Raleigh, NC ? January 4, 2012 ? Upon taking the role of Avera?s first-ever vice president of supply chain in the spring of 2010, 36-year healthcare industry veteran, Allen Caudle, recognized that his supply chain team faithfully poured data into a bulky ERP system, only to be left with a dearth of contract information. As a result, the team had a difficult time ensuring pricing accuracy and analyzing spend for savings opportunities.
The regional partnership of health care facilities in the five-state region of South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska needed a central repository for all of its supply and service contracts at 17 of its 29 hospitals and health centers. To do the job, the selection committee chose MediClick for Contracts & Analysis (C&A), the flagship product of MediClick, the leading provider of Web-based analytics and savings solutions for the healthcare industry.
Implementing C&A?s Services Contract Workbench in October and its Supply Contract Workbench in January, Caudle says MediClick came prepared to meet the unique challenges of Avera?s organization.
The successful implementation is only the start of the relationship between Avera and Mediclick.
Avera will use C&A to bring all of its organization?s data into one centralized location to perform spend analysis, obtain better pricing on supplies and services, ensure they?re paying the correct price on items and verify rebates due from their vendor.
?We?re looking to create opportunities in areas where we have no contracts or multiple contracts for the same spend areas,? Caudle says. ?We also want to be able to leverage our volume to get better pricing on system-wide contracts.?
Because C&A will give Avera enhanced visibility into their supply chain and services contracts, Jason Wulf, senior financial analyst for Avera, expects the organization to become more strategic with what they?re purchasing ? whether buying a stent or a service.
?Before, we didn?t have a single place to store contracts so we couldn?t see all of our contracts easily,? says Wulf. ?MediClick enables us to bring each hospital?s contracts together.?
Avera can, therefore, move toward a centralized supply chain where contracts are negotiated from the main office.
On the services side, they?ll remain fairly decentralized because one hospital may need a service that another hospital may not need. But MediClick will enable all local and hospital-wide service contracts to be routed through the legal department for review.
MediClick will also save Avera time during the contract approval process. Contracting personnel would manually route hard copies of contracts to legal, supply chain and the CEO. That meant 2-3 weeks of not knowing exactly where the contract was. C&A will convert that paper-based process to electronic.
?With C&A, we don?t have to worry about where it is or who?s next on the approval list,? Wulf says. ?It will make for easier tracking and organization.?
Caudle says that attention to detail demonstrates MediClick?s understanding of the healthcare industry.
?I like MediClick because its products are designed specifically for healthcare and most contract systems are not,? Caudle says. ?These are healthcare insiders who really understand our unique operations.?
Caudle attributes MediClick?s ability to be attentive to Avera?s needs to the company?s agility, which was a tremendous benefit during the implementation process.
?We looked at several larger software vendors, which are great for companies like IBM or Motorola, but not good for healthcare,? says Avera. ?MediClick?s turnaround time on some of our needs took only a couple of months.?
?MediClick has been a good partner,? he says. ?I feel like I?m the coach of a football team at the end of the third quarter and we?re ahead 30 to nothing. Things are looking great.?
About MediClick
As a leading provider of Web-based analytics and savings solutions for the healthcare supply chain, MediClick understands the unique needs and business processes of today?s hospitals and IDNs. Using this expertise, MediClick has designed an innovative suite of solutions ? MediClick for Contracts & Analysis, MediClick for the Supply Chain and MediClick for Financials ? to help its customers succeed. These products along with MediClick?s dedicated team of consultants help empower the next generation of the supply chain. For information, please visit http://www.mediclick.com.
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