“I could barely get staff to go to one website for savings. Two was
a struggle. It would be unrealistic for them to check six different
vendor websites. Having it all in one place made it easier for them
to find the best product in a timely manner without wasting hours
doing it.”– Josh Miller, Director of Pharmacy, HAC Inc.
They needed to enhance purchasing from their entire catalog and empower them to make purchasing decisions based on their
business goals and strategy.
Josh selected SureCost for greater purchasing transparency and its flexible technology. SureCost is a unified purchasing and
inventory solution designed for pharmacies to optimize buying decisions and discover money-saving opportunities from their entire
vendor portfolio. It works with all major wholesalers and the vast majority of secondary providers, GPOs and other pharmaceutical
sources.
HAC worked with the SureCost team to determine the best onboarding process. They decided on three live webinars for groups of six
to eight employees at each of the 24 stores. The onboarding went smoothly, and HAC has been using SureCost for over a year now.
They started with SureCost in August 2023, all stores live and ordering in late October 2023.
How SureCost Helped
SureCost puts everyone making a purchase at HAC on the same page. Staf across all 24 locations use this solution to find the best
purchasing option—which isn’t always the lowest-priced item. As Josh learned, a product that costs a little more upfront could allow
them to meet their minimum volume. They can also spot “one-of” purchasing options where they can save a lot of money. In some
instances, it may be a commonly sold item that one vendor hasn’t focused on.
HAC pharmacy staf frequently consult SureCost’s “potential savings” tab to maximize the savings. With large purchase orders of 150
items at a time, they check the tab and discover additional savings from comparable products. That’s while purchasing from all six of
HAC’s regular vendors and still complying with their primary vendor and other purchasing agreements.
Leadership also has the option to configure SureCost to drive purchases to selected items based on potential reimbursement and
other considerations.
SureCost’s reporting also enhanced how HAC purchases. The “order substitution” report allows them to readjust when ordering items
close to depletion. “Purchase history” provides business intelligence around trends or potential losses. “Vendor purchasing
breakdown” lets HAC analyze their spending. Josh notes that his team has only begun to explore the wide range of reports in
SureCost. He also advises that "if you’re a data nerd, there’s every possible report you could think of.”
Josh calculates that HAC has saved approximately $200K each month after using SureCost for just four months. He’s also saving up
to four hours a week otherwise lost to the tedious process of manually comparing catalogs. Speaking about his colleagues at HAC,
he explains that “having [all vendors] in one place to look has made it easier for them to find the best product for the best price for the
patient in a timely manner without wasting hours doing it.”
HAC is also more prepared to mitigate shortages and issues with suppliers. “We can go to one place and see if the primary vendor or
a secondary has it available, with updated on-hand amounts, and know we’ll get it the next day so it’s there for patients.”
Even locations that weren’t analyzing their costs now spend a modest amount of time on smarter purchasing. He admits that “it’s not
as easy as just clicking the ‘Order’ button. It requires some thought and a little time,” but adds that “the savings have been worth it."
Benefits
CASE STUDY
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