Seventeen healthcare organizations in Louisiana and Mississippi, and a multi-physician clinic, have formed the Gulf States Purchasing Coalition to reduce their supply expenses and improve their operational performance. This group, previously known as the Gulf States Sourcing Collaborative, has transitioned to a purchasing coalition to further aggregate their purchasing volume to achieve greater savings than they could have realized individually, according to VHA Inc., a national network of not-for-profit health care organizations that work together to drive maximum savings in the supply chain arena. VHA serves more than 1,350 hospitals and more than 30,000 non-acute care providers.

The coalition anticipates its members will achieve more than $5m in savings in 2011. These hospitals, all members of VHA Inc., have a projected annual supply spend of more than $650m.

Working with VHA, the Gulf States Purchasing Coalition will act as a single entity in order to drive savings and supply chain efficiency. These hospitals will leverage VHA's contracting support and supply chain expertise to obtain better pricing on aggregated purchases, including clinical commodities and clinical preference items.

"After years of successful collaboration, valuable networking with their peers and substantial cost savings, the Gulf States' members are ready to increase their commitment to each other," said Taylor White, senior vice president, SupplyNetworks, at VHA. "Through volume aggregation, our members can focus on areas of standardization and establish a dialogue around clinical utilization to identify opportunities for even further cost savings and improved levels of care otherwise unavailable elsewhere in today's healthcare environment."

Source: VHA Inc.