Participatory Approaches to Purchasing Decisions within the Healthcare System

The main purpose of this study was to use sociotechnical and Macroergonomic principles to better understand purchasing policies and procedures at a large hospital. The study hypothesized (H1), that most purchasing is done through GPOs rather than manufacturers directly, and that GPOs are cost effective but impede innovation. It also hypothesized (H2), that this hospital, representative of the current healthcare purchasing process at most hospitals, has limitations to the amount of end-user participation in the purchasing decision process