CHARLOTTE, N.C. (December 14, 2009) – Methodist Hospital of Henderson, Ky., has realized significant supply chain savings by participating in the Premier healthcare alliance’s ASCEND™ program and by using Premier’s SpendAdvisor® MySpend™ spend management decision-support solution.
In September 2009 alone, Methodist reduced supply chain expenses as a percent of operating revenue from 13.46 percent to 12.17 percent. In October, the positive trend continued at the two hospitals and physician clinics. The combined total for medical supplies, food and drugs, and general supplies was down 9.14 percent when compared to budget.
“Numbers don’t lie. I’ve been very pleased with ASCEND. It’s only going to get better,” said Don Nauser Jr., director, Materials Management at Methodist Hospital. “Some suppliers have come full circle in their opinion of ASCEND and what Premier’s trying to do. Some major players realized they were going to be left behind if they didn’t embrace the concept. Some didn’t give ASCEND any credibility initially. We have accomplished what we wanted to do, and that’s to affect market share.”
ASCEND (Accelerated Supply Chain Endeavor) helps hospitals achieve and sustain rapid improvements in supply chain performance. MySpend, Premier’s proprietary analytical tools that identify opportunities to reduce overall supply expenses, is a key component of the program.
Methodist has been using the MySpend solution since July and now has a much better picture of its supply spend. “MySpend has paid for itself already, several times over. It’s an incredible tool. If I had enough time, I’d use it for hours,” said Nauser. “For instance, I found I was paying over contract price in a particular category. The amount of money vendors owe us is in the tens of thousands of dollars. That would never have been caught before.”
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