What is GPOnet?
We’re a not-for-profit social welfare 501(c)(4) non-exclusive aggregation group purchasing organization.
What all that means is GPOnet was created to benefit our end users and not investors.
- As a not-for-profit GPOnet has no owners.
- It cannot be sold for the benefit of anyone.
- Our mission is social welfare by helping urologists get better pricing on purchases and by supporting educational endeavors that benefit patients.
- GPOnet aggregates purchase volumes from multiple independent clinics to obtain contract pricing that represents the volume of the entire aggregated group.
- GPOnet cannot require any member to use any negotiated contract. It is up to the members to decide whose contracts to use (even other GPOs). We cannot stress this point enough. You should continue to purchase using whatever relationship is best for each product.
- Our contracts are not all or nothing. You can and should cherry-pick the contracts which are best for you.
Who is behind GPOnet?
I am Dave Coussens, MD. You’ll see me periodically at LUGPA. I’m the somewhat tall, overweight guy who wears black t-shirts with slacks and a sport coat, though I’ll only keep the coat on as briefly as I have to. I’m a Urologist with Arkansas Urology, but this is not an Arkansas Urology project. It’s independent and is meant to benefit all urologists equally whether you are in a private group or PE.
Why have you created GPOnet?
Like most of us I am in an independent (for now at least) urology practice. Most of us have participated in discussions as to how we can reduce costs and increase margins while staying independent. The business structure of GPOnet was molded to help us do just that.
What do the creators of GPOnet get out of this?
A salary that passes the IRS test of appropriateness for a not-for-profit. There is no ownership, so GPOnet can’t be sold to benefit us or anyone else. There are no shares to fight over. There are no have and have nots. There is only the not-for-profit mission of improving the viability of your practice, so that you can take care of patients, i.e. social welfare.
So what happens to net revenue?
It will be used to promote another part of our mission. Helping practices educate patients about urological health issues by supporting screenings and educational outreach.
What contracts do you have?
Please see our website GPOnet.org We are standing up our website just before LUGPA 2023 as we have just signed our first contract. Several other contracts are in active negotiation.