UHC Releases Enhanced Version of SpendLINK®

CHICAGO, Dec. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- UHC has released an enhanced version of SpendLINK^®, its supply chain business intelligence tool that provides data-driven insights to help health care organizations analyze total spend, identify cost savings, and benchmark supply chain performance.

The updated SpendLINK^® features an intuitive new interface that has been optimized to enable users to quickly navigate key reports, easily visualize trends in their supply chain data, and pinpoint areas of opportunity. Underscoring the need for health care providers to more strategically leverage supply chain analytics, GHX, citing Gartner Research, states that, "many providers can reduce supply chain costs by 5 to 15 percent if they better analyze, plan, and control the purchase and use of goods and services."¹ The enhancements to the SpendLINK^® tool will help UHC members more easily analyze and plan their supply chain strategy.

The volume and variability of medical devices, supplies, and technologies in the market continues to increase, while accountability for health care costs and outcomes continues to exert greater pressure on hospital supply chain executives. "As care delivery and business models become more tightly integrated, supply chain leaders need analytics that do more than capture and report accurate data. These leaders need solutions that help them understand which data are having the biggest impact on the bottom line and support strategic decisions in contracting, procurement, and utilization," said Jake Groenewold, UHC's senior vice president, Supply Chain. "The enhanced version of SpendLINK^® gives users a more customized view of their data, pulling insights on hospitals' biggest areas of opportunity and bringing them straight to the top."

The new version of SpendLINK^® includes:

• Integrated report summaries: The new welcome page provides an integrated view of the most promising savings opportunities from several SpendLINK^® reports. Intuitive graphs summarize the top five opportunities in the Base MS-DRG, Product Spend Category Benchmarking, Price Competitive Index (by Product Spend Category), and Product Selection reports. The welcome page also shows users the top ten product spend categories that contribute to their Price Competitive Index scores.
• Improved item search: Users can more easily search and view benchmarks for their hospitals' spend items or for all items within the UHC database and more easily understand data mapping. The SpendLINK^® report and search feature is always one click away from any page in SpendLINK^®.
• UHC Resources tab: Users now have quick access to other UHC databases, tools, and resources in which their organizations participate—including UHC's TechFlash reports and the Supply Chain Dashboard—in a single tab on the SpendLINK^® navigation menu. The UHC Resources tab also links to Marketplace Procure for easier access to Novation's product catalog and procurement tools. Novation is UHC's supply contracting partner.

The new version of SpendLINK^® also promotes member collaboration and networking through a new "Ask Peers" feature that allows members to share with and learn from other hospitals and health systems in addressing specific supply chain challenges.

Additional enhancements are planned for 2015, including the introduction of more personalized content and integrated reporting to help users identify potential correlations between supply costs and clinical and operational outcomes.

About UHC
UHC is an alliance of the nation's leading nonprofit academic medical centers, which are focused on delivering world-class patient care. Formed in 1984 and based in Chicago, UHC fosters collaboration with and among its 117 academic medical center and 320 affiliated hospital members through its renowned solutions in the areas of performance improvement, comparative data and analytics, supply chain management, strategic research, and public policy. UHC helps its members achieve excellence in quality, safety, and cost-effectiveness. UHC's membership includes the leading nonprofit academic medical centers in the United States. For more information, visit uhc.edu.

¹ Applying Supply Chain Best Practices From Other Industries to Healthcare. Louisville, CO: GHX, LLC: 2011. http://www.ghx.com/desktopmodules/bring2mind/dmx/download.aspx?language=en-US&Command=Core_Download&EntryId=1293&PortalId=20&TabId=1095. Accessed November 26, 2014.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/uhc-releases-enhanced-version-of-spendlink-300004297.html

SOURCE UHC

Related Links

http://www.uhc.edu