Here are three ways the two-year old GastroIntestinal Associates Endoscopy Center in Wausau, Wis., has reduced its expenses, according to Cathleen Rohling, chief operating officer for the center.
1. Joined additional GPO. The ASC was taken advantage of savings through one GPO and took advantage of the opportunity to sign up with a second GPO through the affiliation with its health system.
"Now we have the opportunity to look at pricing for the majority of our projects — either through one GPO or the other — and it gives us assurance that we're getting the best pricing we can get."
Working with the second GPO has helped to reduce pharmaceutical costs, as well as costs for accessories, such as water bottles, latex gloves and biopsy forceps. "Every penny counts in a high volume, low revenue scenario," says Ms. Rohling.
2. Changed linen agreement to weight-based from piece-based stocking and pricing. When the ASC initially opened, it signed an agreement to do piece-based stocking. After the center went through accreditation and certifications, it then had the opportunity to commit time to reviewing its operations and seeing savings could be found.
"Linen was benchmarking higher than the benchmarks would say it should, so we went back to our supplier and asked if there were other ways of looking at it," says Ms. Rohling. The supplier offered a weight-based stocking option.
"We cut our linen costs in half by doing that," she says. "By going by weight, we also reduced our labor costs because we were having to audit every day what we used and then had to file a request to refill our supply. This worked out very well for us."
3. Bulk purchasing through a single supplier. The ASC's physicians not only provide service at the center but also provide procedure support at some other centers. "Our providers liked the clinical performance of some products over another," says Ms. Rohling. "So we turned to one supplier and worked with them, shifting a majority of our procedure-based accessories to a single relationship. Now the doctors are getting clinical functions they prefer and we get some better pricing."
Learn more about GastroIntestinal Associates Endoscopy Center.
Read more ways GI ASCs can reduce costs and improve efficiency:
- 4 Best Practices to Improve GI ASC Operational Efficiency: Mirage Endoscopy Center
- 3 Ways to Cut GI ASC Costs: Surgery Center of Joliet, Ill.
- 4 Best Practices to Improve GI ASC Operational Efficiency: Mirage Endoscopy Center