When it comes to healthcare and changing an industry in ways that will benefit this country, it is important to look at organizations that are setting standards and raising the bar.
Recently, the Healthcare Group Purchasing Industry Initiative (HGPII), an organization dedicated to promoting the highest ethical standards and practices for the healthcare group purchasing industry, announced steps that will allow for even more transparency.
HGPII is doing two key things. They are activating a formal process to ensure prompt and fair resolution of supplier complaints regarding a group purchasing organization’s (GPO) purchasing process; and they are implementing an Independent Advisory Council to have outside observers make sure they are doing everything possible in terms of ethical standards.
This is amazing, especially for an organization that already was a model citizen when it comes to ethical standards.
HGPII leaders hope other segments of the healthcare supply chain will follow their lead by implementing their own policies and best practice procedures to increase transparency and eliminate conflicts of interest. I agree and hope we will see this happen. But not all segments of the healthcare industry are taking this on as aggressively. For example, the medical device industry and Pharma. While ethical rules and regulations are in place, it is unclear if they are truly enforced. Many companies appear to be policing themselves.
The fact that HGPII would initiate the policies I mentioned earlier, including an independent third party observer, says a lot. These actions make it clear that GPOs mean business. They believe in high standards, ethics and transparency and are really leading the way and leading by example.
Kester Freeman blogs regularly at Action for Better Healthcare.