Ethics & Compliance

Consorta is an alliance of health care organizations committed to achieving economies of scale in resource management and group purchasing of goods and services.
A fundamental part of our vision is to enhance the missions of our shareholders. We do this by developing group purchasing agreements that help shareholders meet their cost management and quality improvement objectives.

Our Board of Directors and management team realize that commitment to Consorta's group purchasing program is essential to our goal of providing value to shareholders and their participating organizations.

Our Commitment Philosophy

Commitment to Consorta's group purchasing program is essential to our goal of providing value to Shareholders and their participating organizations. The Consorta Shareholder Patron Agreement establishes each shareholder's commitment to use Consorta as its sole group purchasing organization.

  • All Shareholders strive to achieve full compliance. Consorta agreements generally have an 85% commitment level. When participants have existing contracts that are not Consorta agreements, they may use those contracts until they expire.
  • Participants will not use Consorta contracts as leverage. Any instances of participants using contracts to achieve better pricing or develop their own agreements will be resolved with the cooperation of the Shareholder or participant's corporate office.
  • Participants will not enter into independent negotiation for products covered by a Consorta agreement. If the product category has not been addressed by the Contracts and Programs Committee or does not appear on Consorta's contracting plan for at least 18 months, participants may enter into independent agreements.
  • Consorta monitors shareholder purchase activities. We ensure that compliance is measured and that participants receive feedback about their progress.  

Our Compliance Philosophy

We believe that sole source contracting combined with high compliance delivers the greatest economic value. However, dual and multi-source contracts may sometimes be appropriate.

Shareholders take responsibility for compliance. The Consorta Shareholder Patron Agreement establishes each shareholder's commitment to use Consorta as its sole group purchasing organization.

Consorta monitors shareholder purchase activities. We ensure that compliance is measured and that participants receive feedback about their progress.

New shareholders will share our commitment to compliance. New shareholders and participants are expected to transition to Consorta agreements within six months.
Compliance Measures and Administration

We monitor every contract. Each participant's performance is reviewed contract by contract. Business partners are responsible for reporting total contracted purchases for Consorta shareholders and participants.

All instances of non-compliance will be resolved. When a business partner notifies us of a specific, substantiated instance of non-compliance, we will contact the shareholder and assist in implementation of the agreement or other resolution of the issue.

While Consorta's compliance program is overseen by the Board of Directors, administration of our compliance program is the responsibility of the Contracts and Programs Committee. The committee reviews and facilitates the resolution of non-compliance issues that cannot be resolved by Consorta and business partners. 

Expectations of Shareholders

All shareholders strive to achieve full compliance. We define full compliance as using all Consorta agreements at their required commitment levels. Consorta agreements generally have an 85 percent commitment level. When participants have existing contracts that are not Consorta agreements, they may use those contracts until they expire.

Participants will not use Consorta contracts as leverage. Any instances of participants using contracts to achieve better pricing or develop their own agreements will be resolved with the cooperation of the shareholder or participant's corporate office.

Participants will not enter into independent negotiations for products covered by a Consorta agreement. If the product category has not been addressed by the Contracts and Programs Committee or does not appear on Consorta's contracting plan for at least 18 months, participants may enter into independent agreements.

Expectations of Business Partners

Business partners are expected to meet Consorta's requirements. Our business partners expect that Consorta and our participants will meet contract commitments. We, in turn, have expectations of our business partners, which include:

  • Effective national account programs.
  • Electronic reporting of sales and other data.
  • Accurate cross-referencing information.
  • Assistance in resolving compliance issues.
  • Support of our Board's decisions on compliance issues.
  • Timely payment of all rebates, incentives and fees due Consorta or our participants.

In the spirit of good relations with our business partners, we make every effort to support and implement our agreements. We also expect business partners to honor the entire Consorta contract portfolio by respecting the awards we make to other business partners.