Collaboration helps solve supply chain disruptions & discrepancies
As shared in the Q1 edition of The Source, HealthTrust members have exclusive access to three solution packages on the Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX) platform: Foundations, Foundations Plus and Operations Excellence. Now, in collaboration with GHX, HealthTrust is leveraging insights from data to help members navigate supply disruptions, eliminate price discrepancies and improve transaction automation.
“HealthTrust is actively working with its members and suppliers to address the challenges uncovered in the data,” says Patrick Lowry, MBA, MS, HealthTrust’s Vice President of Customer Solutions. “It’s critical work that impacts providers on all fronts—clinical, operational and financial.”
“HealthTrust is actively working with its members & suppliers to address the challenges uncovered in the data.”
Patrick Lowry
Navigating supply disruptions
Supply disruptions are one of the biggest pain points for health systems as they can have a direct impact on patient care. Backorders are among the near-real-time datasets GHX is sharing with HealthTrust. “With this information, HealthTrust teams have early access to signals that may indicate supply availability issues. As a next step, HealthTrust’s sourcing and clinical leaders promptly review the risks and provide guidance to HealthTrust members on how best to avoid disruption,” shares Eric Swaim, Senior Vice President of Strategic Sourcing at HealthTrust.
Eliminating price discrepancies
Another near-real-time dataset from GHX shows pricing misalignment between HealthTrust, suppliers, distributors and members. “HealthTrust and GHX have been analyzing that data,” Lowry explains, “seeking to understand and solve the root causes of those discrepancies.” Additionally, HealthTrust and GHX have been meeting with suppliers and distributors to determine improvements that will help ensure price accuracy and alignment moving forward.
One such improvement is a new integration GHX built into the Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system used by HealthTrust members. This Data Connect feature helps synchronize pricing into a member’s ordering system and is designed to reflect HealthTrust-negotiated pricing.
Improving transaction automation
DID YOU KNOW?
In addition to operational issues such as delayed shipments & payments to suppliers, up to
1.5%
of total supply spend
is lost annually to price
discrepancies.
Additional discrepancies are inevitable when HealthTrust members and suppliers are not aligned on data elements. These happen, for example, when reorder numbers change or when units of measure differ. “We are sharing our contract portfolio and all of the item information with GHX,” Lowry says, “and they are sharing item attribution with us so we can agree and align on all the data elements.” This practice is designed to help ensure more automated and accurate transactions processing to increase the rate of Perfect Orders through GHX, benefiting both providers and suppliers.
HealthTrust continues to explore ways to leverage GHX products and features to reduce the administrative burden on members. For instance, HealthTrust provides GHX’s Value Analysis and Strategic Sourcing solution with product equivalents. “We want to support clinician requests for product substitutions to identify items that are on a HealthTrust contract.
GHX’s Value Analysis and Strategic Sourcing solution will suggest an alternative— meaning a potential clinical equivalent—that is on a HealthTrust contract,” shares Cody King, Chief Product Officer at HealthTrust. Since the HealthTrust data shows up within the tool itself, members no longer need to look elsewhere for that kind of information.
GHX offers three solutions, exclusive to HealthTrust members. The packages are:
- Available at a preferred discount with industry-best pricing
- Offering greater information protection terms and conditions
- Designed to optimize the procure-to-pay process and drive as much automation as possible
YOUR TURN
Ready to eliminate price discrepancies and improve transaction automation within your organization? Contact your HealthTrust Account Manager to learn more.
