Depending on who you ask, the Healthcare Research and Development Institute (HRDI) is either a neutral vendor-supported organization bringing elite hospital executives together for socializing and brainstorming--or a slippery front for putting together sweetheart contracts between participating vendors and providers. According to The New York Times, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is currently investigating whether HRDI allows certain vendors to buy access to hospital leaders who influence purchasing and whether or not the vendors offer the lowest cost or best quality. Blumenthal has issued more than 100 subpoenas, mostly to hospital suppliers. HRDI's principles of participation, listed on its Web site, explicitly forbid the kind of activity that Blumenthal is targeting, but competitors of its vendor underwriters say it would be naive to think that HRDI events don't give vendors a substantial leg up. HRDI rules prohibit more than two competing vendors to be underwriters at any given time, according to the Times.
- read this article in The New York Times