Care organization Careyn supports its ‘Closer by Care’ policy with the Proactis purchasing platform

Executive overview

Profile

Sector
Healthcare

Number of locations
200

Number of employees
Over 8.000

Objectives

  • Streamline ordering and invoicing processes throughout the organization.
  • Easy digital ordering from current contracts using one central platform.
  • Reduce purchasing costs.
  • Provide care teams with the required products and services as quickly as possible.

How Proactis helped

  • Ease of ordering for staff members.
  • Transparency and efficiency in the purchasing processes.
  • Better insight into liability administration and expenses.

Benefits

  • More control over spending and supplier performance.
  • Easier ordering in the workplace.
  • Better alignment with - and management of - the needs of staff and suppliers.
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Profile

With over 8,000 employees, Careyn is one of the largest healthcare providers in terms of housing, care and welfare. The care group offers 'Close by Care' to customers. 

The current organization is the result of a merger of several healthcare providers, who initially worked with several systems to place orders and process invoices. In addition, each system had its own design and process. As a result, the purchasing process became fragmented and the organization faced several problems. For example, employees often made agreements with suppliers and placed orders on their own initiative, or users had to work within multiple platforms to approve orders or invoices. The result was that purchases were not made efficiently, and unnecessarily high costs were incurred. From an efficiency and cost reduction point of view, Careyn saw the need to realize a uniform procurement process for all business units.

How to make it as easy as possible for more than 300 care teams, spread over 200+ locations, to quickly find and order the right products so that they can provide the best care possible to their clients? That is the challenge that Careyn faces.

Objectives

The changing demand for care and support is forcing substantial cost reductions. This has a major impact on the activities and operations of healthcare providers. Careyn also had to evolve with these changes, implementing measures to improve efficiency and reduce costs. At Careyn, the focus lies on its customers; what is it that they need so they can receive the best care possible? This is why the organization’s healthcare professionals have been grouped in self-managing care teams, which are at the core of the organization. This was designed with an aim to quickly provide teams with the products and services they need to perform their work, for example, food, incontinence equipment, cleaning services, but also rehabilitation aids.

The objective was to harmonize the ordering and invoicing processes throughout the organization to ensure that all purchases are made from current contracts, using only one procurement platform. The healthcare organization found the answer in a new procurement platform that enables ordering to be done centrally from contracted suppliers. This project was realized in close collaboration with Proactis. With the new approach, Careyn has been able to take steps towards further managing their purchasing process, having a better grip on spending and supplier performances.

In addition, streamlining the processes and product lines, along with reducing purchasing costs was a major goal. At this point, the organization was faced with a choice: either optimize its existing applications, or take a step forward and choose one purchasing application that integrally supports the entire purchasing process. This is where the choice was made for Proactis.

How Proactis helped

With Proactis, staff members have online access to the ordering application from their own workplace, and they can place their orders directly from catalogs with standard assortments, which are then forwarded to centrally selected suppliers.

Martijn Moerman, Purchasing Manager at Careyn, sees the transparency and efficiency in the processes as important advantages of the new working method. The solution provides more ease when ordering products on the work floor and it also helps to gain better insight into the administration liability and expenses. Invoices can be processed faster and simpler, because they are automatically matched with the orders that have been pre-booked in the system. This reduces the risk of incorrect orders and invoices and prevents unnecessary administration and paperwork. Moreover, the platform makes it possible for the purchasing department to share new contract agreements with suppliers within the organization through catalogs.

Benefits

With the Proactis solution staff members have access to the right price and supplier information. It used to be a challenge to keep track of staff members’ total orders and expenses. By implementing a streamlined process, the door is open to valuable management reports. For example, it is possible to view in detail whether orders are placed outside contracts within a specific procurement package. The system provides important key data and helps measure process and contract compliance. This helps to further optimize processes and to better tailor contracts with suppliers to meet the needs of staff members. Martijn Moerman is satisfied with the first results of the project: "With the new working method, supported by the Proactis platform, procurement makes an essential contribution to the broader objectives that we have as an organization”.
 
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