Regional Purchasing Coalition (RPC)
What is a Regional Purchasing Coalition (RPC)?
A Regional Purchasing Coalition (RPC) is a group of healthcare providers that have voluntarily combined purchasing power to access higher-tier pricing discounts through a GPO or directly with suppliers.
RPCs are often referred to as supply networks, regional collaboratives, regional groups, aggregation groups, and virtual IDNs.
Why are Regional Purchasing Coalitions (RPCs) important in healthcare?
RPCs help like-minded care facilities leverage their collective purchasing power within a region to achieve better pricing options — regardless of their group purchasing organization (GPO) affiliation.
When RPCs are discussed, it is generally in the same conversation as Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) and Integrated Delivery Networks (IDNs). Where GPOs focus solely on buying and IDNs primarily on centralized management, RPCs exist in a gray area that more closely aligns with GPOs.