AOAExcel® GPO to add additional optical products to help AOA members compete

Competitive pricing on optical products, such as contact lenses, frames and lenses through the AOAExcel^® group purchasing organization (GPO) helps AOA members provide cost-competitive, quality care to patients.

In partnership with the health care GPO Intalere, AOAExcel is expanding the selection of business products and services already available to AOA members, such as professional liability insurance, credit card processing, life insurance, office and medical supplies, to include optometric-specific products for consumer resale. Intalere, acting as the AOAExcel GPO's third-party agent, will begin negotiating discounts on contact lenses, frames and lens materials to be included in the AOAExcel GPO, in turn allowing members to provide high-quality and more economically competitive optical products, reduce acquisition costs, and allow members to better compete in the highly competitive eye care market.

"This new development improves an already-great member benefit. I encourage all AOA members to take advantage of the GPO and all of the programs and services offered by AOAExcel. They are designed to help you thrive and excel," says AOA President Barbara L. Horn, O.D.

Available as an AOA member benefit (enrollment required), the AOAExcel GPO uses Intalere to independently negotiate discounted prices or rates from vendors, manufacturers and distributors. These savings—on the things that doctors of optometry need to run their practice—allow GPO members access to competitively priced optical goods. That way, members can offer better prices to patients, as well as provide the quality health care that they believe is essential.

In this regard, the AOAExcel GPO intends to offer optical products from an array of manufacturers so members can provide the product most suited for their patient's medical needs while still obtaining lower costs.

"The GPO is a tool to help our members participate in the coming wave of value-based health care programs. The GPO helps AOA-member doctors of optometry participate as valuable members of Accountable Care Organizations by providing high-quality and extremely cost-competitive health care," says Joe Ellis, O.D., chair of the AOAExcel board.

The forthcoming expansion into optometric-specific products adds to the discounted rates and prices that AOAExcel GPO members already enjoy on popular practice management solutions and business vendors, including:

• Office Depot.
• Staples.
• Sprint.
• Verizon.
• FedEx.
• UPS.
• Pitney Bowes.
• Henry Schein.
• McKesson.
• BioDOptix.

"Already, many AOA members take advantage of this member benefit for the significant savings they receive on dozens of office and business solutions that their practices use routinely," says Bob Kehm, AOAExcel managing director. "We are thrilled to expand our portfolio's offerings to bring that much more value to AOA members."

Although the AOAExcel GPO is available to all AOA members, participation in the GPO is optional and members are not obligated to purchase any products through the GPO. Additionally, Intalere will serve as a third-party negotiator on prices with GPO suppliers. Any discounts negotiated by the AOAExcel GPO will permit individual doctors of optometry to better compete in providing overall patient care services and will not raise prices to consumers.