Group Purchasing Organizations kickbacks (“GPOs”)
these are for-profit companies that consolidate the purchasing power of a large group of separate entities and leverage the volume to negotiate contractual discounts from national suppliers of pharmaceutical and other health care products. Members of the GPOs benefit by discount prices. Most hospitals are members of a GPO. GPO’s have been the subject of several kickback investigations. Related questions to ask include, are the rebates paid by the GPO (such as McKesson, Amerisource Bergen, Cardinal Health, Owens and Minor) properly identified as purchase credit rebates as a separate line item in their hospital client Medicare cost reports?