Case Study

Radiology Service Provider Sees Ongoing Value From Provista Contracts and Services

November 1, 2024
MRI machine with patient and doctor
Having more than 1 million patients nationwide trusting its services gives a radiology organization a great deal of buying power when negotiating contracts. Regardless of its high level of spend, especially in the radiology space, the organization has worked with a healthcare-focused group purchasing organization (GPO) since 2012.

The radiology company had been partnering with MedAssets, which folded into the Provista family in 2016. It has been a member of Provista ever since.
 
“There’s always something that a GPO helps bring, such as additional resources to the table,” says the former RVP of DeNovo Growth, Real Estate & Procurement, for the organization. “For example, the pre-negotiated terms and conditions available on contracts and the vetting of vendors allows us to have a smaller procurement team because we can rely on Provista for these ancillary procurement items that go outside of just buying the product.”

CONTRACTS, REBATES AND PRICE DISCREPANCY RESOLUTION

Whenever Provista offered a contract suggestion to the radiology service provider, stakeholders felt confident that the contract and supplier had been properly scrutinized, which saved them from conducting their own research. 

For example, Provista recently introduced the organization to national contracts for both linens and janitorial services to meet its changing needs. The company ended up moving all of its linens to MEDtegrity Healthcare Linen and Uniform Services via the Provista contract.  
 
Because it has a large network of about 150 locations, the radiology organization achieves competitive rates for medical-surgical and other items, but each facility purchases its products and services independently. This means the centralized procurement team lacks direct insights into each location’s individual purchase orders. Making sure every facility is paying the correct price for each purchase is a huge job—a task that’s too big for the organization to handle with its four-person procurement team—so it’s handled by Provista.
 
“The price discrepancy resolution team has really done a good job of looking at and auditing purchases, making sure that the contract pricing is in place and if it’s not, pursuing a proper remedy,” the former RVP says. “Provista has done a really good job with price discrepancies and making sure that any discrepancies are corrected. They’ve really brought a bunch of value in that space because we just don’t have the resources to do it on our own.”
 
Provista is also helping ensure that the organizations’ purchases are aggregated to qualify for the maximum rebates. For example, Provista helps secure rebates of approximately 1.5% on capital equipment purchases. When those purchases amount to $20 million or more, the rebates add up quickly.
 
“We are getting our full rebates,” the former RVP explains. “So not only are we getting the go-forward advantage with price discrepancy, but we’re getting money back with discounts and rebates based on contract pricing that we may have missed without Provista.” 

STANDARDIZING PRODUCTS ACROSS 150 LOCATIONS
The radiology service provider participates in Provista’s Impact Standardization Program. The goal is to drive standardization across the variety of products being purchased.
 
“We want to standardize simple things like bandages and gauze and anything else where all of our different physicians might be saying they like Product X or Product Y,” the former RVP notes. “We leveraged Provista contracts especially over the past three to four years to standardize as many of those products as we can, both to get a better price on the front side and to make sure we’re getting a rebate on everything we buy.”
 
One of the organization’s first efforts to standardize involved gloves. The company had been using myriad types of gloves to meet doctors’ preferences, but then standardized on a single glove from Ansell. That move saves about $50,000 per year.
 
“Anything that runs through our procurement formulary is directing all of our people to one product line,” the former RVP says. “Those kinds of standardizations have a real savings for us.” 

““I would absolutely say that without Provista, without that GPO relationship, we would have to have a larger team to accomplish the same thing we’re doing now.” --Former RVP, Radiology Service Provider”

ACHIEVING VALUE THAT EXTENDS BEYOND PRICING

The radiology provider is also leveraging Provista contracts for capital equipment purchases. For instance, the organization buys its GE and Siemens medical equipment through Provista to benefit from competitive pricing as well as value-added terms and conditions.
 
“Provista has done a really good job of saving our organization time,” the former RVP says. “It saves us the time and effort of developing and reviewing those terms and conditions on our own because Provista already has them in place. We don’t have to spend time creating them or negotiating them ourselves.”
 
Provista’s relationships with suppliers across non-acute healthcare also delivered much needed benefits during the pandemic. The radiology provider, like many healthcare organizations, was facing unprecedented challenges procuring essential supplies and following ever-changing government requirements for wearing masks and other personal protective equipment.
 
“We were trying to keep the doors open by having the right products available, such as masks, gloves and cleaning supplies. It seemed like everybody was running out,” the former RVP recalls. “Provista was able to negotiate bulk buys on some of those core products that everyone needed in the worst way. Provista was very helpful through those hard times.”

FINDING SOLUTIONS THROUGH A COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIP

The radiology organization buys most of its major products through Provista contracts. “I would absolutely say that without Provista, without that GPO relationship, we would have to have a larger team to accomplish the same thing we’re doing now,” the former RVP says. “Provista certainly does act as an extension of our company.”
 
He considers his main point of contact at Provista to be helpful, knowledgeable and an “internal resource at our fingertips.” That’s because whenever he needs information about current or new contracts, is looking to find a new product or is interested in a custom contract, the Provista representative quickly responds with details.
 
“I would describe our relationship as very collaborative and friendly,” the former RVP says. “We’ve worked together as a team. We’ve found solutions together.” 

 

 

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