Compliance as a Cornerstone of Supply Chain Transformation
For today’s healthcare supply chain professional, procurement pathways are as complex as the large health system’s service delivery models are varied. As a result, there are multiple requesting locations, served by different inventory locations and distribution channels, covering an always increasing number of contract items and prices. When it comes time to purchasing goods and services, each requisitioner across the continuum of care at the health system cannot be expected to understand all these nuances or remember the preferred vendor, item, and price relationship.
Directed Buying is about making it easy for every requisitioner across the health system to do the right thing – purchase the right item, from the right source, at the right price, in real time. Prodigo’s Directed Buying experience ensures supply chain compliance by enabling managers to influence thousands of purchasing decisions being made each day – directing users to contracted, compliant goods and services that are the preferred choice of the organization.
Here are the core elements that make up Directed Buying.
The Virtual Item Master as a Single Source of Truth
Prodigo’s Virtual Item Master is the backbone of Directed Buying. As a data enablement platform, the Virtual Item Master gives supply chain the tools needed to centrally manage all contracted sources (item master, GPO contracts, local price agreements), items, and prices so they can direct spend to preferred sources based on item level attributes. It gives Master Data teams data onboarding utilities with built in approval workflows along with a syndication engine so they can effectively maintain the increasing volume of contracted items and the velocity of price changes. With price management at its core, the Virtual Item Master not only ensures that the right item is purchased from the right source but that the right price is maintained from the point of requisition to the payment of the invoice.
Formulary Control with Filtering Logic
The Virtual Item Master serves up prescribed item formularies to end-users based on the priorities set by supply chain. As a result, organizational priorities define what contract sources, what items, and what prices are visible to each requester community. Prodigo’s patented filtering logic governs the items and prices that are available for purchase to the requesters based on their business unit, requesting location, inventory location, role, distribution channel, contract commitments, etc. Prodigo directs requesters to the best option without them needing to know the item, vendor, or contract relationship. As an example, in a Bill Only use-case, a supplier can access the Marketplace to record items used within a patient procedure and their search vector is limited to only their company’s items.
Patented Smart Search Technology
Prodigo’s search algorithms are highly sophisticated. Machine learning techniques are employed to ensure search speed and accuracy continuously improves. Prodigo’s patented deterministic search technology searches a user’s formulary of approved content to return and prioritize results based on the context of search terms entered and the priorities set by supply chain.
Smart Search Delivers an Efficient User Experience
Through various research, Prodigo has identified that nearly 80% of the search terms entered during the requisitioning process are for specific item part numbers. For requesters, Smart Search interprets the user's search string to determine the user’s intent (e.g., specific part number or word patterns) and will only return items that reflect the value searched; eliminating extraneous results the user would have to sift through. Smart Search gives time back from administrative tasks so that valuable clinical staff can get back to patient care more quickly.
Smart Search Uses Weighted Search Results to Drive Supply Chain Priorities
Supply chain managers can prioritize search results that are returned to the requester. By weighing the value and/or ranking the order in which results will be displayed, supply chain can shape behavior to support organizational objectives. Whether it’s something as simple as increasing inventory turns on inventoried items or an opportunity to direct spend to suppliers where rebate thresholds are in the balance, Prodigo helps procurement managers drive the end user behavior needed to achieve their cost savings objectives. As well, weighted search can also be used to help drive other supply chain initiatives, such as promoting sustainable products or minority/women/veteran owned vendors.
Smart Search Filters Out Duplicate Items to Eliminate Confusion for Requesters
The search engine filters out duplicate items. This makes it easier for requesters to find and order the correct item at the correct unit of measure; ensuring the user is presented with the correct item, source, and unit of measure based on their purchasing profile. This makes data maintenance simpler for administrators since they can load entire contracts and distribution options without having to manually cross-reference against the item formulary for a specific location. As well, Prodigo provides a duplicate item report to help administrators keep the virtual item master clean.
The Benefits of Directed Search
In addition to providing an optimal user experience, Directed Search drives hard dollar savings by shaping the behavior on thousands of purchasing decisions. This allows supply chain to control spend across the entire enterprise footprint.
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Standardization – reduces supply chain and clinical variance; delivering value that extends from supply chain optimization to improved patient care.
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Savings – delivers contract compliance from the front-end of the procurement cycle; ensuring that the requisition has the right item, from the right source, at the right price, in real time.
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Control – drives utilization of preferred contracts for all managed product and purchased service categories; maximizing the price incentives, rebates and GPO Admin fees collected through your contracts.
Additional Resources
On demand recording: How Smart Search Is the Key to Saving 30%