The Business Week Ahead : ORANGE COUNTY

Health Care Conference: More than 100 health care industry executives from across the nation meet today and Tuesday at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Dana Point to find out how big corporate hospital chains and buying groups pick their suppliers. Robert J. Oosdyke, chief executive of NCI, a Rancho Santa Margarita consulting firm that organized the meeting, says hospital corporate chains are increasingly critical to the success of small makers of medical products. “Many [suppliers] that are developing products today are one-product companies,” Oosdyke said. “They may be the best in the world, but when they try to get a corporate contract, they find [corporations] aren’t interested in one-product companies.” He advises small suppliers to find ways to meet corporate demands for products and services that can be purchased together, which saves hospitals money. The conference, NCI’s fifth annual Health Care Executive Forum, runs from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. today and from 7:30 a.m. to noon Tuesday.