MedAssets is adding more automation tools to its supply chain management platform through a deal with Prodigo Solutions.
Prodigo, a Pittsburgh-based subsidy of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, has signed an exclusive contract with Atlanta-based MedAssets to offer MedAssets customers its electronic procurement marketplace solutions. The Prodigo tools integrate with leading enterprise resource planning systems like PeopleSoft, SAP and Oracle and can be positioned for use in healthcare systems without an ERP.
"As the healthcare community seeks to produce the quality improvements and cost control that are the focus of national reform, we are pleased to help our provider customers reach those goals by offering Prodigo's e-procurement solutions," said Rand Ballard, MedAssets' chief customer officer and chief operating officer. "Major health systems, including UPMC, have demonstrated that Prodigo's tools can drive lower costs, higher efficiency and improved contract compliance – an outcome that benefits patients and payers."
"UPMC has achieved significant savings, productivity gains and higher customer satisfaction since implementing Prodigo's solutions nearly two years ago," added James Szilagy, UPMC's chief supply chain officer and a Prodigo Solutions board member. "Our procurement process automation is driving significant improvement in contract compliance and is saving UPMC nearly $3 million annually. Prodigo Solutions has been critical to achieving these results."
UPMC officials say more than three-quarters of UPMC's purchasing volume is now processed through Prodigo's system, and more than half of that is fully automated, allowing end users in the system to communicate directly with vendors on contract-compliant orders without the need to get supply chain staff involved.
"By working with MedAssets, we can bring similar efficiencies more quickly to other healthcare providers struggling with labor-intensive purchasing and compliance processes," Szilagy said.