Our client is a regional hospital with an affiliated medical practice network. The network grew as new practices were added over several years. Each practice brought with it various ongoing leases and contracts, vendors and suppliers. As the number grew, administrative costs also escalated, with the hospitals’ Accounts Payable department struggling to keep track of all the bills arriving from the practices.
Business Expense Advisors was brought in to address the issues. We began by learning all the various contracts, leases, and vendors across all the practices. We made recommendations about consolidating vendors across the network, taking into account relationships and purchasing power the hospital already had, the number of practices sharing suppliers, and understanding the differences between a large centralized organization like the hospital and the satellite nature of the practices. Office and medical supplies, portable water, document shredding, location cleaning services, postage, gowns and linens, copiers and printers were all standardized across the practices, at the best price possible. As old contracts expired practices were seamlessly added to established vendors. Consolidated bills replaced individual ones, cutting down on A/P work and allowing for better analysis of expenses for individual practices and the network.