Shelf-price agreements: the next frontier in competitive bidding for coronary intervention supplies.

In an attempt to further reduce operating costs, in 2004 our institution embarked on a novel approach in which we defined the price to be paid for interventional cardiology supplies and challenged vendors to meet that price. The results suggest that this strategy can further reduce supply costs while maintaining collaborative relationships with vendors.

Shelf price agreements: a novel approach to competitive bidding for arrhythmia therapy devices.

Over the past decade, the financial pressures from variations in reimbursement and payer mix, combined with rapidly evolving technology, has forced healthcare institutions in the United States to seek out further options for cost savings. In the arena of interventional cardiology, the ability to successfully negotiate the lowest possible cost for a relatively small number of high-cost devices can result in significant savings. Historically, competitive bidding with market-share guarantee to a preferred vendor or two initially resulted in moderate cost savings.