New categories support supply assurance for Vizient members

Vizient, Inc. today announced it has expanded Novaplus® Enhanced Supply to include three new medical/surgical categories and an antidotes category for pharmaceutical supplies. The new med/surg categories are durable medical equipment, sterile inhalation water and non-invasive ventilation. The antidotes category has 60 unique drugs, with 14 products already added to the program.

Through Novaplus Enhanced Supply (NES), Vizient provides supply assurance for participating Vizient members through increased inventory commitment from suppliers. The program expansion comes at a time of continued supply disruptions from the fallout of the pandemic and unpredictable geopolitical activity, and it focuses on a critical supply list driven by Vizient member hospitals.

“We are continually communicating with our members and contracted suppliers to prepare for and mitigate against potential supply disruptions,” said Margaret Steele, senior vice president of med/surg for Vizient. “It’s part of a strategy Vizient began before the pandemic that we have since accelerated to ensure hospitals have the supplies and medications they need to continue delivering patient care.”

With the new additions, the total number of med/ surg categories in the program is now 10, including durable medical equipment for the supply of crutches, sterile inhalation water used in respiratory procedures and non-invasive ventilation, which ventilates patients without using intubation.

In addition, Vizient has added the category of antidotes to its essential medications list, to include an additional 67 line items representing 60 unique drugs. It’s the second category on the essential medications list, and it serves to distinguish medications used in everyday care from those required in rarer instances to neutralize the effect of poison. The essential medications list helps to inform what drugs are included in NES, with 35% of everyday care drugs in the program and 21% of antidotes in the program to date.

Launched in 2019 to help secure the supply of essential medications and mitigate their potential shortages, Novaplus Enhanced Supply has since expanded to include personal protective equipment and other critical medical supplies. Novaplus Enhanced Supply supports a more resilient supply chain through transparency, accountability and commitment to supply.

About Vizient, Inc.

Vizient, Inc., the nation’s largest health care performance improvement company, serves more than 50% of the nation’s acute care providers, which includes 97% of the nation’s academic medical centers, and more than 20% of ambulatory care providers. Vizient provides expertise, analytics and advisory services, as well as a contract portfolio that represents more than $130 billion in annual purchasing volume. Vizient’s solutions and services improve the delivery of high-value care by aligning cost, quality and market performance. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Vizient has offices throughout the United States. Learn more at www.vizientinc.com.

About Vizient Novaplus and Novaplus Enhanced Supply

The private label of Vizient®, Novaplus® consistently delivers cost savings on quality medical and pharmaceutical products from well-known manufacturers. Acute and nonacute providers who choose Novaplus also enjoy improved access, price protection, dedicated support and increased efficiency. Novaplus is a critical strategy in protecting Vizient health system and hospital members from supply disruptions that can adversely affect the delivery of quality patient care.

Contracted suppliers participating in Novaplus Enhanced Supply provide additional inventory of essential products to mitigate supply disruptions and demand surge. Contract terms provide greater predictability and sustainability to drive continued production and supply resiliency. Production transparency requirements increase visibility to anticipate and further mitigate potential supply disruptions. By purchasing through Novaplus Enhanced Supply, health care facilities also receive expanded value and benefits built on the foundation of the industry’s longest-run private label program.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220512005339/en/