Healthcare procurement success stories and lessons learned

In the years past, we’ve seen healthcare procurement teams quickly pivot to maintain business continuity and acquire backordered supplies, support their communities, and help their organizations thrive. The following examples demonstrate tactics that successful organizations have employed to strengthen their procurement strategies, gain new efficiencies, and realize cost savings. By applying similar practices, you will be better positioned to navigate the changing purchasing landscape and promote a healthy environment for employees and patients.

Use comparison shopping to find essential selection, and the best prices

Mary’s Center is sourcing critical supplies to protect staff and deliver high quality care to those who need it most. By shopping on Amazon Business, Mary’s Center is able to search and compare pricing, seller ratings, and fulfillment options from third-party sellers in a single online store. This ability allows their team to make cost-effective purchasing decisions while addressing supply shortages.

“When we look at healthcare vendors, we often find that their products are simply too expensive for us to purchase. Using Amazon Business allows our staff to find a wide array of healthcare products. And while some vendors only have one or two options, we find that Amazon Business will have 20 or more options for us to choose from," says Dara Koppelman, Chief Nursing Officer for Mary’s Center. “Amazon Business is a user-friendly way to help our staff get more engaged in finding and buying the right products at the best price.”

Save time by streamlining workflows

Seattle Children’s Hospital saves time on manual approval workflows by streamlining the purchasing processes with Amazon Business. The hospital is able to easily use built-in workflow features to set spending limits and approvers across the organization while providing employees a familiar shopping experience.

“The main benefit of Amazon Business for us is the ability to shift costly, labor-intensive approval processes for these items, so users can order directly with a more simple review and approval process,” says James Leroy, Director of Strategic Sourcing & Value Analysis, Seattle Children’s Hospital. “It’s saved us so much time, to the tune of 500 requests a year. Adding Amazon Business has had a significant positive impact for us.”

Empower staff to make the right purchasing decisions

With their centralized and transparent purchasing process, Five Star Senior Living, is able to control spending at 280 facilities while empowering their staff to make the right buying decisions. By enabling approved and restricted categories with Guided Buying, Five Star has been able to reduce time spent procuring orders and focus on improving their facilities, keeping residents happy, active, and safe.

“Amazon Business has solved so many problems for us,” Kevin Turner, Vice President of Supply Chain at Five Star Senior Living says. “The sheer amount and range of inventory of the marketplace meets our challenge of getting what we need, when we need it. The staff and the residents love this because now they have the freedom to plan activities the way they want to with the supplies they really want. It saves us time and money simultaneously.”

Preparing for what’s next
These purchasing and supply chain approaches created procurement departments that are likely stronger and more agile. Healthcare organizations must adapt to changing patterns in care to be prepared the next time crisis strikes while managing everyday operations. By embracing these learnings, healthcare procurement leaders can build the foundation for a more resilient, cost-effective sourcing strategy that supports the organization, healthcare workers, and their community.

Amazon Business can help you reshape your purchasing processes and rethink not only what, but also how, your team buys.

Watch our on-demand webinar “Reshape healthcare procurement to overcome uncertainty“ to learn more.