Commentary on GPOs Offers Insights into Misaligned Incentives

A commentary in Forbes Magazine Online this week offers a unique insight into the misaligned incentives of group purchasing organizations. The author, a former executive with a large GPO, comments on how the supplier-funded model of GPOs ultimately inflates costs to the health care system. In addition, he notes that the suppler-funded model results in excess Medicare reimbursements for hospitals, ultimately at the taxpayers’ and insurers’ expense. MDMA continues to press Congress on the need to reform GPOs and repeal the GPO safe harbor.