Growing academic and community health system leveraging full suite of clinical and supply chain services to accelerate enterprise-wide integration

ANDOVER & BURLINGTON, MASS. & CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Lahey Health, a nationally recognized academic and community health system, has chosen Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC) and Yankee Alliance Supply Chain Solutions, LLC to accelerate the integration of its full continuum of health services.

A growing health system serving northeastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire, Lahey Health brings together an academic medical center, community hospitals, primary care practices, and specialty, behavioral and senior care services. The health system selected Premier and Yankee Alliance, a leading regional group purchasing organization that is also an owner of Premier, in order to access a comprehensive suite of data-driven supply chain, performance and analytics services. The new partnership will help Lahey Health optimize system-wide integration to drive cost and quality efficiencies, better outcomes and patient experiences, and advances in population health.

"We have a unique and strong system of care to keep our community healthy," said Howard Grant, JD, MD, president and CEO of Lahey Health, which has 1,000 locally-based physicians. "As we continue to grow, Lahey Health is thrilled to be working with Premier and Yankee Alliance on integrating services across the continuum of care to support our population health management efforts. Together, we believe they will help us deliver more efficient, high-quality care, which is key to keeping people healthy and costs down in this value-based environment."

Lahey Health will leverage both Premier's and Yankee Alliance's group purchasing organizations to reduce expenses through the aggregation of data, purchasing, insights and knowledge. The health system will also access Premier's integrated technology platform PremierConnect® to enable enterprise-wide care delivery and purchasing decisions. Industry-leading analytics in PremierConnect rapidly aggregate and normalize clinical and supply chain data across the continuum of care for access to actionable insights, all in one place.

"We look forward to working with Lahey Health as an owner of Yankee Alliance," said Jim Oliver, president and CEO, Yankee Alliance. "With the breadth and depth of our contract portfolio, our owner-focused service model and approach to innovative cost reductions, we are confident they will see tremendous value that allows them to focus on integrated, high-quality care delivery."

In addition, Lahey Health will engage Premier advisory services to improve resource utilization and eliminate unjustified variation in costs, and performance improvement analytics to enhance the quality of care management.

"Lahey Health is at the center of care redesign, taking steps to expand and improve their ability to thrive in this evolving landscape," said Susan DeVore, president and CEO, Premier. "Premier is excited to be working with such an innovative health system on helping them meet the needs of their community."

All Premier services are available in PremierConnect, which integrates patient data on 1 in 3 U.S. hospital discharges and approximately $41 billion in annual provider purchases. It also enables real-time member interactions across the nation.

The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

About Lahey Health
Lahey Health is what's next in healthcare, providing a full continuum of integrated health services close to where you live or work. It is comprised of nationally recognized, award-winning hospitals-including an academic hospital and medical center, and community hospitals-primary care providers, specialist physicians, behavioral health services, post-acute programs such as home health services, skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities, and senior care resources located throughout northeastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.

Lahey Health offers nearly 1,000 locally based physicians providing clinical excellence and an exceptional patient experience in adult and pediatric primary care and every medical specialty, including kidney and liver transplantation; neurosurgery, cancer, cardiovascular and orthopedic medical and surgical care; local emergency and trauma care; urological surgery; chronic disease prevention and health management; and pediatric emergency, newborn and inpatient care provided in collaboration with Boston Children's Hospital physicians.

Lahey Health includes Lahey Hospital & Medical Center-a teaching hospital of Tufts University School of Medicine-and Lahey Clinic physician group with practices in Burlington, Peabody and other locations throughout northeastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire; Beverly Hospital; Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester, Mass.; Winchester Hospital; Lahey Health Senior Care and Lahey Health Behavioral Services as well as more than 30 primary care physician practices and multiple outpatient and satellite specialty care facilities.

Together, we are making innovative, integrated healthcare more personal and more accessible. For more information, visit LaheyHealth.org and its member websites Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, Beverly Hospital, Addison Gilbert Hospital, Winchester Hospital, Lahey Health Senior Care and Lahey Health Behavioral Services.

About Yankee Alliance

Yankee Alliance, an owner of Premier Inc., is a group purchasing organization founded in 1984 on a belief in collaboration, that working together can achieve more than working alone. Its mission is twofold: to work with members to reduce supply and operating expenses through aggregation of data, purchasing, ideas and knowledge and to excel in strategic innovations that continually assist members in reducing their cost while recognizing their individual needs. Today, Yankee Alliance remains true to the foundational belief in collaboration and has grown to over 9,800 members in all classes of trades across all 50 states. For more information visit http://www.yankeealliance.com.

About Premier, Inc.

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC) is a leading healthcare improvement company, uniting an alliance of approximately 3,000 U.S. hospitals and 110,000 other providers to transform healthcare. With integrated data and analytics, collaboratives, supply chain solutions, and advisory and other services, Premier enables better care and outcomes at a lower cost. Premier, a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient, plays a critical role in the rapidly evolving healthcare industry, collaborating with members to co-develop long-term innovations that reinvent and improve the way care is delivered to patients nationwide. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Premier is passionate about transforming American healthcare. Please visit Premier's news and investor sites on www.premierinc.com; as well as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Foursquare and Premier's blog for more information about the company.

CONTACT: Morgan Bridges-Guthrie, Premier, Inc.; 704.816.4152; morgan_bridges@premierinc.com

CONTACT: Jason Bond, Yankee Alliance; 978.470.2000; jbond@yankeealliance.com

CONTACT: Andrew Mastrangelo, Lahey Health; 781.744.9665; andrew.j.mastrangelo@lahey.org