Avamere and Mundelein's Medline ink deal

Avamere Health Services, which provides a range of services to seniors in over 40 independent living, assisted living, transitional care and skilled nursing facilities throughout four states, has awarded a three-year, $12 million prime vendor agreement to Mundelein-based Medline, a global medical supplier.

The contract is effective through Dec. 31, 2018.

The exclusive distribution partnership is expected to provide Avamere's entities with an extensive portfolio of essential medical supplies that will better position the system to streamline supply chain operations. Beyond product savings and efficiencies in supply chain, Medline also will help enhance Avamere's readmission prevention strategies and provide continuing education courses to help clinicians perform at their very best.

Recent data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services suggests that nearly 2,700 hospitals will be penalized for hospitals readmissions in fiscal 2016. Through this prime vendor deal, Avamere will receive negotiated pricing on Medline's Abaqis readmission tracking tool. The web-based tool helps nursing homes identify the cause for readmissions by analyzing patterns of readmissions within a facility, such as identifying the hospital a resident was admitted from; the day, time and shift when the readmission occurred, physician coverage during the time of patient transfer, and the reason for the transfer. Throughout the country, more than 3,000 facilities are using abaqis.

"With more than 100 years of supply chain experience, Medline is in a unique position to offer customers like Avamere leading-edge solutions to help them achieve their clinical and financial goals," said Matt Van Zelst, vice president of national accounts for post-acute care, Medline. "Our partnership is about more than just shipping boxes of supplies. It's about working one-on-one with Avamere to provide clinical solutions for the issues that matter most to the growth of their company."