Health Care Trends: Physicians Shift Loyalty to Hospitals in Purchase Negotiations

Executive Summary

The product selection process at many hospitals has become a much more complicated process, something that actually pleases hospital executives, but may cause some problems for device manufacturers. The changes are targeted at high-priced medical devices such as orthopedic implants, which traditionally have been bought and sold based almost completely on physician preference. However, in the current tough economy, a combination of data and physicians willing to work with hospitals to keep costs down is making the supply chain a different market than it has been in the past.