Dan Gottry - Blog

Dan Gottry's Blog

Thursday, August 31, 2006

FTC on Selective Contracts

Dan,

I found this and thought you might be interested. If you choose to repost this on the listserve or elsewhere, please keep my name unattached as there would be significant political repurcussions for me.

The link is from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons who copied the text from the Federal Trade Commission. The selected passage below may be of interest.

Sorry for the cryptic nature of this note. Good luck in your quest.

Name Withheld

http://www.aaos.org/wordhtml/papers/articles/antifact.htm.

Section 9, paragraph 8 fromthe above link says: Selective contracting-Exclusion of particular providers may be a method by which networks limit provider plans in an effort to achieve quality and cost-containment goals, and thus enhance their ability to compete against other networks. Selective contracting may also be procompetitive by giving non-participant providers an incentive to form competing networks. A "rule of reason" analysis will again be applied. In examining exclusive arrangements, the Agencies will examine the degree to which the arrangements may limit the ability of other networks or health plans to compete in the market. The focus of the analysis is not on whether a particular provider has been harmed by the exclusion or referral policies, but rather whether the conduct reduces competition among providers in the market and thereby harms consumers.

posted by Daniel Gottry at 8:31 AM