Real-time Reports in Minutes Not Months
In 2020 Mary Thomas, like much of the world, was struggling to efficiently order supplies for the 180+ facilities within the Florida Health Care Plans (FHCP) network. After wasting months tracking down data, being unable to procure supplies, and lacking a contract management system, it was time for a solution that would work for FHCP. With over 180 facilities, ranging from ambulatory surgical centers to physician offices, FHCP had to have a solution allowing them to procure supplies and manage contracts for each unique location. This solution also had to help solve one of their most significant issues, time efficiency.
Challenges
Florida Health Care Plans’ procurement coordinator, Mary Thomas, works tirelessly to ensure that their purchasing process goes as smoothly as possible. Mary was stuck relying on spreadsheets through an outdated ordering system, often taking her upwards of 30 days to get the data she needed. The amount of time spent tracking down item data was only the tip of the iceberg of challenges faced by the team.
FHCP was facing one problem after another when it came to their ordering process. From the inability to procure supplies to the lack of contract management to the countless wasted hours spent on tracking down data, the existing process was losing the team time and money.
In an industry lacking solutions, many facilities still struggle to go paperless, enforce contract terms and pricing, manage order-invoice discrepancies, and track their inventory. As a result, they often end up over-ordering, missing out on their contract pricing, and overspending – because they don’t have the right tools to bridge the gaps in these processes. Like the industry, these were also genuine problems for FHCP, and lead to the necessity of a procure-to-pay solution that could resolve those problems.
Solution
Eager to find a solution, the team dove into research for the best healthcare procurement solution. In addition to their own research, FHCP also relied on their connection with Medline as a distributor to help identify the best solution. Hybrent offered procurement, contract management, and so much more than the FHCP team anticipated. In addition to addressing many of their procurement issues, Hybrent’s partnership with Medline would also allow for a smoother implementation for FHCP that allowed implementation to move at a pace that worked best for them.
Hybrent’s contract management features allowed the FHCP team to take advantage of automatic contract pricing. This feature allowed them to track all vendor contracts, set reminders for expiration dates, and view contract status in real-time. Contract management with Hybrent addressed one of FHCP’s crucial solution goals.
Another Hybrent game changer has been real-time reporting, allowing the data that once took 30 days to track down only 20 minutes to get into Mary’s hands.
“Real-time reporting is the cherry on top! Hybrent has just made my life so much easier, cutting the time I spend on reporting down from days to minutes,” says Mary.
While the product itself addressed their key issues, the implementation team and customer service experience are both things that Mary and her team feel are unmatched. The Hybrent implementation team worked closely with Mary to address the many unique needs of the organization and helped deliver a solution that would be realistic and scalable. In addition to the team meeting those unique needs, Hybrent’s ability to implement in tandem with Medline played a pivotal role in their implementation success.
“The whole customer service team is so personable. It feels like an extension of my own company because of how attentive they are. They are always willing to answer every ‘one more question’ I give them,” adds Mary.
Results
Not only did real-time reporting save countless hours of time for the FHCP team, but it has also resulted in significant cost savings. The combination of Hybrent’s real-time reporting and price discrepancies feature has helped FHCP catch errors in their orders that would have cost them tens of thousands of dollars. This year alone, Hybrent has helped FHCP achieve over $600k in cost savings. For Mary, Hybrent has gone above and beyond what she anticipated.
“Now that it’s implemented, over the last year it has grown and the changes are exactly what we need (and then some) to meet our growth,” says Mary.
Looking into the future expansions of their organization, Florida Health Care Plans continues to work with the Hybrent team toward success as they grow.