HealthTrust and Affiliated CoreTrust Division Acquire EasiBuy to Revolutionize Cooperative Purchasing for State and Local Governments

June 16, 2021 at 06:00 AM EDT

Business to launch a disruptive new purchasing model leveraging Lead Agency relationships, technology and scale

HealthTrust, a leading Group Purchasing Organization (GPO) and supply chain performance company for healthcare, along with its commercial GPO counterpart, CoreTrust, announced today the acquisition of EasiBuy, a full-service reverse-auction technology company specializing in cooperative sourcing for government agencies. Aided by HealthTrust’s procurement expertise, analytics and scale, EasiBuy will launch a Lead Agency Procurement Organization (LAPO) model aimed at erasing the double-digit differentials that government agencies frequently pay versus private sector GPO contracts, through negotiation of multi-jurisdictional public sector cooperative agreements.

Since 2012, EasiBuy (formerly Electronic Auction Services, Inc.), headquartered in Kent, Ohio, has been a trusted partner of state and local governments in providing managed procurement services utilizing its proprietary technology. The LAPO bid development process integrates client requirements including vendor credentialing with EasiBuy’s e-procurement technology to ensure a competitive, compliant and fully transparent experience for buyers and sellers. Contract provisions allow other public entities to “piggyback” off Lead Agency agreements and achieve economies of scale they would not receive by contracting on their own.

“Just as we extended our healthcare model to the commercial market through CoreTrust, this transaction will enable us to drive value to the public sector,” said Ed Jones, HealthTrust president and CEO. “Typically, public sector purchasing groups tend to have vendor-centric contracts, reflecting a price premium to what we have historically achieved in the private sector. We aim to remedy that and have coined the LAPO term to distinguish EasiBuy’s approach and underscore the importance of an agency-centric, fully transparent and compliant, cooperative model.”

“Less than one percent of government agencies utilize reverse auctions,” stated Ben Koberna, co-founder of EasiBuy. “Most rely on public bids which effectively narrows the vendor pool and restricts competition. As a HealthTrust company, EasiBuy will bring unparalleled scale, robust analytics and benchmarking, and a buyer-centric process that is proven to extract significant value for public agencies.”

Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

About HealthTrust

HealthTrust (Healthtrust Purchasing Group, L.P.) is committed to strengthening provider performance and clinical excellence through an aligned membership model and the delivery of total spend management advisory solutions that leverage operator experience, scale and innovation. Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., HealthTrust serves over 1,600 hospitals and health systems, and more than 55,000 other locations including ambulatory surgery centers, physician practices, long-term care and alternate care sites.

About CoreTrust

A division of HealthTrust, CoreTrust serves an exclusive membership of select private equity and Fortune 1000 companies and leverages the purchasing volume of members to achieve market-leading pricing for a portfolio of contracts in more than 100 indirect spend categories. This unique and highly compliant business model affords double-digit savings across all categories.

About EasiBuy

Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Kent, Ohio, EasiBuy delivers comprehensive managed procurement services and progressive reverse auction technology to provide optimal value for both public sector agencies and the private sector. Through the pioneering Lead Agency Procurement Organization (LAPO) model, EasiBuy maximizes transparency and committed scale to execute fully compliant, agency-centric cooperative purchasing events benefitting state and local governments, education systems and nonprofit organizations.