A Practical Guide to Unprecedented Cost Savings in Purchased Services
Sponsored by Conductiv
Supply chain and operational leaders know all too well the intricacies of what needs to happen behind the scenes to run a successful hospital. From sanitizing laundry and linens to keeping rooms clean to servicing a patient’s vital signs monitor to ensure it’s operating correctly.
Indeed, third-party services are vital to a hospital’s operations and consume a significant portion of budgets. But what many don’t realize is that tackling third-party services represents an opportunity ripe for operational improvements and significant savings. Based on Conductiv data, the potential annual cost savings for hospitals across the industry is enormous – at $43 billion for third-party services spend.
So why aren’t more supply chain and finance teams prioritizing and optimizing this high-potential category?
“Significant Figures: A Practical Guide to Unprecedented Cost Savings in Purchased Services” simplifies the narrative around third-party purchased services and breaks down an important topic that has been left largely unexplored due to its complexity and magnitude.
The book offers a deep dive into the category’s complexities, but also a practical roadmap for supply chain teams. The authors provide Conductiv’s Purchased Services Program Maturity Continuum Survey, a helpful tool that can serve as a starting point for teams in addressing purchased services and all along their journey. The authors share that this maturity continuum relies on four levels measured across 10 operating factors (activities, capabilities, and attributes) that drive a successful third-party services program.
The book also delves into answering key questions –“Where are we in our purchased services optimization journey, how does that relate to others in the industry, and where do we go from here?” The authors share best practices for four stages of the purchased services journey:
- Legacy (Organizations with the most to gain from a purchased services strategy overhaul in terms of cost reduction, terms improvement, process standardization and risk reduction)
- Developing (Organizations in this stage are at a critical point in gaining executive support, choosing the right program leader, and gaining commitment from stakeholders)
- Committed (These organizations have reached the inflection point from struggling with yesterday’s problems to proactively focusing on tomorrow’s opportunities, and will begin to pivot towards proactive initiatives, scaling activities and securing deeper investments)
- Advanced (Organizations that show a willingness to experiment with new techniques for spend management, adopting emerging best practices from other industries, and nurture a culture of continuous improvement)
In Significant Figures, you’ll also learn from successful peers that share real-world examples, including Jon Ellsworth, who is championing strategic planning and prioritization based on data transparency to guide organizations to financial success; and Melia Moore, who has identified more than $25 million savings on $80 million addressable spend as Director, Strategic Sourcing for Conductiv.
While it’s easy to become fixated on potential cost savings, the authors of “Significant Figures” make the case that better oversight through visibility of purchased services spend holds tremendous power that allows organizations to improve supplier relationships and operations –and deliver a higher quality of care.