Contract Award and Vendor Information Policy

I. Criteria

  1. In order to be eligible to bid on a GNYHA Regional contract, a vendor must be an entity that is duly formed and in good standing under the laws of the relevant jurisdiction and, to the extent applicable, licensed to provide the products and services for which it seeks to submit a bid. GNYHA reserves the right to disqualify any bidder based on objective evidence of possible violation of the law or failure to comply with industry standards.
  2. GNYHA encourages the participation of small, women, and/or minority-owned businesses.
  3. Eligible vendors must meet all applicable Joint Commission regulations.
  4. Eligible vendors must not be on the Medicare exclusion list.

II.  Contract Award Process

  1. All national group purchasing contracts that are offered through the Premier/GNYHA group purchasing program and directly entered into between Premier and a participating vendor are subject to Premier’s contract award process. For information on that process, vendors and other third-parties should be directed to the Premier website, www.premierinc.com.
  2. The overwhelming majority of contracts offered through the GNYHA/Premier Program are national contracts entered into directly by Premier and the relevant vendor. Therefore, if a vendor is interested in offering a contract through the GNYHA/Premier program, it should initially be directed to contact Premier. Additionally, in certain cases, GNYHA will submit the vendor’s name to Premier directly.
  3. If a vendor is interested in a GNYHA Regional Contract, the contracting process is subject to GNYHA’s Regional Contracting Procedures, as described in detail on the GNYHA website. The selection of a vendor should involve the following principles, to the extent relevant:
    1. With respect to regional contracts for products and services that are not offered through national contracts, including contracts for non-commodity items, if the nature of the product or service is conducive to an RFP process, GNYHA will conduct a formal RFP. When an RFP is not practicable, e.g., because the contract is for a specialized service that does not have identical cohorts in the marketplace, GNYHA will attempt to identify numerous vendors that offer the relevant product or service and invite them to engage in a competitive negotiation for a contract award. Notice of the opportunity to submit a proposal will be posted on the GNYHA Web site and will provide detailed information regarding the products/services sought, required qualifications for suppliers and manner in which proposals are to be submitted.
    2. GNYHA will review all proposals submitted by vendors within the published guidelines and award the contract to the vendor(s) that is determined to offer the terms that best meet members’ needs, based on factors including pricing, quality, and service offering. GNYHA may also consider factors such as reputation of a vendor and members’ past experience with a vendor, in making its decision. GNYHA shall keep a record of the reason for the selection of a particular vendor if such selection was based on a reason other than the lowest price. GNYHA may in its discretion decide not to award any contract after reviewing all proposals.
    3. Regional contracts may also be entered into on a “custom contract” basis, when one or more members request that GNYHA enter into a contract with a particular vendor. Requests for custom contracts should be recorded in GNYHA’s records.
    4. With respect to national contracts that have been awarded to vendors based on a competitive process, GNYHA may negotiate with one or more of such vendors to provide enhanced contract terms for GNYHA participants. GNYHA will post a notice on its website notifying all relevant vendors about when it is seeking a regional enhancement to a national contract for products or services in a particular category. Participating Vendors are also free to proactively submit proposals to GNYHA for regional enhancement contracts
    5. To the extent possible, GYNHA shall seek member input in all aspects of its contracting process, including the determination of which products to offer on a regional basis, identification of potential suppliers and contract award.
    6. If it has been determined that a Regional Contract is needed, the selection of a vendor should involve input from the GNYHA Regional Advisory Committee, the GNYHA GPO Executive Committee, and other member advisory committees, as appropriate.
    7. It is GNYHA’s policy to offer physician preference products in the GNYHA/Premier Program on a “multi-source” basis—i.e., to offer participants a choice of vendors with respect to products that are offered. If for any particular product, one or more vendor contracts is offered at the national level, GNYHA is not required to offer more than one additional vendor at the GNYHA Regional level. The multi-source requirement will be met if through the GNYHA/Premier Program, participants have a choice of more than one vendor, regardless of whether one is offered from a national contract and one is offered from a regional contract. With respect to all other items, it is GNYHA’s policy to offer contracts on a multisource basis if there is more than one available vendor that offers appropriate contract terms. However, if a sole source award will result in better pricing and other terms for members, GNYHA may offer the contract on a sole source basis.
    8. GNYHA’s commitment to offering contracts for products with innovative technology is largely fulfilled through the Premier Technology Breakthrough Program. GNYHA is not required to create a separate program that would be duplicative of the Premier Program, however, on at least an annual basis, relevant members of the GNYHA senior staff should meet to evaluate the efficacy of the Premier technology program with respect to GNYHA and discuss possible improvements that may be recommended to Premier and/or ways that GNYHA can create a supplemental program to enhance the Premier Technology Program. The dates of such meetings and a brief description of the conclusions made by GNYHA staff should be recorded in the Company’s records.
    9. GNYHA’s commitment to diversity among suppliers is largely fulfilled through the Premier Supplier Diversity Program. GNYHA is not required to create a program that would be duplicative of the Premier Program, however, on at least an annual basis, relevant members of the GNYHA senior staff including a member of the Legal Department should meet to evaluate the efficacy of the Premier program with respect to GNYHA and discuss possible improvements that may be recommended to Premier or ways that GNYHA can create a supplemental program to enhance the Premier Supplier Diversity Program. The dates of such meetings and a brief description of the conclusions made by GNYHA staff should be recorded in GNYHA’s records.
    10. GNYHA occasionally gets random inquiries from vendors who seek to offer a product to GNYHA members. Any staff member who receives such a request will forward it to the GNYHA Vice President or other senior staff member who reviews new product offerings. GNYHA may act on such a request if (i) members have previously expressed an interest in the product or (ii) if upon inquiry, members indicate such interest. However, GNYHA is not obligated to offer any vendor’s products or notify members about any particular vendor based on a vendor’s unsolicited request of GNYHA.
    11. In awarding a contract, the selection of a particular vendor by GNYHA shall not be based on the fact that other vendors may have offered a differential administrative fee to GNYHA.

III. Vendor Information Process

  1. The GNYHA website will post information to assist prospective vendors in contracting with GNYHA. Such information shall include a new vendor interest form to be completed by the vendor and the contact information for a designated staff member that may be contacted by interested vendors.
  2. To the extent relevant, GNYHA will post any RFP or bid solicitation on the GNYHA website.
  3. GNYHA will post a list of its current regional contracts on its website.

IV. Vendor Complaint Procedure

  1. It is the policy of GNYHA to review and respond to complaints or grievances made in good faith by vendors and suppliers. GNYHA shall request any vendor or supplier that has a complaint or grievance to provide a detailed description of its grievance and submit it to GNYHA Services to the attention of the President, GNYHA Services, Inc., 555 West 57th Street, Suite 1500, New York, NY 10019.
  2. Vendors may also register a complaint by contacting the Health Industry Group Purchasing Organization (HIGPA) at 1100 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1200, Arlington, VA 22209, (703) 243-9262 (phone), (703) 243-8664 (fax), www.higpa.org. HIGPA will forward the complaint to the GNYHA Compliance Officer or other designated contact person for GNYHA.

V. Response to Vendor Complaints

  1. Upon receipt of the vendor grievance information, GNYHA Services will review it and respond appropriately. The President shall notify the Compliance Officer and/or a designee of any complaint received on a timely basis, and shall discuss the proposed resolution of the issue with him/her. As appropriate, those individuals may contact members of the senior staff or outside advisors to assist them in reviewing the matter.
  2. GNYHA will respond to all vendor complaints registered through the Vendor Grievance Process on a timely basis, and will record the complaint and resolution of it in its records.

This page, and all contents, are Copyright © 2007 by GNYHA Ventures, Inc., 555 West 57th Street, 15th Floor, New York, New York 10019.
Phone: (212) 246-7100. Fax: (212) 262-6350. All rights reserved. GNYHA Terms & Conditions.