CEO Insight: Why a GPO and Purchasing Platform Work Better Together
August 21, 2026 by Medigroup
A group purchasing organization (GPO) helps healthcare organizations access competitively negotiated contracts across the products and services they use every day. A purchasing platform complements those contracts by giving practices greater visibility into purchasing activity, making it easier to identify available agreements and take advantage of contracted pricing when it makes sense for their organization.
Together, a GPO and purchasing platform can create a more connected, informed approach to purchasing. This helps practices improve efficiency, make better purchasing decisions, and uncover opportunities to reduce costs.
The Role of a GPO
A healthcare GPO negotiates contracts on behalf of its members, helping practices access pricing and terms that may be difficult to secure independently. Many of these agreements are available through major medical distributors such as Henry Schein and McKesson, allowing members to access contracted pricing through familiar purchasing channels.
But a practice’s purchasing needs can extend across many suppliers, categories, and ordering methods. With multiple people making purchasing decisions, it can become difficult to maintain a complete view of what is being purchased and where contracted opportunities may be available.
That’s where a purchasing platform can add value.
How a Purchasing Platform Creates Value
A purchasing platform brings purchasing activity into a more centralized system, giving practices greater visibility into what they buy, where they buy it, and what they pay. Depending on the platform and the organization’s purchasing processes, transaction data can provide a clearer picture of purchasing activity across suppliers and categories.
For MediGroup members, that visibility can make it easier to understand where existing contracts are being used and where additional opportunities may exist.
Three areas can be especially valuable:
Greater Efficiency
Managing purchasing through a centralized platform can reduce the need to navigate multiple ordering processes, portals, and vendor relationships. A more streamlined workflow can save staff time and make purchasing easier to manage, allowing team members to spend more time focused on their core responsibilities and patient care.
Better Contract Utilization
Visibility into purchasing activity can help MediGroup and its members identify categories where an existing contract may apply. Rather than assuming every available contract is already being used, purchasing data provides a practical way to evaluate opportunities and determine which agreements make sense for the practice.
Importantly, the decision remains with the member. MediGroup helps identify and evaluate opportunities; members maintain control over where and how they purchase.
More Informed Decision-Making
Standardized purchasing data can reveal patterns that are difficult to see when orders are spread across multiple suppliers or systems. Practices may be able to identify duplicate purchases, unnecessary variation, opportunities for consolidation, or categories that warrant further review.
Instead of relying solely on historical purchasing habits, organizations can use better information to make more intentional decisions.
Why the Combination Matters
A GPO and purchasing platform serve different but complementary purposes.
The GPO provides access to negotiated contracts and purchasing expertise. The platform provides greater visibility into purchasing activity. Together, they give practices the information and resources needed to evaluate purchasing opportunities more effectively.
That does not mean every purchase should be moved to a GPO contract or that every organization should purchase the same way. The goal is to give practices better visibility into their options so they can make informed decisions based on their operational and financial priorities.
How MediGroup Members Can Benefit from Purchasing Platforms
Joining MediGroup gives members access to a broad portfolio of negotiated contracts across more than 100 purchasing categories, including medical supplies, capital equipment, office products, and other products and services used by healthcare organizations.
However, access to a contract portfolio is only one part of the equation. Members also need an effective way to understand which agreements are relevant to their organization and where they may have opportunities to improve purchasing.
A purchasing platform can help provide that visibility.
With more complete purchasing data, MediGroup can work with members to review purchasing activity, identify relevant contract opportunities, and help determine where changes may provide meaningful value. The objective is not to dictate where members purchase. It is to provide the information, contracts, and support they need to make better purchasing decisions.
MediGroup’s Approach
MediGroup is platform-agnostic. We do not require members to use a specific purchasing platform, nor do we believe there is a single solution that is right for every healthcare organization.
Platforms such as Hybrent, Envi, Wren, and Clixon are designed to help healthcare organizations manage purchasing and can support GPO contract pricing. The right choice depends on a practice’s existing processes, technology, purchasing volume, and operational needs.
MediGroup can help members understand how their contracts fit within the platform they choose and use purchasing data to identify additional opportunities within the MediGroup contract portfolio.
The potential value goes beyond product savings. Better purchasing visibility can help organizations save staff time, improve purchasing processes, and gain a clearer understanding of where their dollars are going. Actual savings and return on investment will vary by organization, purchasing patterns, contract utilization, and platform costs.
What Strong Contract Utilization Looks Like
Getting more value from a GPO does not mean purchasing every product through a particular supplier or automatically choosing a contracted option.
It means having visibility into the contracts available to your organization and evaluating those opportunities as purchasing needs arise.
A well-connected healthcare supply chain makes that easier. When MediGroup and its members have better visibility into purchasing activity, they can more readily identify relevant agreements, evaluate potential savings, and revisit opportunities as new contracts become available.
The result is a more strategic approach to purchasing—one that combines MediGroup’s negotiated contract portfolio and purchasing expertise with the visibility of a purchasing platform, while preserving the flexibility and independence members need to make the decisions that are right for their organizations.
ABOUT ANDY KLEARMAN, CEO – Before he was CEO of MediGroup, Andy spent 10 years in leadership at a medical supply distribution company. His experience led him to found MediGroup, which is the largest group purchasing organization for non-acute care in the United States. He has spent his career helping physicians lower their operating costs.
ABOUT MEDIGROUP – MediGroup helps physician practices, surgery centers, and urgent care facilities lower overhead through pre-negotiated contracts across medical, operational, and indirect spend. Membership is free. Visit medigroup.com.
