As healthcare costs rise, the reasons to consider a partnership with a Group Purchasing Organization are rising too. GPOs aim to help healthcare providers do more — and save more. GPOs not only leverage relationships with suppliers to negotiate for discounts — they provide additional benefits to health organizations and the overall healthcare market.
Negotiating discounts with manufacturers and other suppliers requires a lot of time, effort and expertise. Providers can lean on GPOs instead, using the hours saved for mission-critical tasks like launching new programs and ensuring high-quality patient care and patient satisfaction. Plus, a GPO carries more weight when it comes to negotiating. Because a GPO is working for many providers, they have the ability to negotiate larger volume-based discounts that individual providers can on their own. If a provider spends $5,000 a year on vaccines, yet the GPO as a whole spends $2 million, that leverage allows the group as a whole to benefit and help to lower supply chain costs.
Finding the right savings opportunities takes the requires experience and know-how. That’s where the help of a good GPO comes in. In fact, from 2017 to 2027, GPOs are projected to save between $392 billion and $864 billion in healthcare costs. This is not only because GPOs negotiate for purchase discounts, they also increase levels of competition and help to drive costs down throughout the entire marketplace. GPOs likewise help maintain transparency. Through analysis and constant review, they process and produce data to help uncover the best values, sharing a combination of price and outcomes alike.
For 2018, the Healthcare Group Purchasing Industry Initiative (HGPII) annual best practices forum in Washington D.C. 2018 identified three major trends for the GPO sector to look out for this year:
- Ensuring availability of high-quality products and services.
- Empowering new, innovative products and services in the marketplace.
- Continuing to work for downward pressure on healthcare-related costs.
If you are a provider interested in experiencing a GPO partnership for yourself, learn more, explore the benefits, and try out a free membership with CNECT.