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VHA Inc., a national network of not-for-profit healthcare organizations that work together to drive maximum savings in the supply chain arena, this week sent a letter to the chairman of the Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA) from VHA members, challenging the findings in a recent MDMA-sponsored study.
Fourteen of the nation’s largest hospital systems signed on to the letter, which asserted that the trade group’s position on GPOs—that healthcare costs would decrease without the involvement of GPOS— is “unbelievable,” and would drive the costs of delivering health care across the country even higher.
The letter goes on to state that it is “implausible to think device manufacturers would voluntarily reduce prices for any sustained period of time if GPOs were funded directly by hospitals,” as the report suggests.
Additionally, the letter stated that small hospitals “would lose access to the critical help their GPOs provide in monitoring and controlling supply costs”