Frequently Asked Questions 

Organization

Q. Who are the key executives of HealthTrust?
A.  Meet our Key Leaders.

Q. What is HealthTrust's greatest strength?
A. Our People.

Q. Are there any membership fees a member must pay to belong to HealthTrust?
A. No. There is no membership fee for a member to belong to HealthTrust.

Q. Can a member belong to more than one GPO?
A. No. Allowing dual memberships with other GPOs would contribute to the deterioration of the integrity of our national agreements. It would also seriously limit the vendors' ability to extend to us the best pricing, which is due in large part to HealthTrust's committed volume.

Q. Can a member access part of the GPO portfolio and not the whole program?
A. Yes. The major categories of the program are National Agreement Supplies/Services/Energy/Pharmacy, and HealthTrust's Physician GPO.

Q. How many hospital members does HealthTrust have?
A. Currently, HealthTrust has over 1300 members, including acute cares, surgery centers, psych facilities, LTACs and other Alt Care sites. 800 Acute Care facilities, 330 Surgery Centers, 107 Psychiatric facilities, and 91 Alternate Care sites.

National Agreements

Q. How many Clinical Agreements are in HealthTrust's portfolio?
A. HealthTrust currently has over 350 clinical supply, equipment and service-related agreements. 220 Clinical Supply Agreements, 118 Equipment Agreements, and 4 Service-Related Agreements.

Q. How many Non-Clinical Agreements does HealthTrust maintain?
A. Currently, HealthTrust has over 450 Non-Clinical Supply, Service, and Information Systems Agreements: 76 supply, 31service-related, 131 equipment, 24 Information Systems, and over 320 food service related agreements.

Q. How many Pharmacy Agreements does HealthTrust offer?
A. HealthTrust currently offers 132 P.A.C.T. (Pharmacy Alliance for Clinical Therapeutics) contracts covering pharmaceuticals and pharmacy-related services offered to 6 different classes of trade:

• Acute Care hospitals;
• Retail Pharmacy;
• Long-Term Care sites;
• Ambulatory Care Centers such as Surgery Centers, Physician Offices and Home Care.

HealthTrust also has 3 service contracts for inventory and drug return companies.

Q. What is the typical length of time for agreements?
A. The typical length of time for agreements is 3-5 years. (Pharmacy Agreements are typically on a 2 year cycle.) The rationale, assuming contract performance, is to contract in a fashion that would create less frequent interruption to operations, and at the same time, foster long-term collaborative relationships with the vendors.

Want to know more? Visit our National Agreements area.

Contracting Philosophy

Q. How are HealthTrust contract awards classified?
A. HealthTrust has 4 types of contracts:

Sole: One vendor for a product area, which represents a great economic value for exclusive contracts.
Dual: A facility can choose between two vendors.
Multi: A facility can choose from more than two vendors.
Optional: At least one vendor with the option to add others. The use or non-use of Optional Agreements is at the discretion of each facility and/or group. These are primarily used for service-related agreements.
Physician Preference Agreements

Q. Is there a supplier certification process in place? If so, what is the criterion?
A. Vendor qualification is a key component of our contracting process.

Sanctioned Individuals and Companies: Utilizing guidance from the OIC Model Compliance Program Guidance for Hospitals, 63 FR 8987-8998 Limitations on Equipment, HR.209, we investigate all individuals and companies from whom we purchase product to ensure that they have not been debarred by the OIG. In the event we determine a supplier has been debarred, we will immediately notify our membership to discontinue purchasing until the debarment has been lifted. The sites we use for this study are: www.epls.gov and www.exclusions.oig.hhs.gov. 

Q. How does HealthTrust ensure competitiveness within the hospital industry?
A. HealthTrust delivers unparalleled compliance coupled with significant volume to our contracted suppliers. Commensurate with our commitment, we clearly communicate our expectation that our pricing be the industry best.

To ensure competitiveness, we perform extensive pricing due diligence in the normal course of business as well as each time a prospective member considers HealthTrust.

Q. Does HealthTrust have "rebate" agreements?
A. Yes. Rebates are common in our national agreements. However, it is HealthTrust's desire to reflect all discounts negotiated in the form of net pricing. Our suppliers have expressed significant resistance to this strategy due to their need to shield our pricing from the market place. In order to receive the deepest discounts, we utilize the rebate mechanism. All rebates are distributed to the corporate office of the hospital system that generated the purchase volumes related to the rebates.

Q. What is the basic philosophy used to determine whether or not to contract for a specific service or product?
A. Our membership is the primary consideration used to determine whether or not to contract for a specific service or product. Our extensive network of Clinical and Materials Management Advisory Boards is the vehicle used to obtain that input as well as development of contracting strategy for a specific area of need.

Through HealthTrust's 4-Step Process, our Clinical and Materials Management Boards perform evaluations and field testing to ensure product quality and clinical viability. Through this testing and continual involvement of the field throughout the planning and contracting process, HealthTrust ensures that our contracts meet the needs of our members.

As part of our overall strategic planning, we perform an extensive financial analysis to determine those areas that have the potential to provide the greatest savings or return to our membership (80/20 analysis).

Q. How are contracts reviewed by product or service users?
A. Clinicians, physicians, and materials managers are encouraged to call HealthTrust's Customer Service department to report any quality or service issues and to ask any questions they might have regarding HealthTrust contracts. Also, HealthTrust's Advisory Boards meet quarterly to review contract and vendor performance, quality, etc.

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