According to CMS data, total spending on hospital services in the United States is projected to be approximately $1.3 trillion, 33% of total healthcare expenditures, in 2019. Hospital supply chain expenses have come under increased scrutiny for cost-saving measures as it represents a growing portion of a hospital’s budget.
A group purchasing organization (GPO) is an entity that helps healthcare providers—such as hospitals, nursing homes, surgery centers and clinics, and home health agencies—realize savings and efficiencies by aggregating purchasing volume and using that leverage to negotiate discounts with manufacturers, distributors and other vendors.
GPOs can help leverage the purchasing power of a group of businesses to get discounts from vendors based on the collective buying power of the GPO members. They also save hospitals all of the legal and contracting work of going out there and writing contracts with hundreds of different vendors.
Between 2011 and 2016, U.S. spending on cancer treatments jumped from $26.8 billion to $42.1 billion (in inflation-adjusted 2016 dollars). The study, published in the Journal of Oncology Practice, also found that oncology was the highest-ranked therapeutic area in specialty drug spending.
A handful of drug distributor-owned GPOs have dominated the distribution of oncology drugs over the years, led by AmerisourceBergen. McKesson’s acquisition of US Oncology in 2010 positioned the company as the second-largest in the industry at the time. Cardinal Health and Express Script’s CuraScript subsidiaries are also among the market leaders. Premier,Inc. has recently entered the market with the acquisition of Innovatix and the launching of Intersectta.
Oncology GPOs negotiate favorable pricing with pharmaceutical manufacturers through aggregated purchasing and also act as an aggregator of data of physician behavior with oncology practices.
AMI’s new report, provides background on oncology group purchasing as well as profiles on the market participants, which include: background, relationships, executive contact, programs and recent activities.
Table of Contents
- GPO Background – pg. 4
- Oncology GPO Background – pg. 5
- Oncology GPOs and Ownership Chart – pg. 6
Oncology Group Purchasing Organizations – pgs. 7-37
- AmerisourceBergen (ION/IPN/INN) – pgs. 8-17
- Cardinal Health/VitalSource GPO – pgs. 18-19
- CHAMPS Oncology – pgs. 20-22
- Cornerstone Specialty Network – pgs. 23-24
- CuraScript SD/Matrix GPO– pgs. 25-26
- McKesson Specialty Health (Onmark/Unity GPO) – pgs. 27-30
- National Cancer Care Alliance – pg. 31
- Premier, Inc. (Innovatix/Intersectta) – pgs. 32-37
References/Sources – pg. 38