Top 10 Ways to Cut Medical-Surgical Supply Spending Now

LOUISVILLE, Colo., June 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Faced with growing medical-surgical supply costs as reimbursements shrink and healthcare reform looms, healthcare providers can reduce their medical-surgical supply spending immediately—and GHX is providing a list of what it recommends as the top 10 ways to do it. The healthcare technology company released its list at the HFMA ANI conference in Orlando, where it will focus on documented opportunities for cutting what has become the second highest and fastest-growing operating expense for providers. Many of the listed opportunities are designed to provide the kind of visibility necessary for organizations to meet new reporting requirements for the cost and quality of care they provide.

The GHX Top 10:

1. Save an average $12.00-$27.00 per order by conducting as much of your purchasing electronically with as many of your trading partners as possible.
2. Automate the procurement process, from the point of contracting to the point of payment, to streamline operations and boost efficiencies.
3. Centralize purchasing across your organization to provide visibility into and control over as much of your supply spending as possible.
4. Develop a master data management strategy, including the use of global industry data standards, to ensure that you are keeping critical information as up-to-date as possible and that you have “one source of truth” to feed clinical and financial IT systems.
5. Understand the total cost of ownership of your supply chain; in addition to the price paid, consider the financial implications of procurement, logistics, inventory management, charge capture and reimbursement, among others.
6. Create visibility into both the total cost and efficacy of the products being used in patient care, so that you can determine the role supplies play in both the cost and quality of the care your organization provides.
7. Focus on bringing more non-file and off-contract spend under contract, especially high-cost physician preference items.
8. Save an estimated 1-3 percent in avoided overpayments by validating contract pricing and making sure you’re using the most up-to-date contract information.
9. View the supply chain as a function that operates across your organization; establish partnerships with clinical and financial departments to develop and work together to achieve mutual objectives.
10. Collaborate with your trading partners to achieve mutual benefits. Share insights into what happens to products once they arrive at your facility and ask your suppliers for insights into how you can become a lower-cost customer to serve.

GHX will provide conference attendees with a personalized report on their savings potential using GHX software solutions and services at booth #1634 during booth hours on June 27 and 28. It also will distribute to all attendees a new white paper on contract management entitled “Gaining Control of Your Hospital’s Fastest Growing Operating Expense.”

About GHX

Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC (GHX) makes healthcare more efficient by delivering software and services that enable both healthcare providers and suppliers to increase efficiency, lower costs and provide better patient care. With the largest footprint in healthcare supply chain management, GHX connects more than 80 percent of licensed hospital beds at U.S. hospitals, as well as providers in Canada and Europe, with the suppliers from which they purchase the majority of their medical-surgical supplies. GHX is transforming today’s linear healthcare supply chain into the industry’s only Healthcare Supply Cloud(SM), providing 360-degree visibility into areas affecting both clinical and financial performance. Working with GHX, organizations can improve business processes, automate supply chain systems and collaborate to solve the tough challenges facing healthcare today. GHX is owned by members of the healthcare industry, including Abbott Exchange, Inc.; AmerisourceBergen Corp.; Baxter Healthcare Corp.; B. Braun Medical Inc.; BD; Boston Scientific Corp.; Cardinal Health, Inc.; Covidien; C.R. Bard, Inc.; Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.; GE Healthcare; HCA; Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc.; McKesson Corp.; Medtronic USA, Inc.; Owens & Minor; Premier, Inc.; Siemens; University HealthSystem Consortium; and VHA Inc.  For more information, visit www.ghx.com. Follow GHX on Twitter @GHX_LLC and on Facebook @GHX

SOURCE GHX

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