https://www.vizientinc.com/achieve
Portfolio for Vizient committed program growing
The portfolio of contracts in Vizient’s Achieve Committed Program™ is growing steadily, according to the company. At press time, the portfolio included more than 80 contracts and 10,600 items. Sixteen of the categories in the program had two or more suppliers for participants to choose from.
Launched in May, the program is intended to build on an existing portfolio that represents more than 45 percent of a hospital’s medical/surgical supply purchases.
“Our members have expressed an increased interest in programs that offer significant value in exchange for purchasing commitment,” says Pete Allen, executive vice president, sourcing operations for Vizient. “By participating, they are able to shift their resources from locally negotiating commodity contracts to a focus on tackling bigger opportunities for cost savings and process improvement, such as clinical/supply integration or driving operational efficiency through their supply chain operations.”
Vizient believes that members who choose to participate in the Achieve Program will receive:
- Savings of 6 to 12 percent through improved pricing and rebates in select commodity and clinical preference categories.
- Easy access to spend data through an analytics platform that tracks participation.
- Increased efficiency by shifting the negotiation and management of locally negotiated categories to the Achieve Program.
Launched in May, the Achieve Program addresses suppliers’ need for predictability and commitment from members, according to Vizient. Contract compliance monitoring is automatic and proactive to enable dialogue between providers and suppliers to improve market penetration and value.
The Achieve program is an expansion of committed offerings currently available to Vizient members, says Allen. The company reports that the Impact Standardization program has returned more than $1.8 billion to participants to date, and in 2017, the Vizient Pharmacy Program grew to $53 billion in committed spend.
“Others trying to build this type of program from scratch are significantly challenged due to the market-building dilemma,” says David Gillan, senior vice president, sourcing operations for Vizient. “Suppliers want to know what volume of spend they’re pricing against, while members want to know which suppliers they’d be converting to. It’s the chicken-and-egg scenario, and it’s one we’ve solved for. Our program is based on a portfolio of member-vetted products, and leverages committed volume already in place.”