Inside the Premier, AmHS manufacturer partner round table. (Premier Health Alliance Inc.; American Healthcare Systems)

As Premier Health Alliance, Westchester, Ill., and San Diego-based American Healthcare Systems proceed down the aisle together, plans for what they hope will be a long-term marriage are being formulated. On Oct. 3, the soon-to-merge groups brought together the wedding guests -- 29 of their most influential manufacturer partners -- for a wide-ranging, closed-door panel discussion of the key issues that will shape the contracting philosophies and practices of the emerging new company, tentatively called "Newco." With Newco holding the purse strings of an estimated $8 billion to $11 billion in buying power, the results could also go a long way toward shaping many of the future …