“Systemness” at the core of Baylor Scott & White’s contracting success, GPOs accused of inflating prices and IDN owned GPOs

Tony Johnson has made great progress since joining Baylor Scott & White a couple years ago as Senior Vice President and Chief Supply Officer.

Modern Healthcare covered his progress it in its February 3, 2018 issue.

In March, the 48-hospital system bundled total joints and cardiovascular devices and supplies, saving $32 million. In August it launched a new wave of categories that has saved it $20 million.

“It takes time but I don’t think anyone can argue with $32 million,” Johnson said. “On top of that, it is helping to evolve our health system’s thinking and ‘systemness.”

The article also eluded to GPOs actually having upward pressure on pricing.

Some providers, fed up with what they say are inflated GPO prices, have sought bargains elsewhere. “GPOs are really dinosaurs in the industry,” said Rob Austin, associate director at consultancy Navigant.

Then the article explores the trend of big IDNs creating their own GPOs, citing examples of UPMC, Intermountain and Mercy.

I know this contracting arena is hard for writers who are not in it everyday to understand, and the nuances are difficult to grasp. I think this article does a nice job identifying the questions, but doesn’t really finish with solutions.

I am always amazed how much is written about GPOs without direct comment from them. From what I can tell their contracted volume continues to increase and their relevance to their clients and owners gets wider.

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