A lot has been happening over the last two months in regards to our APO model launch, and we wanted to provide you with the latest update and information.
1. Recent ADA Convention:
AuDNet maintained a notable presence at this year's ADA convention at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas. Probably one of the better attended ADA conventions in recent history, AuDNet representatives manning AuDNet's booth had the opportunity to discuss the APO business model, and sign up additional audiology professional's who are committed to participating in this unique effort at securing better cost parity for audiology praxtitioners.
Dave Smriga, AuDNet's founder and president, was one of many outstanding speakers on ADA's program. His talk, "Who Are You Really Working For? The Complex New Relationship Between Audiology and Manufacturing" educated attendees about the history of our industry, group purchasing organziations (GPO's) as they are used by most hospitals and clinics to lower costs, and the opportunity to establish an audiology-centric GPO (an APO) to help lower costs for audiology practitioners. Particuarly interested in and enthusiastic about this model were the up-and-coming generation of audiology practitioners, who are truly invested in audiology's future.
2. A Major Change In APO Funding:
For those of you who have attended our APO webinars this past summer, you will be interested to note that we have changed our funding model from the subscription model ($100 per month per practice location) to a 3% vendor fee model, consistent with the historic GPO funding mechanism recognized and supported by federal regulation. Through this funding source, NO fee will be required from any APO participant. After securing meaningful discount pricing for our members from participating manufacturers, AuDNet will in addition receive a fee of no more than 3% of the discounted price paid by our members as the income source to run the APO operation. This is both a major shift in the funding source, as well as a major departure from the funding amount more commonly collected by buying group organizations within our industry who do NOT operate as GPO's.
3. Transparency Remains Our Committment:
At ADA, we introduced a slighly updated trademark for identifying and descsribing our APO. Now called, "Open-Book APO", we are reinforcing through this moniker our commitment to providing participating members whith quarterly access to AuDNet's P&L statements. Financial transparency is not only a key separater between us and the buying group organizations more common within our industry, it is an essential requirement for us to maintain our safe-harbor status as a GPO from the perespective of federal regulation. In addition, APO members can sign up for advisory board and regulatory board positions, further involving the membership in the operations and decision making aspects of Open-Book APO
4. Current Enrollment
To date, we have identified nearly 600 practices who have either joined or pledged to join Open-Book APO and commit their purchasing levels to the purchasing volume we will reference when negotiating contracts. This is not yet our 1000 practice goal, but is close. So, we intend to continue our recruiting efforts through the first quarter of 2015 in an effort to pump up our negotiating numbers some more. In addition, we are inviting other buying group organizations interested and willing to follow our GPO business model to "join forces" with us, adding their purchasing levels to the total, and further increasing the opportunity to make this approach truly competitive in the new world of diversified hearing instrument distribution and availability.
5. Going Forward
If you have not already done so, join or pledge your purchasing to the Open-Book APO initiative. You have nothing to lose -- no costs to absorb -- and everything to gain in terms of leveling the cost playing field of hearing health care.
Tell any of your colleages not aready engaged to join, pledge or learn more. We will be conducting webinars regularly throughout the first quarter of 2015. Go to
www.AuDNet.com to register for a webinar, join Open-Book APO, or pledge your buying power to Open-Book APO's negotiating strength.
With your continued participation and commitment, we indeed can make a huge difference in addressing one key issue important to sustaining audiology's future; as much cost parity as our collective purchasing can secure for all audiologists going forward.
