HSCA
Healthcare GPOs:
Critical Partners to America’s Providers and the Patients They Serve
BY KHATEREH CALLEJA, J.D.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every aspect of the American healthcare
acute and non-acute healthcare providers’
system, placing unprecedented pressure on hospitals, nursing homes, physicians, and
rapid transition to virtual visits, including
the healthcare supply chain. Throughout this tumultuous time in healthcare, one thing
weekly education and training sessions,
remained constant: the critical role that healthcare group purchasing organizations (GPOs)
providing timely updates on policy devel-
play in supporting hospitals, other healthcare providers, and the patients they serve.
opments supporting telehealth adoption, and helping members apply for telemedicine funding from The Coronavirus Aid, Relief,
HSCA, which represents the na-
GPOs are supply chain leaders in
and Economic Security Act (CARES).
tion’s leading healthcare GPOs, recently
quality assurance and take a compre-
GPOs are actively involved in policy
released its 2020 Annual Report detailing
hensive approach to purchasing that
efforts to strengthen supply chain resil-
the impact of GPOs and it confirms what
considers not only the competitive
iency, enhance upstream visibility, and
hospitals, healthcare providers, suppliers,
pricing offered, but also the quality of
drive quality throughout the healthcare
and policymakers see every day: GPOs
the manufacturer and the reliability and
system. HSCA supports measures like
improve healthcare quality; reduce costs;
stability of supply as well as key FDA
those included in the CARES Act, which
increase competition; drive transparency,
inspections as part of the contracting
strengthened reporting requirements for
visibility, and predictability; and add value
process. GPOs’ fierce commitment
manufacturers, including certain informa-
to all supply chain stakeholders.
to quality helped to protect member
tion about active pharmaceutical ingre-
hospitals from purchasing counterfeit
dients and other raw materials, to better
number of innovative steps to support
or inferior goods during the COVID-19
prevent, assess, and address shortages
COVID-19 response efforts, including
pandemic, working around the clock
of medical products. HSCA also issued
supply coordination efforts to help medi-
to field thousands of inquiries and vet
a series of principles and recommenda-
cal teams obtain much-needed supplies
new manufacturers for compliance with
tions to further strengthen supply chain
and support surge capacity, adding new
standards set by the FDA and National
resiliency and enable an effective response
manufacturers to contracts to rapidly
Institute for Occupational Safety and
to public health crises.
increase supplies, and working with non-
Health (NIOSH) and ensure safeguards
traditional and adjacent industries to fill
for product quality.
For example, GPOs have taken a
supply gaps for essential products such
GPOs’ unique line of sight across the entire healthcare system enables them
As organizations moved to virtual
to help providers anticipate and respond
as hand sanitizer, isolation gowns, and
operations, GPOs played a key role in
to rapid changes and unprecedented
surgical caps. Multiple GPOs launched
helping member providers swiftly transi-
situations like the COVID-19 pandemic.
programs to strengthen the resiliency
tion to telehealth. According to a GPO’s
As we look ahead to 2021 and beyond,
of the supply chain of essential drugs
data, provider use of telehealth skyrock-
HSCA and its members remain commit-
and shore up domestic manufacturing,
eted from fewer than two percent of
ted to helping hospitals and healthcare
helping enhance competition, mitigate
providers prior to March 2020 to more
providers deliver the most effective and
shortages and increase supplies of critical
than seventy percent by the end of April.
affordable care possible to the patients
drugs for patients.
GPOs took several steps to support
they serve.
Khatereh Calleja, J.D., is the president and CEO of Healthcare Supply Chain Association (HSCA).
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June 2021 | The Journal of Healthcare Contracting
