I want to add one more topic to the conversation around healthcare vendors.
That topic is complex pricing structures.
What I mean by that is pricing structures that are:
- Vague or don’t have specificity.
- Pricing structures with a lot of room for errors and misinterpretation.
At VIE Healthcare®, we approach these complex pricing structures by asking for the line item details of every aspect of your spend.
Putting the line item details in the contract offers numerous benefits.
It takes the complexity out of pricing.
- The line item details are included in the contract.
- Hospitals can think about the ‘’what-ifs?’’ that could happen.
For instance, what if you buy or sell a hospital – what happens to the contract?
General terms and vague yet complex pricing structures don’t speak to what might happen in the future.
At VIE Healthcare®, we like the line item detail specificity and ensure our hospitals include it in their agreement.
If you can’t access that level of detail, we recommend two ways to work with Healthcare vendors:
1. Have a precise review of your monthly invoices.
You can hire a company to do this for you.
It’s imperative to capture pricing issues in real-time.
2. Carry out quarterly business reviews with your healthcare vendors.
Raise the invoice issues during those meetings so you can resolve them in that quarter.
Issues that aren’t identified quickly can go unnoticed or result in disputes that take years to resolve.
To summarize:
Complex pricing structures need to be simple and clear with full visibility around line item details.
If you can’t access that detail, implement a system to measure, monitor, and have accountability because accountability is important.
Our patented technology Invoice ROI™ delivers reconciliation, optimization, and intelligence and identifies the cost savings in your line item details in real-time.
Reach out at lmiller@spendmend.com to discuss your cost savings goals and how we can support and accelerate cost savings opportunities in your organization.
