Announcement of an Exempt Purchase

Vizient membership dues for UI Health and the associated program participation and information access benefits. Vizient is an alliance of 112 academic medical centers and 252 of their affiliated hospitals. Vizient offers its members specific programs and services to improve clinical, operational, and patient safety performance. The programs that will be accessed are Clinical Data Base Services, Operational Data Base and Clinical Practice Solutions.

This purchase is exempt from the usual selection processes of the Procurement Code because the procurement expenditure is for membership in professional, academic, research, or athletic organizations on behalf of a public institution of higher education, an employee of a public institution of higher education, or a student at a public institution of higher education. (30 ILCS 500 / 1-13(b)(1)) The benefits of Vizient membership include access to information needed by member hospitals related to specific programs and services to improve clinical, operational, and patient safety performance. All members have the opportunity to collaborate to increase efficiency, cost savings, and value. Vizient's board of directors is led by the CEOs of the member academic medical centers and determines the strategic focus. As a result, Vizient is uniquely positioned to respond to member needs and provide integrated solutions that serve membership along the continuum of care.