ABSTRACT
The limited membership concept was a cornerstone of our operations, as opposed to GPOs which generally take all comers. While physicians should be deeply involved in selecting which medical devices are used, having them solely responsible for those decisions creates challenges because they do not take on the financial responsibility for those decisions. To understand the inherent problems with affordability and visibility in the medical device supply chain, it is crucial to look at why one of the largest health insurance companies in the nation was so motivated to create greater intelligence on how medical devices perform. The next concern with new device introductions is their unproven nature. Just as when a new model year automobile is introduced, it might be flashier than the previous year's model, but it is also likely to have unanticipated bugs in it. Commercial payers are generally reluctant to tell physicians which devices to use.
