The Premier healthcare alliance's PremierConnect technology network will allow its member physicians and executives in 2,500 hospitals to work together online as one in communities of common interest.

"Health systems today need an integrated look into utilization, costs, efficiency and quality," Michael D. Connelly, CEO of Catholic Health Partners, said in a statement. "With this information, we can further build out the predictive capabilities that will help us find opportunities and enact corrective actions before they affect patients."

Individual health systems can use PremierConnect it to interact with colleagues across all of their care sites, including hospitals, physician offices, and outpatient clinics.

Premier CEO Susan DeVore said that data shared by others on the PremierConnect network enables clinicians to make data-driven, evidence-based medical decisions that improve their performance.

"They'll know which patients are driving undesirable outcomes, which physicians have the highest costs or the poorest performance, and why these scenarios are occurring," she said. "Patients will have confidence that their care is based on proven innovations and best practices from top-performing clinical leaders nationwide. And their providers will understand everything about their care - what drugs they're taking or allergic to, what procedures they've had recently and more."