The procurement of goods and services is the lifeblood for healthcare organizations of all sizes. Purchasing professionals and finance officers alike know that their supply purchasing leadership has a tremendous impact on their companies’ bottom line. Yet so many find themselves struggling with spend management at all stages, from procurement to payment.
Inefficient procurement processes drain both time and money, impacting payroll through wasted time, misallocation of labor, and divided worker attention that could best be directed toward the organization’s mission. E-Procurement solutions yield efficiencies in ordering, data and reporting, and payment processes that mean wasted time is regained—because wasted time is frequently an “invisible” cost.
The top ways that E-Procurement promotes time and cost savings are:
- Simplifying Processes
Automated technology solutions through E-Procurement speeds up tasks in every part of the procurement process, from placing individual orders to reviewing distribution and shipments to inventory management. - Managing Contract Compliance
Reviewing and managing vendor and supplier contracts is crucial to healthcare procurement. It’s also extremely time-consuming when done manually, and an E-Procurement system is invaluable for automating contract compliance. - Reducing Duplication
Duplicate and redundant ordering is one of the most common costs of manual, outdated procurement practices, for obvious reasons. But there’s also the cost in time and labor hours spent tracking down, correcting, and managing duplicative processes. - Providing Easy-to-Manage Ordering
For many healthcare organizations, inventory ordering is spread out across a number of clinics or facilities. Without the centralized ease of an E-Procurement solution, time can be lost from confusion in spend management both in the main purchasing office as well as at each of the facilities. - Promoting Transparency
As healthcare organizations grow in size and complexity, hidden costs and inefficiencies can abound in their procurement processes. E-Procurement solutions provide transparency in purchasing and line of sight for the finance office. - Fostering Better Vendor Relationships
With errors and time-consuming manual procurement processes comes potentially frayed relationships with suppliers, along with time spent managing those interactions. E-Procurement delivers major time savings and promotes better relationships. - Empowering Smart Human Resources
With many procurement offices facing large workloads and staffing challenges, E-Procurement means valued employees can work smart, become more productive, and feel empowered and more in control of their jobs. - Cutting Down on Errors
Tracking down, correcting, and ensuring against future errors in ordering, managing inventory, and accounts payable in the healthcare sphere can be among the costliest (and unnecessary) aspects of procurement. E-Procurement solutions can drive immediate time and cost savings by correcting easily spotted errors. - Bringing the Team Together
The purchasing department and the finance office depend on one another for their mutual success and that of their healthcare enterprise. Technological solutions in E-Procurement force the breakdown of silos and barriers standing in the way of the team being as collaborative as they can be. - Putting Time Where It Belongs.
Freeing up time means allocating more effort and attention to the caregiving mission of your healthcare organization. E-Procurement means time saved can be applied to where it matters most.
Looking to Reduce Your Annual Spend?
Procurement Partners helps customers reduce their annual spend by 10% or more with an easy-to-use portal where users can place orders and process invoices for all suppliers. Procurement Partners is the leading spend management system for Non-Acute Care providers and Senior Living communities and has helped organizations achieve 40% time savings and 95% supplier contract compliance through automating the procure-to-pay process.
