The ProMedica Health System, a 10-hospital health system based in Toledo, Ohio, has implemented a daily price auditing solution in its laboratory that has helped identify more than $8,000 in pricing errors.
In addition to its hospitals, ProMedica operates more than 283 facilities in Ohio and Michigan and purchases approximately 500 laboratory product items on average every month, said John Krempa, ProMedica’s laboratory purchasing agent.
With so many purchases, he said, it's critical for the laboratory purchasing process to be as efficient and effective as possible to ensure the organization is being charged the correct price for its ever-changing product mix.
“The goal was to know about tomorrow’s price changes today,” said Krempa. “To reach that point we needed to develop an entirely new system to ensure our pricing was accurate at the front, the middle and the end of the ordering process.”
He said ProMedica had enjoyed some success with AccuPrice, a price auditing solution from Amerinet Diagnostix, in its pharmacy and agreed to beta test the solution in the laboratory.
The tool, developed by the St. Louis-based healthcare group purchasing organization Amerinet, combines master file maintenance, daily price audits and staff resources to identify and resolve pricing errors, Krempa said.
Each week, the software reviews all purchases and submits an audit report by e-mail to ProMedica that includes elements such as unfavorable variances and tier pricing. Krempa praised the utility of the tool’s facility summary reports, which detail pricing errors for specified time frames and include purchase dates, individual facility item numbers, purchase order numbers and dollar amount extensions of line item variances.
“We all lead busy lives and I only have to look at the summary report for a brief time each month and I have all the information I need,” he said.
Krempa said his team also uses the technology to capture “exception pricing” that applies to specific products with special requirements for transportation, integrity packaging, Department of Transportation hazardous materials packaging, direct shipment, service and restocking charges.
A year after implementing the new laboratory purchasing process, Krempa said AccuPrice has captured more than $8,000 in pricing errors for ProMedica.