation systems, reagents, middleware and technical service. The three-year contracts for blood glucose and clinical chemistry/immunoassay products are effective March 1 and April 1, respectively.