Total spend management is Amerinet’s solution
Amerinet used its East and West conferences to share its fiscal report, announce new initiatives and programs, offer education to its members, and provide an opportunity for members to interact with vendors.
It was the second – and last – year that the St. Louis-based GPO was to hold the two meetings (which were held in San Antonio and Orlando). Next year, there will be just one meeting, in May, in a yet-to-be announced location. (The GPO had already announced that it would discontinue its suppliers-only meeting, the Supplier Forum, which traditionally had been held in St. Louis in November.)
Fiscal report
President and CEO Todd Ebert reported that in 2007, Amerinet provided members $335 million in contract portfolio savings on $6.5 billion in purchases, resulting in $39 million returned to members. Ebert credited the GPO’s new Total Spend Management Solutions program – introduced in June 2007 – with at least some of the successes of the past year. The program is designed to improve members’ operational and financial performance by addressing supply chain effectiveness, revenue cycle management and workforce performance. In addition to Amerinet’s contract portfolio, other components of the program include:
- DataBay and Inquisit, two companies purchased by Amerinet in September 2007. DataBay’s software is said to help providers analyze medical staff and strategic planning opportunities, while Inquisit provides healthcare professionals with continuing education units and medical education.
- Craneware Inc., an Orlando, Fla.-based software firm with which Amerinet announced a strategic partnership in June 2007. Craneware provides clients with chargemaster management software and products designed to optimize legitimate reimbursement and assist in managing the revenue cycle.
- Amerinet BudgetMatch, powered by MEMdata, a College Station, Texas-based technology management firm, which specializes in capital equipment procurement, budgeting, research and planning. The program is said to simplify the capital equipment budgeting process and provide a more competitive estimate of a facility’s actual capital outlay.
- Success Profiles Inc. and Workforce Prescriptions Inc., two companies with which Amerinet has formed “strategic partnerships,” the result being benchmarking tools to help members improve workforce processes, address labor inefficiencies, and improve recruitment and retention strategies.
A new portal to its Web site allowing members to access contract information, purchasing history and financial information.
To help members take advantage of the Total Spend Management program, Amerinet has created a team of “business development specialists” to work with members on GPO programs. Reporting to Senior Vice President of Business Development Karen Barrow, the team will be deployed in several geographic regions under the direction of:
- Mark Lockhart, west region. Lockhart is a registered respiratory therapist who previously worked for Amerinet as a sales director.
- Bill Sellner, central region. Sellner has experience in medical sales and has worked as a respiratory therapist and cardiopulmonary director.
- Marty McGarry, east region. McGarry spent more than 15 years in medical sales.
Meanwhile, Amerinet also announced that it would sponsor a research project on the supply chain through the Healthcare Financial Management Association. The project is designed to trend industrywide supply chain and operational data. “Examining areas of opportunity in the supply chain and the successful processes of peers for achieving cost containment and efficiency will prove tremendously useful for both CFOs and materials managers,” said Rick Gundling, HFMA vice president, Thought Leadership and Education.
The GPO also announced it had completed 30 Savings Roadmaps in the prior six-month period, resulting in more than $20 million in savings for its members. The Savings Roadmap helps members find detailed contract information, and analyze and compare their total spending with Amerinet’s portfolio of products and services.