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Being a healthcare professional often involves the balance between cost saving and the risk inexpensive medical supplies can pose to patients. With patient care as the utmost priority, how can medical professionals lower costs when prices of medical supplies keep increasing? While is is difficult to pinpoint the specific areas in which a medical organization can save money, one of the areas where most companies can achieve savings is in the purchase of medical supplies. Here are five strategies that healthcare professionals can use to save costs when purchasing medical supplies.
Consolidating purchasing is one of the most effective ways for healthcare professionals to save on medical supplies. Comb through all of the vendors your healthcare company currently partners with to determine any overlap, excess, or unnecessary purchasing. After determining which vendors can be removed, select a vendor that can provide a broad range of medical supplies to fulfill every aspect of your business. Contact the sales representatives for your healthcare organization and determine what they can provide. If needs are unable to be met by one vendor, simplify the amount of vendors by only partnering with those that can meet multiple needs. By doing this, healthcare professionals can negotiate better prices and reduce the number of invoices and purchase orders they process.
Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) are organizations that negotiate contracts with vendors on behalf of healthcare organizations. By leveraging the buying power of multiple healthcare organizations, GPOs can negotiate better prices for medical supplies. While GPOs do not buy or purchase products, they work to negotiate contracts for purchases that participating healthcare providers can benefit from. Healthcare professionals can save significant amounts of money by joining a GPO. Don’t waste in-house resources to determine the best GPO match for your healthcare practice. Partner with a medical supply company, such as Dealmed, that has the systems in place to find and manage every GPO contract, local vendor contract or price agreements.
Another cost-saving strategy for healthcare professionals is to utilize generic versions of name brand products or partner with companies such as Dealmed and purchase Dealmed branded Originals. Dealmed manufacturers over 300 original and improved products. Along with a proud USA manufacturing initiative, the products made by Dealmed are all equal or superior quality to comparable brands. Dealmed products are retail-ready and have the option for complete control over packaging, customized fulfillment, and personalized shipping solutions.
A healthcare inventory management system is a workflow that tracks order, purchase, inventory, and payments. Implementing an inventory management system or a 3rd party logistics system can help healthcare professionals reduce waste and save money. Systems, such as Dealmed’s 3PL, track the use of medical supplies and help to identify which supplies are being used the most and which are being wasted. In addition, Dealmed’s 3PL is a total outsourced solution for warehousing, inventory, and distribution so healthcare organizations never have to manage it themselves. By utilizing an outsourced method, healthcare professionals are able to streamline the medical supply inventory and ordering.
Negotiating prices with vendors is no easy feat. However, it can prove to have substantial savings to healthcare companies. Prepare before your negotiation by evaluating your needs, current inventory, time partnering with that vendor, and researching and analyzing data about the vendor’s pricing structure compared to other vendors. Medical supply vendors want to keep their customers and will oftentimes work with healthcare professionals to ensure they do not leave for a competitor. By negotiating prices, healthcare professionals can save money and build stronger relationships with their vendors.
Healthcare professionals can achieve significant cost savings without compromising the standard for providing quality healthcare to patients. Speaking one-on-one with vendors allows healthcare professionals to save money and access untapped value from vendors across the entire supply chain. By taking the time now to implement these cost saving measures, healthcare companies will achieve long-term, more sustainable results.
