This latest acquisition by e-health's MedAssets underscores how important established players like GPOs are in promoting an Internet-enabled hospital supply chain. In fact, MedAssets was arguably the first major e-health player to recognize that GPOs are not only vital for the base of customers and suppliers they bring, but can also be attractive sources of revenue.

Beset by cost and consolidation pressures, many orthopedic companies are re-thinking traditional industry success strategies. Not Biomet. The Warsaw-based company is quietly thriving by focusing on core industry values such as the importance of independent distributors, the ability of companies to differentiate their technology, and the fundamentally local nature of the industry.

The recent consolidations among national hospital groups has left many suppliers feeling a significant loss of leverage in contract negotiations. But what hospitals don't realize is that consolidation on the supplier side, due to market attrition and increased merger and acquisitions, has created suppliers nearly invulnerable to competitive pressure. As the number of players on both sides of the table shrinks, has consolidation in hospital supply gone too far?

The emergence of large, consolidated hospital alliance and integrated delivery networks seems to confirm the impression that health care marketing is now best done on a national scope. But relevant trends play out differently in local markets, and effective sales and marketing strategies must themselves be locally-focused, taking a more traditional approach in some, a more radical approach in others.