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May 17, 2022

Healthcare Contract Repository - TAG Inc

Why your Health System Needs a Contract Repository

Thousands of suppliers are actively utilized in every health system often managed by a limited amount of staff. That’s why organizations must create a centralized contract repository in order to properly manage their contracts and set their Supply Chain up for automation and success. What is a contract repository? A contract repository is simply a central location housing all vendor contracts a health system uses. As a core component of a successful contract management system, the repository must collect and consolidate ALL contracts including local and GPO contracts. The system containing the repository must be able to store the data […]

March 17, 2022

pharmacy procurement complexities - TAG Inc

Navigating the Complexities of Your Health System’s Pharmaceutical Procurement

The Challenges of Pharmaceutical Procurement Managing the pharmaceutical procurement process for a large health system is a complex and grueling process. Why? Because it is commonplace for these organizations to purchase from multiple manufacturers and distributors – resulting in excess of 100 accounts. With so many pharmaceutical accounts to manage, it becomes difficult to know whether health systems continue to get the correct or best price. For example, during the course of a year, a health system paid nine different prices for Astra Zeneca’s drug Symbicort ranging anywhere from $0.05 to $232. Most health systems are not equipped with the […]

January 11, 2022

How to Ensure Vendor Compliance at your Health System

Ensuring vendor compliance at your health system may seem like a daunting, impossible task that never ends. You’re not wrong. Managing thousands of vendors and holding them accountable is complex and requires attention to detail and a timely dedication your Procurement and Accounts Payable (AP) staff may not have. The results of not doing so can be catastrophic to your health system’s bottom line, costing the healthcare industry $1.7B* annually. To battle this, your health system must create a comprehensive vendor compliance management policy and process. What to Consider in your Vendor Compliance Process Bring AP and Supply Chain Departments […]

September 28, 2020

Essential Healthcare Supplier Contract Clauses - TAG Inc - The Audit Group

6 Essential Clauses to Include in Healthcare Supplier Contracts

US Healthcare supply chain overspends by $25.4B each year, equating to 30 percent of total spend in the industry. Healthcare supply chain leaders must be proactive to eliminate the causes that contribute to this overspend, starting with the first line of defense – supplier contracting. Healthcare systems must review their general agreements and additional clauses to ensure they include the information below to protect against overcharges and other causes of leaked funds. Freight Charges Freight charges must be addressed in each supplier contract to include the party responsible for paying the freight. Organizations are encouraged to negotiate freight charges to […]

August 10, 2020

Improve Supplier Relationships - TAG Inc - The Audit Group

Keys to Successful Supplier Relationships

A positive supplier relationship builds trust and loyalty – both important foundations when it comes to negotiating new contracts. Building on trust and loyalty with your suppliers can have financial reward such as: Avoid overcharges. Suppliers may be understaffed or have inefficient systems leading to charges on supplies or services higher than the agreed-upon terms. Recover and avoid duplicate payments. Duplicate payments happen in all health systems, but loyalty with suppliers can help keep them honest and return the duplicated payment before inquiring about it. Avoid charges for services not rendered. Purchased services can be complex to manage leading to […]

October 25, 2019

Vendor Master Cleanse - TAG Inc - The Audit Group

How to Perform a Vendor Master Cleanse in Your Health System

We recently published a blog discussing the impact of outdated and incomplete vendor master files. Your vendor master reduces the risk of fraud and payment errors for health systems. Now we walk you through the laborious steps involved in cleaning up, validating, and maintaining your vendor master. STEP 1: Inspect the Current Vendor Master File Inspecting and assessing your current data is the most time-consuming part of a vendor data cleanse. Begin by identifying and collecting all of your relevant documentation, vendor files, and data sources. Once all the necessary information is collected, import to your preferred data management platform […]

September 10, 2019

Perform Master Cleanse - TAG Inc - The Audit Group

Five Reasons to Perform a Vendor Master Cleanse

On average, health systems work with over 27,500 vendors at a given time with seven percent of those vendors changing their name, affiliation, or standing on an annual basis. With such a large number and variability of vendors, managing vendor data can quickly become cumbersome for an organization’s Accounts Payable (AP) department creating exposure to payment errors, fraudulent charges, and risk of noncompliance. To minimize these risks, AP departments or the parties responsible for the vendor master must keep their master file current and free of errors by performing a vendor master cleanse and maintain the file on a quarterly […]