How much does your practice spend on drug, medical, surgical, and office supplies each year? The typical orthopaedic surgeon spends about $66,000 each year, according to the Medical Group Management Association 2013 Cost Survey for Orthopaedic Practices.

Every dollar your practice saves on supplies drops right to the bottom line and results in a dollar increase in income. But seeking out the lowest cost supplier for each of the thousands of items used in the practice—ranging from syringes to C-arms—can be a hassle.

The AAOS Group Purchasing Program, powered by MedAssets, is designed to help you reduce costs, eliminate hassles, and obtain the best competitive pricing. The program provides a one-stop shopping experience where you and your staff can identify needed supplies and compare pricing among several different suppliers.

One member’s savings
According to Thomas J. Grogan, MD, a solo practitioner in Los Angeles, the AAOS Group Purchasing Program reduced his supply expenses by 9 percent during his first year of participation. “As the chair of the AAOS Practice Management Committee, I wanted to support the program,” said Dr. Grogan. “At the same time, with changes in the payer environment occurring, I needed to reduce practice expenses.”

As part of the AAOS Group Purchasing Program, Dr. Grogan decided to centralize his supply purchasing with one distributor. “This enabled me to improve supply inventory management for those items most used in my practice,” said Dr. Grogan, “as well as to track ordering and identify savings. In 2013, I saved $4,234.98 from my preferred distributor—a documented cost reduction of about 9 percent of my total annual spend. I made some additional purchases from other distributors, which generated additional savings.”

How much can you save?
You can see firsthand the potential cost-savings for your practice in just 30 minutes—and it won’t cost you a cent. Working with a MedAssets customer service representative, your staff can price out up to 25 supply items to compare pricing based on the same distributor or vendor you now use. Your staff simply needs to supply manufacturer name, item number, description, and packaging. That information can be found on your most recent supply purchase invoice.

Convenient and simple
There are no memberships or sign-up fees to participate in the AAOS Group Purchasing Program, but you do need to be an AAOS member. To participate, your practice completes two different agreements—a general participation agreement and individual vendor designation agreements.

Decide whether you want to select a single preferred vendor or multiple vendors. The dedicated AAOS Group Purchasing Program customer service representative will be very happy to assist in working with your selected distributor to get you lower supply costs.

For more information, visit the AAOS Member Advantage program webpage at www.aaos.org/advantage or contact Anita Jones, the dedicated AAOS account representative, at 678-248-8130 or ajones@medassets.com

Howard Mevis is the director of electronic media, evaluation programs, course operations & practice management. He can be reached at mevis@aaos.org