Obamacare, Cracked Healthcare System Lifting Demand Says Premier CEO

Shares of healthcare solutions provider Premier (PINC) have dropped 2% in the turbulent past three months while the overall healthcare portion of the S&P 500 has slipped over 9%. Premier CEO Susan DeVore said the impact of Obamacare on top of a fragmented hospital structure is creating more than enough demand to help her company beat the market. 'The reason we are beating the market is because we are actually bringing solutions to solve the problems of the healthcare players,' said DeVore. 'We wake up every day saying we can impact 120 million people and improve the quality and safety and cost of healthcare.' Shares of the company are up 8% year-to-date compared to a 2% rise in the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) over the same period. In October the company raised its yearly revenue guidance in the wake of a $9.3 million contract from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to participate as a Hospital Engagement Network in the second round of CMS’ Partnership for Patients initiative. 'This is a government contract that we had for a period of three years,' said DeVore. 'It’s all around how do you improve safety and lower readmissions to hospitals. We had great performance under the first contract. This is a contract extension. It’s for one year and we don’t know what happens after that.' Earlier this month, Premier acquired InflowHealth, a SaaS-based software developer that specializes in improving the operational and financial performance of physician practices, for $6 million. The purchase was one of several in the past year that is taking Premier further into the so-called cloud to store the company’s massive data assets, which include clinical, financial and operational data.