The following are six of the largest group purchasing organizations ranked by acute-care hospital members, according to each organization's self-reported* numbers. Data was accessed July 1, 2015.
1. Novation (Irving, Texas) — 5,200 health system members and affiliates as well as 118,000 non-acute health systems. As of April 2015, VHA and UHC combined to form a new company, the name of which will be announced in January 2016. The new organization has 11 regional offices and its combined purchasing volume is over $50 billion annually. Novation previously served as the contracting arm for VHA, UHC, Children's Hospital and Provista.
2. MedAssets (Alpharetta, Ga.) — 4,500 hospitals and 123,000 non-acute healthcare providers. MedAssets is an exclusively healthcare-focused GPO that serves four out of five hospitals in the U.S. The GPO manages $59 billion in total spending by healthcare providers and $400 billion in gross revenue on behalf of its clients.
3. Amerinet (St. Louis) — 3,488 hospitals and more than 75,000 non-acute healthcare providers. Amerinet is a privately owned organization that was established in 1986. In 2012, Amerinet members spent a total of $8.9 billion. The GPO also extends its reach through 14 affiliates and over 13 alliance companies.
4. Premier (Charlotte, N.C.) — 3,400 hospitals and 110,000 other healthcare providers. In addition to leveraging contracts for its member providers, Premier also has a clinical database containing information on approximately $41 billion in annual purchasing data, approximately 2.5 million real-time daily clinical transactions and data on one third of discharges nationwide.
5. HealthTrust Purchasing Group (Brentwood, Tenn.) — 1,400 hospitals and 10,600 non-acute care sites. Founded in 1999, HealthTrust offers three types of memberships, including one offering procurement options in Europe and the United Kingdom. An affiliate of Parallon, HealthTrust also offers initiatives in sourcing, supply chain consulting and spend analytics.
6. MAGNET (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) — 760 hospitals and more than 9,000 other providers. Founded in 1979, the Mid-Atlantic Group Network of Shared Services coordinates and communicates with its five member organizations and their user networks (Dayton-based Southwest Ohio Health Care Affiliates, Wallingford-based Connecticut Hospital Association Shared Services Program, Allentown, Pa.-based Hospital Central Services Cooperative, New York City-based Joint Purchasing Corporation and Kearney, Neb.-based PHYND Technologies) to respond directly to their needs.
*Editor's note: As the data here are self-reported, there may be discrepancies in the standardization of data collection.