Essentially Women® Group Purchasing Organization was founded in 1996 by nine independent businesswomen operating companies specializing in providing healthcare products and services to women. These entrepreneurs had something else in common--trying to run profitable businesses without sacrificing high quality merchandise and service levels in our rapidly changing, increasingly restrictive healthcare industry. The frustration of trying to succeed against the odds spurred them to action. They wanted to find some positive, long-term solutions to promote the continued success for independent providers.

After networking with women across the country, they found many common concerns facing small, independent businesses: diminished reimbursement, escalating acquisition costs, poor cash flow, inefficient business practices and many other challenging problems. Those concerns are still very much a reality, but added to the growing list of obstacles, is the bombardment of legislative and regulatory issues facing all providers—accreditation, compliance, PECOS, competitive bidding—to name just a few.

From this informal gathering of information, a structured vision was born—to provide a venue for businesses to cut costs, remain profitable, expand their base of operations, introduce them to new products, help them operate more efficiently and provide continuing education and enhanced communication. Essentially Women® Group Purchasing Organization was founded on these principles.

Membership in Essentially Women® has given hundreds of businesses the distinct advantage of collective buying power, leverage to negotiate special pricing incentives, a unified voice, shared resources and networking opportunities.

The future is bright for Essentially Women®. Starting in 1996 with only 60 members, we have grown to over 800 members with more than 1,000 locations. The women's healthcare market is recognized as one of the top niche markets in the healthcare field and will grow even stronger as the baby boomers come of age. In response, we continue to expand our product selection, add vendors, increase our educational programs and be responsive to the membership’s diverse needs.