Connecticut investigates research group

Hospital industry leaders' meetings raise concerns about anticompetitive behavior, but the organization behind them says they're about ideas, not access.

By Katherine Vogt, AMNews staff. Aug. 7, 2006.

The relationships between corporate health care executives and the vendors who supply their businesses with goods and services have come under scrutiny with an investigation focusing on some of the most influential leaders in the field.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has issued more than 100 subpoenas in the last six months seeking information about individuals and companies affiliated with the Healthcare Research & Development Institute, which is owned by some of the nation's top hospital leaders. It counts as members major manufacturers and suppliers of a wide range of health care goods and services.

Blumenthal has not filed any lawsuit or issued criminal charges against HRDI. But in past congressional testimony, he's made clear he considers the organization little more than a vehicle to allow hospital equipment and supply vendors to buy access to the nation's top hospital leaders.

In an interview with AMNews, Blumenthal declined to say how long the investigation would continue or which companies and individuals had received subpoenas, saying only that they were affiliated with HRDI and included at least one party in Connecticut. He was unaware of any similar investigations by other law enforcement agencies.

The leaders of Pensacola, Fla.-based HRDI dispute Blumenthal's description of their organization.

They describe the organization as a think tank that provides a forum for hospital leaders and suppliers and manufacturers to share ideas about industry needs with the goal of improving products and services. The organization arranges meetings twice a year, the most recent in May in Colorado Springs, Colo. At the meetings, corporate and individual members gather to discuss strategy, product development and industry concerns.