Amerinet is Matchmaker for Health Care Providers and their Suppliers

As the number of uninsured and underinsured Americans grows, healthcare providers find themselves facing tough challenges when it comes to revenue management and financing. Amerinet Inc. says it helps these firms find the right service professional, at the right price, and with the right solution.  

The St. Louis, Mo.-based group-purchasing organization acts as a broker for more than 25,000 acute and non-acute health care providers nationwide. In addition to helping its members connect with suppliers of medical goods and equipment, Amerinet’s executive resources division also screens and markets firms that offer revenue cycle management, collections, leasing and financing services, and credit card processing, said Bob Hardy, senior director of executive solutions. 

“The program is geared towards the C-suite,” Hardy told insideARM. “The CEO, COO, CFO level. We have about 80 and 100 suppliers in our executive resource division.”

Amerinet has more than 370 staff in St. Louis, Salt Lake City, Providence, R.I., and Warrendale, Pa. Its members include more than 2,200 acute care hospitals and 9,900 clinics.

Amerinet is owned by investor owners Intermountain Healthcare and Amerinet Central. Similar to warehouse retailers Sam’s or Cosco, Amerinet charges its members dues and allows them access to specially negotiated contracts and services with suppliers that result from aggregate buying power.

Suppliers, meanwhile, are alerted to potential business opportunities. Amerinet charges suppliers an administration fee only if a contract results from a deal Amerinet helps identify. Last year, Amerinet members purchased $6.7 billion in goods and services from its suppliers.

Two firms in Amerinet’s professional service provider network are ACS Healthcare, a revenue cycle management firm with national reach, and Craneware Inc., a revenue cycle management software firm. Hardy said that Amerinet is looking to expand its contract portfolio in the collections and financing area.   

“Sometimes we uncover a need during a sales call. A member asks if we have a particular service or product. If there is a need within our membership, we want to have a solution for it,” Hardy said, adding that Amerinet also does regional contracts, a plus for many healthcare providers that seek to buy “locally.”

This causes Amerinet to continually seek new vendors, though it is particular about the firms it includes in its contract portfolio. “We want to ensure that they are providing some type of advantage to our customers,” Hardy said. That advantage may be service agreements that encompass the best terms, options or a value-added service such as providing a free needs assessment, along with the old-favorite, competitive pricing.

Amerinet also is an active middleman, working on its suppliers’ behalf, marketing their products and services to the membership, Hardy said. “We don’t close the deal or sign the contract,” he said. “But if we uncover a lead, we work with the supplier to assist in the process of closing a deal.