Seprio has been negotiating purchased services contracts, inside and outside of healthcare since 2000. Sure the GPOs will advertise their abilities to assist with purchased services, however, the proof is results and savings driven. Seprio work in healthcare has always been in IDNs that already have a GPO presence and at times even a GPO consulting presence in purchased services. So the question abounds…how does Seprio differ?
Traditionally the GPOs presence in purchased services optimization has been with very healthcare specific and clinical sorts of services. For instance, every GPO has pitched a better way to do laundry, food services or reference labs. But how many GPOs line up to do facilities, technology, consulting or energy contract optimization projects? There’s a reason for this. Purchased services contracts are not commoditized and formed in traditional supply arrangements. It’s very difficult to have a benchmark that pinpoints an offering that’s a match for the health systems’ needs. MDBuyline or Gartner might offer a pricing guidelines but when pressed each will quickly tell the customer this pricing is a guideline and not necessarily an optimal point of pricing.
Because every negotiation and every set of customer requirements is unique, it’s important to have a detailed benchmarking matrix consisting of pricing, contract and service criteria to truly optimize your services contracts in any area.