The IDN (Integrated Delivery Network) Summit is a trade show in reverse. At a standard trade show, prospective clients wander around vendor booths; at the IDN Summit, executives from hospitals and health systems occupy the booths while vendors including manufacturers, suppliers and GPOs visit booths to network with them. In addition, hospitality events are typically hosted by the seven national GPOs -- Amerinet, Broadlane, Consorta, HealthTrust, MedAssets, Novation, and Premier.

"It's an opportunity to give the health systems the visibility and develop better relationships with manufacturers and suppliers," said Greg Firestone, CEO of NCI, Tampa, Florida, the professional education company that runs the summit and other seminars focused on the healthcare supply chain, particularly in the acute care sector. "The objective is to put seller and buyer together in an informal environment and break down walls so they can more effectively communicate."

Firestone acknowledged the tension between stakeholders including manufacturers with expensive, high-tech equipment, administrators trying to cut costs, clinicians seeking advanced clinical capabilities, and payors trying to make heads or tails of it. "There's animosity among stakeholders--GPOs, health systems, payors--and mistrust in the industry unfortunately, and a need for collaboration," Firestone said. "We are trying to get these people together to listen to one another."
So far so good: Reviews are favorable for the effectiveness of the 2005 summit, which was held in September. Be sure to put this year's event on your calendar: The 12th Annual IDN Summit & EXPO will be held September 6-8, 2006 at Gaylord Palms Resort, Orlando, Florida.

Up next on the docket for NCI is their Supply Chain Forum, March 20-21, at the Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas. For more information about the event and NCI, go to www.ncihome.com.

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