By Daniel J. Vukelich
Last December, in an announcement framed as the White House taking on prescription drug costs, the Biden Administration declared a broader war on corporate greed in healthcare. The announcement went well beyond fighting bloated drug costs to attack anticompetitive contracts that cause unnecessary waste for hospitals, payors, and the patients they serve.
As
reported by HCB News, the White House announcement led to a March 2024 release with news that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have opened an
online portal for reporting anticompetitive business practices in hospitals, among other examples of antitrust in the health sector.
Sunlight is the best disinfectant, it’s been said, and there has never been a better opportunity to expose unscrupulous, anticompetitive contracting practices than now. For over 20 years, our members have shared stories of some original equipment manufacturers offering kickbacks, chipping equipment with the sole purpose of hindering reprocessing, and other antics that raise inhibit a hospital’s right to use FDA regulated, reprocessed single-use devices (SUDs).
At the recent CleanMed conference, with over 800 doctors, nurses, and sustainability managers, some presenters spoke openly about kickbacks offered by original equipment manufacturers to thwart reprocessing contracts.
When hospitals use reprocessed SUDs, they reduce cost (to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars), waste, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Numerous peer reviewed studies show that reprocessing cuts costs (typically by 30 to 50% compared to using a virgin device each time) and CO2 emissions are reduced by about 40%. When some stand in the way of the practice, they are part of the problem.
This is a red flag moment, and if we want to see an end to unfair, anticompetitive contracts, our industry needs to speak up.
Hospitals have an unprecedented opportunity to comment on the state of purchasing contracts for medical devices. To encourage filing complaints on the portal (which can be submitted anonymously), we want to share a few ideas about what kinds of topics the government might want to hear about from providers, supply chain purchasers, and hospital sustainability managers.
