By Daniel Casciato
In the ever-evolving world of healthcare, supply chain management is one of the most complex and critical components. For Baptist Health South Florida, managing over 70,000 purchase orders monthly across thousands of suppliers is no small feat. Historically, this volume of transactions has led to a persistent challenge: invoice match exceptions. These exceptions, caused by discrepancies between purchase orders, receipts, and invoices, demanded significant time and effort to resolve. However, with implementing the innovative HealthChain application in partnership with Salesforce, Baptist Health has significantly transformed its supply chain operations.
George Godfrey, Chief Supply Chain Officer and Corporate VP of Shared Services at Baptist Health South Florida, sheds light on the pre-HealthChain scenario, “We had thousands of match exceptions, and no matter how hard the team worked to resolve them, we could never make a permanent dent in the total. We downloaded the pending match exceptions each week and assigned owners to each. Our team then researched each one to determine the root cause and, more importantly, the call to action to resolve. This process was time-consuming and unsustainable.”
The sheer volume and complexity of healthcare supply chains, compounded by global disruptions such as pandemics and trade restrictions, necessitated a robust solution. Baptist Health sought a communication tool that could provide automation, transparency, and seamless integration with their existing ERP and reporting systems.
“We were looking for a communication tool, and we believed that the best-in-class solution for communication is Salesforce,” Godfrey explains. “While the Salesforce platform has traditionally been used within sales workflows, we found it configurable enough to support procure-to-pay workflows equally well.”
HealthChain, built on the Salesforce platform, introduced a game-changing level of automation to the process of handling invoice match exceptions. The application uses predefined criteria to classify each exception, eliminating the need for manual research.
“HealthChain automatically creates a ‘case’ for each exception,” Godfrey elaborates. “Based on the exception type, an email template is employed from the case and automatically sent to the internal department or supplier with an actionable request. If the recipient does not respond within a pre-determined amount of time, HealthChain systematically escalates the case to the next level of leadership.”
This streamlined approach has yielded significant results. In the first year of using HealthChain, Baptist Health resolved nearly 37,000 match exceptions and managed almost 98,000 emails within the application. The average resolution time dropped to 11 days, compared to an industry average of over 60 days. Moreover, Baptist Health identified and avoided $2.9 million in overcharged invoices on clinical supplies alone.
The benefits of HealthChain extend beyond the internal team at Baptist Health. “Our suppliers are also reaping the benefits of HealthChain,” says Godfrey.
The application’s ability to promptly resolve pricing discrepancies prevents future exceptions, saving time and effort for the healthcare provider and the supplier. This efficiency leads to more timely payments and stronger supplier relationships.
Feedback from staff and stakeholders has been overwhelmingly positive. Team members now have a single source of truth for match exceptions, allowing them to manage and resolve issues efficiently. “They know their leaders will become involved to assist if exceptions are not cleared within the specified time,” Godfrey notes. The application’s clear reporting capabilities enable self-management and provide visibility into supplier performance, fostering a more collaborative environment.
HealthChain’s impact goes beyond managing match exceptions. Baptist Health has expanded its use to include Sourcing Events, Contract Management, and Item Management. “Since the deployment of sourcing activities in HealthChain, we have utilized this tool to create over 5,000 contract cases and over 40,000 associated emails to initiate the contract renewal process,” Godfrey explains. This expansion has reduced contracts pending renewal by 28%, significantly streamlining operations.
The best part of HealthChain, Godfrey says, is the impact it has on Baptist Health’s most important asset – its team members. He explains that having workload management tools plays an important role in empowering teams to better understand what they need to do and, in turn, self-monitor how well they are performing. HealthChain takes individual workload management to a whole new level by providing detailed visibility into every task they need to accomplish – they can see what has been done, when it was done, and what is still pending. It also provides leaders with greater visibility to their team’s overall workload, and if needed, balances the workload by re-assigning cases.
During a time when healthcare costs continue to increase, ensuring we are getting charged the right price, negotiating contracts for the best value for the organization, and being able to self-manage are all cost containment measures HealthChain simplifies, while providing self-motivation and direction to those performing the work.
Looking to the future, Baptist Health is committed to continually enhancing HealthChain. “We are only beginning to tap into the possibilities of utilizing Artificial Intelligence to streamline workflows and reduce redundant and mundane tasks,” says Godfrey. The potential for AI to further optimize processes, such as identifying required actions and progressing work streams based on historical resolutions, represents the next frontier for HealthChain.
HealthChain is now ready for deployment across healthcare systems nationwide. Baptist Health, as the solution’s subject matter expert, has partnered with Penrod, a consultant specializing in Salesforce for healthcare, to commercialize the application.
“HealthChain was designed for providers, by healthcare supply chain experts,” Godfrey emphasizes. This collaboration ensures that HealthChain is built for streamlined adoption, empowering healthcare providers to swiftly address their match exception challenges.
In a world where efficiency and accuracy are paramount, Baptist Health’s partnership with Salesforce to deploy HealthChain stands as a testament to the power of innovation in healthcare. Godfrey reflects, “We intend to keep exploring ways to leverage this technology to continue improving our organization’s service levels and build transparent, mutually beneficial relationships with our supply partners.”
For more information, visit baptisthealth.net.
