Today's role for traditional GPOs; Q&A with Advocate's Conrad Emmerich; VA awards Cook Medical; plus Jobs!

October 27, 2023

Hello NAW Subscribers -

I hope you like this issue of National Accounts Weekly.

Sincerely,

John Pritchard

President of ANAE

Publisher of The Journal of Healthcare Contracting

Traditional healthcare GPOs and their role in the healthcare supply chain

The healthcare supply chain is made up of many different moving parts that all depend on one another to ensure the success of the overall healthcare industry. One integral component of the healthcare sector is the role of traditional healthcare group purchasing organizations (GPOs). Traditional healthcare GPOs are the sourcing and contracting partners to virtually all of America’s 7,000+ hospitals and a vast majority of the 68,000+ long-term care facilities, surgery centers, clinics, and other healthcare providers.

A 2018 analysis found that GPOs save the U.S. healthcare system $34.1 billion annually and up to $456.6 billion over ten years, with Medicare savings of up to $116.3 billion and Medicaid savings of up to $90.2 billion over the same period. The value and services that GPOs provide allow healthcare providers and physicians to focus on their core mission: delivering first-class patient care. Healthcare GPOs continue to effectively support the healthcare sector by identifying best practices, lowering costs, and encouraging cross-industry collaboration.

Advocate Health: A conversation with Conrad Emmerich

This year has seen a surge in health system mergers, as the industry continues to evolve. Of the major healthcare mergers this year, Advocate Health is the fifth largest in non-profit health systems.

During a recent ANAE webinar, John Pritchard, president of ANAE, spoke to Conrad Emmerich, chief procurement officer for Advocate Health, about the merging of Advocate and Aurora, the value of having your own GPOs, and the distribution strategy at Advocate Health.

Cook Medical awarded VA contract for implanted devices

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded Cook Medical a Next Generation Implant Contract for implanted medical devices. This contract will streamline the procurement process for the VA supply chain team. This contract is another way Cook is being recognized for our innovative ways of working more effectively with customers and making supply chains more efficient.

This is the third contract of its kind Cook has been awarded. In October 2021, the VA awarded Cook its first Implant Contract. The first contract included implantable products such as the Zilver® PTX® Drug-Eluting Peripheral Stent, Zenith® aortic endografts, and associated interventional devices to treat patients with vascular disease. This second contract includes those same products as well as Cook’s BioDesign® line of biologics products.

The contract went into effect on Sept. 30. The contract is for one year with four one-year extension options. Having Cook implantable products on this contract streamlines the procurement process for the VA supply chain team. It also provides VA physicians with more product options to treat Veterans in a timely manner.

JHC's webinar for supply chain executives

Join The Journal of Healthcare Contracting to hear how healthcare providers are shifting toward home care and what that means for supply chain. This webinar is made specifically for Supply Chain Executives at health systems. We hope you can join us for a great conversation!

Panelists:

Charlotte Luey, Senior Manager, Ambulatory Strategic Sourcing, Providence St. Joseph Health
Adam Smerecki, System Director HME, The University of Kansas Health System
Tim Nedley, Vice President, Supply Chain Management Operations, UPMC
George Godfrey, Chief Supply Chain Officer & Corporate VP, Financial Shared Services, Baptist Health South Florida

Thank you to our title sponsor, Hollister Incorporated, for making this webinar possible.

Organizations urge Congress to extend value-based payment incentives

Twenty three national physician and healthcare associations and more than 600 health systems, hospitals, physician practices, health clinics, and accountable care organizations (ACOs) pressed congressional leaders to extend incentive payments for participation in risk-bearing alternative payment models (APMs). Incentives expire at the end of the year unless Congress acts.

The volume and diversity of the hundreds of supporters spans every corner of the country and shows the reach of APMs and the resulting incentive payments that will help ensure physicians and other clinicians have adequate resources to care for their patients.

Lawmakers in 2015 created a 5% incentive to help providers move into new payment models, such as ACOs, that encourage higher quality, more efficient, and more cost-effective care. The incentive has worked with nearly 300,000 clinicians receiving the incentive. Absent the 5 percent incentive, clinicians could be paid more under the Merit-based Incentive Payment System, which is an alternative to APMs. The letter argues an extension will give Congress more time to restructure physician payment overall to achieve its goals of better patient care at lower costs.

Henry Ford Health, Ascension Michigan to expand healthcare services

Henry Ford Health and Ascension Michigan have signed an agreement to enter a joint venture that will bring together Ascension’s southeast Michigan and Genesys healthcare facilities and assets with Henry Ford’s. This will allow both organizations to advance the health of the communities they serve and improve outcomes, access and equity for all by establishing an integrated network focused on population health and community initiatives that support the region’s most vulnerable populations, as well as innovation, academic medicine, and advanced, complex care.

The expanded organization, slated to be branded Henry Ford Health, will remain headquartered in Detroit. It would be led by President and CEO Bob Riney and governed by a Board of Directors representative of both organizations. Both organizations are committed to working to maintain the Catholic identity of the Ascension Michigan facilities included in the partnership. Conversations on the future state of the Catholic identity of these facilities are ongoing.

Ascension Michigan’s acute care hospitals that are included in the partnership are: Ascension Genesys Hospital; Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital, Warren and Madison Heights Campuses; Ascension Providence Hospital, Novi and Southfield Campuses; Ascension Providence Rochester Hospital; Ascension River District Hospital; and Ascension St. John Hospital.

All the acute care hospitals’ related sites of care will also be included, as well as Ascension Brighton Center for Recovery. All of Henry Ford’s acute care hospitals and other care facilities and assets, including Health Alliance Plan, will be included in the partnership. The combined organization would employ approximately 50,000 team members at more than 550 sites of care across our region.

Vizient names Pharmaceutical Supplier Partner of the Year

Boehringer-Ingelheim has received a 2023 Vizient Supplier Award for the partnership the company has maintained with Vizient, its largest group purchasing organization (GPO) customer. This is the first time the company has received the ‘Pharmaceutical Supplier Partner of the Year’ award, and it’s one of the highest recognitions among Vizient’s pharmaceutical categories for this award series.

Through Boehringer-Ingelheim’s decades-long collaboration with Vizient, they’ve helped further their mission to strengthen providers’ delivery of high-value care as we continue to ensure people and animals have access to affordable, effective medicines that transform their lives. Specifically, the team has worked with Vizient to help educate and update hospital members on the efficacy, safety, and value of our medicines while bringing more awareness to important aspects of care, like empowering patients living with COPD, using biosimilars and other forms of innovative treatments, and helping plan for and address drug shortages.

Congratulations to the team including Stan Alie, Sr. National Account Director GPO – Vizient, Robert Ginn Pharm. D., Sr. AD Account Medical Advisors, Renate Wolfe, Mgr. Contract Development, Susan Kessman, Sr. AD Contract Development, Lawanna Marsh, Analyst Value and Access, Contract Compliance, Janet DaSilva, AD Value and Access, Contract Compliance, and Bob Belknap, Dir. National Accounts Team Trade & Specialty Dist. Scott Segnere, ED Trade and Specialty Distribution.

CommonSpirit leaders are top diversity leaders in healthcare

Virginia Mason Franciscan Health CEO Ketul Patel and More in Common Alliance CAO Dr. Veronica Mallett were included in Modern Healthcare’s list of the top diversity leaders in healthcare.

This year’s Top Diversity Leaders have taken action in a variety of ways to make a difference at their companies and across the industry. In addition to the spotlighted individuals, Modern Healthcare has selected nine organizations that have demonstrated a commitment to diversity through executive leadership and board makeup, and through company-wide projects. The honorees serve as compelling examples of prioritizing equity and inclusion amid a shifting industry.