GPO safety zone
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Group purchasing organizations participating in anti-competitive contracting practices should be disqualified from the Healthcare Policy Statement 7 antitrust safety zone, Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.) recommends in an Oct. 23 letter to FTC and DoJ. Disparate product bundling, sole-source contracting and practices that stifle innovation are cited as examples of excludable actions. Coming on the heels of a Sept. 26 FTC/DoJ hearing on GPOs, the missive also suggests decreasing the 35% market share threshold sanctioned by the safety zone (1"The Gray Sheet" Oct. 13, 2003, p. 5)...