Its location in the nation's capital added drama to the recent HIGPA International Expo as Congress wrestled with the "most significant health care reform in 50 years," as Consorta's John Sampson put it.

Incoming HIGPA chairman Todd Ebert, CEO of AmeriNet, commented on the wide range of topics covered at the Expo and the Washington location, "I thought the content was very good...and D.C. is where the action is."

HIGPA, the Health Industry Group Purchasing Association, which met last month, is a broad-based trade association that represents 17 group purchasing organizations (GPOs), most in attendance at the Expo, along with health care providers and suppliers. Association President Curtis Rooney was ebullient. "I thought that the HIGPA Expo was better than ever. Even in this tough economy, we still hit our attendance numbers," he said.

Attendance was reported as 459 registrants including 202 suppliers, 141 GPO personnel, and others who participated in a reverse trade show. Highlights included a variety of sessions, mostly focused on cost strategies, health care quality, and, of course, health care reform and the current legislative activity in Congress.

Although attendees engaged in wide-ranging debate on the particulars of health care reform, they generally agreed that final passage would indeed come. As pollster Mark Mellman emphasized, the 1994 failure by Democrats to enact legislation resulted in a loss of 52 seats in the House of Representatives. This fear among Democrats, Mellman argued, is "the driving force" propelling health care reform forward. Pundits differed only slightly in their predictions of the timing of Congress's final bill passage and the President's signature, with the very latest date offered by political insider Bob Van Heuvelen as Groundhog Day in February 2010.

Industry Stress, Cost-Saving Solutions

Some ominous signs were clear for at least two groups with a vested interest in the debate. Health care providers feel the stress, faced with declining reimbursements and increased volumes of uninsured or under-insured patients. Medical device makers, targeted by some provisions of health care legislation and regulation, may be taxed as much as $40 billion over 10 years.

Other hot topics included GPO rostering, GS1 standards, PPIs, and EMRs. The PPI (physician preferred items) were confirmed once again in a survey by Arizona State's Dr. Gene Schneller as a stubborn expense, still resistant to cost containment efforts. Incoming HIGPA chairman Todd Ebert agreed, saying, "GPOs are doing a nice job, but we have more work to do, especially in PPI."

That "nice job" GPOs are doing is quantified in two reports, including Dr. Schneller's 2009 study that assigns $36 billion in savings to GPO efforts, as well as a newer study by Drs. David Goldenberg and Roland King citing even greater GPO savings of $64 billion annually.

Mark Miriani, President of MedAssets Supply Chain, hinted that those studies deserve more attention, especially in light of a warning by Democratic lobbyist Melissa Shulman, who offered a "greater appreciation of GPOs," but noted "an active few want to question the model."

Countering GPO detractors, however, was speaker Dr. Mark Pauly of the Wharton School. He relayed an endorsement of GPO efforts, however obliquely, by paraphrasing Woody Allen in the movie Annie Hall, "Never pay retail." It was an amusing and apt summation of the benefits of the group purchasing model.

Next year's Expo is scheduled for October 25-27, 2010 in Orlando. Time will tell whether government's newly cast role in health care will command the discussion.

Read DOTmed's prior report:
HIGPA Expo Highlights GPO Activities
https://www.dotmed.com/news/story/10508