GPO Membership Playbook
This guide explains what a group purchasing organization (GPO) is, how it works, the value it provides, and how to determine whether a GPO is the right fit for your organization.
Congratulations on becoming a member of LCS Group Purchasing! With your free membership, you now have access to a powerful suite of benefits designed to support your organization and enhance operational efficiency.
As a member, you’ll enjoy:
Not a Member Yet?
No problem. This guide is designed to help you understand what a group purchasing organization (GPO) is, the value it provides, and why your organization may benefit from partnering with one.
What is a GPO?
A group purchasing organization, often referred to as a GPO, negotiates contracts with suppliers on behalf of its members.
By combining the purchasing volume of many organizations, a GPO is a collective membership that’s able to secure better pricing, stronger contract terms, and exclusive discounts than most organizations could obtain on their own.
How Does a GPO Make Money?
GPOs partner with vendors to create mutually beneficial relationships. Vendors offer discounted pricing because the GPO connects them to a large network of clients they wouldn’t reach on their own.
In turn, GPOs select vendors whose products and services meet the needs of the organizations they support. To fund these services, GPOs typically charge vendors a small administrative fee—often around 3%—which allows the GPO to maintain the programs, contracts, and support they provide to their clients.
Determining If Your Organization Needs a GPO: Key Questions to Ask
- If your team is small—or if purchasing responsibilities are spread thin across multiple roles—it’s easy for buying decisions to become reactive, inconsistent, and time‑consuming. A GPO can dramatically lighten that load. By centralizing contracts, pricing, and vendor management, a GPO acts like an extension of your team, giving you access to expertise and negotiated savings you may not have the bandwidth to pursue on your own.
- Even larger teams benefit: instead of spending hours researching vendors, comparing quotes, or managing multiple contracts, your staff can focus on resident care while the GPO handles the heavy lifting. In short, if your team is stretched, growing, or juggling too many responsibilities, a GPO doesn’t just help—it multiplies your capacity and strengthens your bottom line.
- Instead of your team juggling phone calls, coordinating bids, or trying to determine whether you're getting a fair price, a GPO does the heavy lifting for you. Because GPOs leverage the collective buying power of many organizations, you gain access to prenegotiated pricing, making this process quicker. Simply put: if your team is sourcing quotes on their own, a GPO can save them time, protect your budget, and help you make smarter purchasing decisions—without adding work to your plate. It also frees your team to focus on what matters most within your community: your residents.
- Note some GPO’s charge for quotes.
- It’s easy for organizations to make quick, one‑off purchases in the moment, but a streamlined purchasing process creates real efficiencies. It gives team members clarity and confidence because they know exactly what steps to follow, and—most importantly—it saves your organization money.
- There are many savings opportunities outside of food, medical supplies, office supplies, pharmacy/therapy, maintenance/janitorial. A GPO can reduce costs on major operational and capital items like landscaping, passenger buses, commercial refrigerators, HVAC, roofing, and apartment turn renovations (cabinetry, flooring, windows, paint, and more). These categories are expensive, complex, and often negotiated independently—usually at higher prices.
- A GPO brings screened vendors, pre‑negotiated contracts, and stronger buying power, helping you secure better pricing and streamline decision‑making. If you haven’t explored savings in these overlooked areas, a GPO can deliver value your team may not be able to achieve on its own.
If you’re already using a GPO, ask yourself these additional questions:
Are you getting everything out of your GPO partner that you could be? Who is your contact? Do you meet with someone on a regular basis?
If you’re unsure who your GPO contact is, it’s also a sign you may not be receiving the support you should. A strong GPO relationship includes a clear, accessible point of contact who proactively checks in, understands your operations, when your contracts are coming up for renewal, and proactively brings savings opportunities to you—not the other way around.
So, Why LCS Group Purchasing?
LCS Group Purchasing provides comprehensive supply‑chain solutions to almost 2,100 senior living communities and organizations nationwide, backed by dedicated account managers who bring deep subject‑matter expertise to help you drive meaningful cost savings and improve operational performance.
Membership is FREE
Join at no cost and purchase only what you need, when you need it. There are no minimum spend requirements or contracts, giving your community or organization complete freedom and flexibility in managing purchasing.
Dedicated Support
Every member is paired with a dedicated account manager who understands the senior living landscape. From onboarding to ongoing support, they help streamline purchasing, manage vendor relationships, and identify cost-saving opportunities tailored to your community.
Free Savings Assessment
Every member is paired with a dedicated account manager who understands the senior living landscape. From onboarding to ongoing support, they help streamline purchasing, manage vendor relationships, and identify cost-saving opportunities tailored to your community.
Free Quotes & Clinical RFP’s
From industrial refrigeration and HVAC to commercial roofing and clinical services, our experts simplify complex vendor decisions by managing selection, gathering quotes, and overseeing a full 60-day pharmacy or therapy evaluation if needed. Whether you’re dissatisfied with a current provider or simply want to ensure maximum value for your residents, our team handles the entire process—at no cost to you.
Ongoing Cost-Savings Reviews
Our ongoing business reviews identify savings opportunities and ensure your organization continues to get the best value from our partnership. By analyzing spend, performance, and market shifts, we help you capture new efficiencies year after year.
Tailored Expert Guidance
Our personalized approach gives you direct access to experts who tailor recommendations to your unique operational needs - whether you're evaluating emergency communication systems or determining how many new healthcare center beds you can accommodate with limited storage. We work closely with your team to deliver solutions that are precise, practical, and designed to drive measurable results.
What to Expect in Your First 90 Days
Transition current LCS Group Purchasing vendors
We’ll identify those vendor programs that are already LCS Group Purchasing vendor partners and help you transition them through signed Letters of Participation (LOPs).
Evaluate LCS Group Purchasing vendor programs
We’ll perform a Cost Savings Analysis (CSA) to determine potential savings based on vendor price comparisons and/or schedule vendor site visits for evaluation. We’ll provide our recommendations for moving to LCS Group Purchasing vendor programs.
Implement LCS Group Purchasing vendor programs
We’ll help you implement LCS Group Purchasing vendor programs based on evaluation and recommendations and provide the documentation needed to move forward.
How can I be confident that I’m getting the value and savings I expect from LCS Group Purchasing?
The answer: our reporting.
Your dedicated account team is fully committed to your success. We’ll establish regular check-ins and provide ongoing support to ensure your LCS Group Purchasing program is implemented smoothly and efficiently.
Our members consistently tell us that our utilization reports are invaluable when identifying new savings opportunities. Once provided with your current AP data, our team reviews your current spend and pinpoints areas where you’re purchasing in categories supported by an LCS Group Purchasing vendor solution. We then provide clear recommendations based on your community’s needs, the potential impact, and the overall value to your residents.
We’re ready—and eager—to help you unlock value and savings you may not have discovered yet. Reach out to us at GroupPurchasing@LcsLiving.com or fill out the form below to become a member with us today.
