Many people know the term GPO, but not everyone fully understands exactly what that entails and the potential impact that can be made on a member organization.

As the director of CHAMPS Group Purchasing, allow me to explain exactly what a GPO does, who we are and how we can benefit members. Simply put, CHAMPS negotiates discounted pricing with vendors you use every day. This means we can save members money in a variety of areas, with contract categories that include medical and surgical supplies, foodservice, information technology, wireless service, office supplies, facility maintenance and more.

One of the most important details to remember is that members can join at no cost, with no obligation or risk. This means there is also no limit to whether they choose to use one or hundreds of our agreements. Freedom to join and freedom to choose means big savings with members experiencing an average savings of 10-20% on items they procure regularly.

Open to working with all organizations, our membership includes hospitals as well as organizations throughout the continuum of care. This means we can offer savings to senior living, imaging centers, surgery centers and physician offices.

Our membership is available to businesses in the non-healthcare market too. We can help organizations in hospitality and entertainment, colleges and universities, and providers of professional, scientific and technical services. Virtually any type of organization can benefit from our supplier contracts and is eligible for GPO membership.

CHAMPS has been helping businesses operate and save money for over 100 years. As we’ve grown in our procurement and group purchasing practices, our membership volume is now above $1.1 billion. Over the last several years, CHAMPS GPO has been able to save members more than $40 million annually. With approximately 3,000 vendor agreements and 20,000 member locations across the United States — in all classes of trades and industries — if you have a business need and could benefit from support in identifying savings, CHAMPS can help.

Understandably, all this information can feel overwhelming. Thankfully for our members, CHAMPS possesses an incredible team of account managers that are available to help navigate the large portfolio of contract vendors. Taking the burden off you, we truly become an extension of your purchasing department and purchasing habits as we work with you to identify, implement and realize savings.

Find out more about CHAMPS GPO membership benefits by visiting champsgpo.com