GPO Issues Top Senate Antitrust Agenda

Originally Published MX March/April 2003

BUSINESS NEWS

Erik Swain

"Promoting competition in the healthcare industry" received top placement in a recent announcement of 2003 agenda items for the Senate subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy, and consumer rights.

Led by chairman Mike DeWine (R–OH) and ranking member Herb Kohl (D–WI), the subcommittee last year held hearings into the alleged anticompetitive practices of hospital group purchasing organizations (GPOs).

"The subcommittee's announcement sends a clear message to the GPOs that this issue is their top priority," commented Mark B. Leahey, executive director of the Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA; Washington, DC). As a result of last year's hearings, several of the nation's leading GPOs agreed to far-reaching reform of their business practices. During the coming year, the subcommittee expects to examine closely how GPOs are implementing the reforms that they agreed to last year.