PDP Holdings, LLC Announces Support for Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General Guidance

NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- PDP Holdings, LLC (PDP) today announced strong support for the Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) Special Fraud Alert (SFA) of March 26, 2013.  PDP is an innovative healthcare company with the express mission of lowering healthcare costs, improving outcomes for patients, and empowering doctors and hospitals to deliver better value. This mission is why PDP supports the Special Fraud Alert issued this week.  PDP had the opportunity to meet with OIG officials in 2011 to share details of its business model and positive impact on lowering costs. During that meeting, PDP expressed concerns with the practices of poorly constructed and operated physician owned distributors ("PODs").  Last year, in an article in a leading trade journal, PDP recommended that the OIG use the vehicle of a Special Fraud Alert to issue negative guidance with respect to problematic features of abusive models, given the limitations on other forms of guidance in this area.

"PDP is pleased to see all of the key points we raised with the OIG included in the Special Fraud Alert issued this week," said Tom Gallagher, President and CEO of PDP.  "We welcome the OIG's Special Fraud Alert because it provides more clarity in the marketplace.  The features of 'suspect' PODs listed by the OIG are elements we suggested as being inconsistent with fraud and abuse laws.  The PDP model, in contrast, focuses on increased competition, lowered costs, improved outcomes, and physician-driven case management that improves safety and efficiency."

What the PDP Model Does for the Healthcare System:

• Increases competition in and access to the medical device marketplace
• Lowers the cost of purchasing medical devices to local hospitals
• Increases availability of information/data about safety and efficacy
• Captures, tracks and reports patient satisfaction and outcomes
• Improves outcomes by facilitating medical device selection based on patient needs
• Provides a cost effective, physician-driven case management solution

The PDP Model: PDP Holdings has been implementing an innovative business model that lowers the cost of patient care.  The PDP model is a simple and effective solution to the underlying health care cost problem; it harnesses the decision maker at the point of patient care – the physician. PDP is rapidly expanding the number of physicians engaged in advancing appropriate health outcomes while significantly lowering the cost of healthcare.  The PDP model provides information and data tools to facilitate and support quality, cost-effective patient care management.

PDP's business model has been built upon the principles expressed in the OIG's Special Fraud Alert. PDP is deploying its model in the high cost musculoskeletal segment of healthcare empowering physicians to deliver the best value for patients and hospitals. The PDP model is manufacturer neutral, and specifically facilitates the evaluation of, selection of, and purchase by physicians of appropriate medical implants for surgical facilities. This process eliminates the infrastructure, cost, and compliance risks of the dominant, cost-prohibitive manufacturer, distributor, and distributorship supply chain models. The result is a solution that generates meaningful implant savings of as much as 40% to the healthcare system.

In conclusion, PDP President and CEO Tom Gallagher added, "Now that the Special Fraud Alert has been issued, we believe the OIG has reinforced that its traditional concerns with problematic joint ventures and other arrangements with physicians can apply with respect to PODs, and through its delineation of specific suspect practices, the OIG has provided a point of comparison between those types of PODs that engage in questionable conduct and those businesses that do not."

SOURCE PDP Holdings, LLC