Celebrating Two of the Biggest Trailblazers in Healthcare at Breakthroughs 23

Key takeaways:

• The Premier Trailblazer Award – Life Science and the Premier Trailblazer Award – Employer will be given for the first time this week during Premier’s Breakthroughs Conference and Exhibition.
• These awards recognize achievements in the use/deployment of innovative and scalable methods and technology to accelerate clinical evidence into real-world practice.
• Congratulations to AstraZeneca and Walmart, recipients of this year’s Trailblazer Awards!

Premier’s annual Breakthroughs Conference and Exhibition is in full swing in Nashville, Tennessee, this week and part of the excitement is the presentation of awards and special recognitions to our members, suppliers and others that have stepped up their game in transforming healthcare in the communities they serve throughout the year. These include our Innovation Celebration, Alliance Excellence Award, Cares Award, various member and supplier performance awards, and new this year – the Trailblazer Awards.

We are thrilled to celebrate the achievements of AstraZeneca, winner of the first Trailblazer Award – Life Science and Walmart, winner of the first Trailblazer Award – Employer!

AstraZeneca is a science-led, patient-centered company that develops innovative medicines for millions of people globally. The company leads a diverse area of therapy focus for oncology, biopharmaceuticals and rare disease that includes cardiovascular, renal and metabolism (CVRM), respiratory and immunology (R&I) and vaccine and immune therapies (V&I).

AstraZeneca and Premier’s PINC AI™ Applied Sciences (PAS) team have partnered over the past 15 years to design more than 37 projects involving clinical trials, prospective and retrospective research, feasibility studies and data and evidence generation. These projects focus on bridging the gap between life science innovations and implementation in various therapeutic areas.

Our collaborative work in oncology care was formally recognized in September 2022 with a Biotech Week Boston (BWB) Award in Digital Medicine for bold and innovative creation or use of technology-enabled healthcare solutions that are propelling technology forward and solving a healthcare need.

Walmart is an iconic retailer and employer of 2.1 million people across 10,500 business units in 20 countries. In the U.S., more than 1.6 million associates rely on Walmart’s comprehensive suite of benefits that gives them and their families access to affordable, quality care to support all aspects of life – when, where and how they need it. Walmart’s progressive health benefits include its high-performing centers of excellence (COE) programs under the leadership of Walmart’s Lisa Woods, Vice President, Physical and Emotional Wellbeing, and her team.

Walmart and Premier’s Contigo Health have partnered over the last decade to design evidenced-based, market-leading COE programs focusing on Spine, Joint, Cardiac and Bariatric Surgery. The patient-centered specialty programs include extensive provider vetting, direct-to-provider contracting, collaborative care decision-making focused on quality and appropriate care, bundled payments, concierge patient experience, and lower costs with better outcomes.

In a Harvard Business Review article, Contigo Health’s Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Slotkin and Walmart’s Lisa Woods shared that half of spine patients avoided surgery, and spine surgery patients returned to work 20 percent sooner than their non-COE counterparts.

AstraZeneca will be recognized during this evening’s Breakthroughs keynote session and Walmart will be recognized during tomorrow morning’s thought leadership session. All conference attendees are welcome to join us in celebrating their trailblazing achievements.