There’s a common belief in the healthcare industry that partnering with Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) means that most or all non-clinical purchases are covered by the contract. It almost sounds too good to be true: GPOs have all the answers for all your procurement needs. Finally, a one-stop shop for all your procurement solutions! Unfortunately, […]
As hospitals feel the squeeze to cut costs, they have many places to look. Some are evaluating how things are done in the operating room. Others are mining data for clues as to what causes extended hospital stays, high costs or undesired outcomes. The Cleveland Clinic, for one, is evaluating how and from where it […]
A Minnesota startup that distributes medical devices and develops healthcare inventory management solutions could raise up to half a million dollars for a beta launch in January. CorCardia Group Inc., based in Woodbury, Minnesota, will negotiate supply contracts and also manage supply chain inventory for medical device companies and hospitals, specifically catheterization laboratories. “There are […]
Every week, MedCity News highlights the best of its MedCitizens: syndication partners and MedCity News readers who discuss life science current events on MedCitynews.com. Now here’s the best of what YOU had to say: A good week for group purchasing. Irving, Texas-based UMCSC announced a one-year contract for cardiac rhythm management products with St. Jude, […]
Premier Inc. announced two new deals yesterday, bringing them to four contracts this week alone. The hospital group purchasing organization signed contracts with Deerfield, Ill.-based Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) and Instrumentation Laboratory of Bedford, Mass. Earlier this week Premier signed contracts with both Covidien plc (NYSE:COV) and Medline Industries Inc. for incontinence products, and announced deals […]
The latest group purchasing organization deal by Upper Midwest Consolidated Services Center thumbs a nose at Medtronic’s (NYSE:MDT) controversial decision to cut several GPO deals earlier this year by replacing a Medtronic contract with a St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ) deal. Irving, Texas-based UMCSC announced a one-year contract for cardiac rhythm management products with St. Jude […]
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
When medical device goliath Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT) canceled $2 billion worth of supply contracts with group purchasing organization Novation LLC in February, Wall Street analysts speculated that it might be the start of a larger trend of medical device industries bucking GPOs. Considering that Premier Inc., which Medtronic cut in March, just announced two new […]
Novation may have been jilted by Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) in February, but the group purchasing organization hasn’t let any grass grow under its feet in its search for new partners. The Irving, Texas-based GPO said it signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with German cardiac rhythm device maker Biotronik, hard on the heels of inking another 30-month pact […]
St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ) snatched a contract from group purchasing organization Novation after its Twin Cities competitor Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) walked away from a similar deal with the GPO in February. Novation said the 30-month deal, which went into effect April 1, will see St. Jude supply it with cardiac rhythm management products — which were […]
Every week, MedCity News highlights the best of its MedCitizens: syndication partners and MedCity News readers who discuss life science current events on MedCityNews.com. Now here's the best of what YOU had to say.
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT) is not changing its stance on group purchasing organizations, despite recently canceling several contracts with Premier and Novation, two of the industry's largest GPOs. "There's a lot of speculation around here that a strategic change is going on," Medtronic CFO Gary Ellis told analysts at the Barclay's Capital Investors Conference in Miami. "That is not the case." GPOs play a significant role in the delivery of healthcare, Ellis noted, and they're beneficial in streamlining the process of selling into hospital systems.
Medtronic's decision to cancel contracts with group purchasing associations including Novation and Premier. could be a sign of things to come for a medical technology industry seeking to boost profits any way it can.
Medtronic's group purchasing organization strategy is "nothing short of an attack on America's hospitals" according to the Health Industry Group Purchasing Association. Medtronic has been canceling contracts with group purchasing organizations as a way, the company claims, to cut healthcare costs.
Group purchasing organizations cost their member hospitals billions more than they should be paying for medical supplies, according to a new study funded by the Washington, D.C.-based Medical Device Manufacturers Assn., The study suggests that hospitals and the federal government could save $37.5 billion a year if they changed the way GPOs are compensated. The […]
Novartis will pay out-of-pocket costs for patients who use its new multiple sclerosis drug Gilenya -- up to $800 a month. And the drugmaker will foot the bill -- up to $600 -- for clinical testing and monitoring the FDA required as part of the product's approval, according to FiercePharma.
