UMass Memorial Health Care renews its supply chain relationship with Broadlane

Nov 12 2009

Broadlane, the leading cost-management company for healthcare providers, announced today that UMass Memorial Health Care, the largest healthcare system in Central and Western Massachusetts, has renewed its supply chain relationship with Broadlane for another three years. UMass Memorial will continue to access Broadlane’s unparalleled national contract portfolio of consumable supplies, equipment, pharmaceuticals and purchased services to help manage approximately $156 million in annual supply spend. Broadlane helps UMass Memorial manage costs across its five acute care hospitals and various home health and hospice programs, behavioral health programs and community-based physician practices.

“During a critical time of impending healthcare reform and the need for significant cost savings, we continue to rely on Broadlane,” said John O’Brien, president and chief executive officer, UMass Memorial Health System. “Since the inception of our relationship, Broadlane has been a true cost-management partner, saving us nearly $12 million over three years. A dedicated account management function and commitment to service excellence has truly set Broadlane apart. We’ve utilized a variety of Broadlane services, and through this new agreement, we’ll be taking advantage of several more.”

Under the new agreement, UMass Memorial is expanding its use of Broadlane services to include initiatives with Broadlane’s clinical consulting division – The Preference Group^®. The Preference Group, combining clinical resources and knowledge with business objectives, will help UMass Memorial with their orthopedic contracting initiative and Value Analysis Teams (clinical alignment for optimal product selection).

In addition to accessing Broadlane’s national contract portfolio, UMass Memorial will continue to utilize:

• OnRamp^® (Broadlane’s proprietary client portal) to access the national contract portfolio, informatics, Broadlane and industry news and education.
• BroadLink^® (Broadlane’s e-commerce exchange) to automate and manage transactions between UMass Memorial facilities and suppliers electronically.
• Broadlane Item Master Services will cleanse and manage processes and data related to the system’s item master to systematically improve the quality of purchasing data.
• Capital Equipment Services to review vendor quotes and ensure accuracy and purchase the best capital equipment at the best value. UMass recently saved approximately $600,000 on new digital mammography equipment through Broadlane’s proprietary Live Group Buy program.
• Transaction Management Services to increase efficiency and lower procurement-related expenses through Broadlane’s National Procurement Center, a centralized operation in Dallas.
• Informatics for access to reports and to improve insight related to contracts, capital equipment, pharmacy and other key areas of spend management.
• Broadlane Workforce Management^® for strategic sourcing of contract labor, partnering with UMass and other providers in their markets to identify labor needs and aggregate purchasing power.

“It’s truly been a pleasure working hand-in-hand with UMass Memorial to deliver operational improvements and cost-savings,” said Tom Sherry, Broadlane’s chief operating officer. “This highly productive relationship would not have been possible without the support of the UMass Memorial executive staff and their commitment to further strengthen their supply chain. We look forward to delivering three more years of improvements and savings.”

Source: Broadlane