Group Purchasing Organizations: Federal Oversight and Self-Regulation Metadata

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Title

  • Main Title Group Purchasing Organizations: Federal Oversight and Self-Regulation

Creator

  • Author: United States. Government Accountability Office.
    Creator Type: Organization

Publisher

  • Name: United States. Government Accountability Office.
    Place of Publication: Washington D.C.

Date

  • Creation: 2012-03-30

Language

  • English

Description

  • Content Description: Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GPOs are subject to certain federal laws that HHS, DOJ, and FTC are responsible for enforcing. According to HHS Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) officials, since 2004, the office has not routinely exercised its authority to request and review disclosures related to GPOs’ contract administrative fees, but it has collected information on GPOs’ contract administrative fees while conducting audits of hospitals’ cost reports. While HHS-OIG is responsible for enforcing the Anti-Kickback statute, the law and regulation do not require routine monitoring of GPO written agreements and disclosures. HHS-OIG officials told us that even if they requested this information from GPOs, it would not necessarily be sufficient to determine whether a GPO violated the Anti-Kickback statute. Officials from HHS-OIG also told us that, since 2004, it participated in two case investigations with DOJ that involved allegations that certain GPOs did not comply with safe harbor requirements and violated the Anti-Kickback statute. Officials told us that HHS-OIG has not imposed administrative penalties on any GPOs since 2004. DOJ and FTC have investigated complaints related to federal antitrust laws, and we identified one lawsuit filed by DOJ against a GPO in 2007. FTC officials told us that while the agency has investigated GPOs to determine whether their behavior was anticompetitive, the agency has not taken any enforcement action against a GPO since 2004."

Subject

  • Library of Congress Subject Headings: Government accountability -- United States.
  • Keyword: health care
  • Keyword: group purchasing organizations
  • Keyword: correspondence

Coverage

  • Place Name: United States

Collection

  • Name: Government Accountability Office Reports
    Code: GAORT

Institution

  • Name: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
    Code: UNTGD

Rights

  • Rights License: pd

Resource Type

  • Text

Format

  • Text

Identifier

  • Report No.: GAO-12-399R
  • Accession or Local Control No: 589777
  • URL: http://gao.gov/products/GAO-12-399R
  • Archival Resource Key: ark:/67531/metadc297860
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