Working with a GPO allows hospitals to benefit from the buying power of combining hundreds of healthcare facilities. This is a well-known fact among buyers and purchasing managers as it relates to purchasing products from manufacturers.
However, knowledge of the role that a medical distributor can play in the procurement and delivery services provided through a GPO is far less common. A medical distributor can save you time and money by providing value added services focused on ordering efficiency and streamlining the delivery process.
Purchase Order Tracking
When working with a medical distributor you can have assistance in all aspects of the purchasing process. You will be able to work with one general contact that will be responsible to assist you with the planning, assessment and collection of quotes for all of your equipment needs.
You will be provided with all of the information you need so you can receive approval from the key players within your healthcare facility and then use one purchase order for your entire capital equipment purchase. Your medical distributor will provide real time tracking to keep on top of your orders’ progress.
Warehousing and Asset Tagging
One of the key functions of the medical distributor is the assimilation of goods and equipment in one central location prior to delivery. At this warehousing site all of your equipment and goods will be received, assessed, assembled, organized, tagged and stored until your scheduled delivery date.
This means reduced risk for damage and errors, a streamlined process for deliveries and the elimination of costly offsite storage fees. Fewer hands touch your order, which reduces risk of error and damage due to over-handling.
Logistics
Whether you are in the process of construction, remodeling or the addition of new departments or healthcare services, the medical distributor can also assist in the coordination of effective scheduling for direct-to-site deliveries that will align with construction and installation requirements.
They work with your opening date and create a comprehensive schedule based on real time need-by dates. Everything is coordinated with contractors and other key players based on a single delivery, or staggered delivery to suit your installment and set up needs.
Direct-to-Site Delivery
With the Direct-to-Site Delivery program, deliveries will be made directly to your site from a single warehouse and to each specific point-of-use location. This reduces demand on department staff, miscommunication between contractors and hospital staff and delays due to late delivery, damaged equipment or safety issues.
Staging and Delivery
The equipment received by the distributor will be inspected for damage, grouped by desired delivery location and scheduled for delivery in accordance with your workflow requirements.
Assembly
You will not require a third party to assemble, install or train staff as your medical distributor will assure all of these details are covered. This again reduces strain on your team and also ensures a higher rate of compliance with staff using equipment properly. Should there be issues with proper functioning of the equipment, the distributor takes responsibility for the equipment failure and will correct the problem.
Your GPO provides excellent savings on product purchasing from the manufacturer. In addition, they can also be utilized to provide cost savings on the warehousing, delivery and installation of those products through their contracted medical distributors.
CME Corp is proud of our GPO affiliations, which allow us to streamline capital equipment procurement with improved efficiency in ordering and reduced costs and effort through a streamlined delivery process.
About CME: CME Corp is the nation’s premier source for healthcare equipment, turnkey logistics, and biomedical services, representing 2 million+ products from more than 2,000 manufacturers.
With two corporate offices and 35+ service centers, our mission is to help healthcare facilities nationwide reduce the cost of the equipment they purchase, make their equipment specification, delivery, installation, and maintenance processes more efficient, and help them seamlessly launch, renovate and expand on schedule.
