Multinational hospital group: vendor sourcing with collaborative solutioning

14 June 2024 — 1 min read

Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals

Sourcing & Commercial Office

Our client’s Contract Management System (CMS) was at end of life and required urgent replacement due to the manual nature of the tool and the resulting inefficiencies within the hospital network. Elixirr supported the client to identify a vendor, using a rigorous method (Collaborative Solutioning). We accelerated the RFI/RFP process and co-designed a proof of concept (POC) prior to contracting.

Outcome 1: One shortlisted vendor with a proof of concept
Outcome 2: Seven request for information’s (RFIs) received
Outcome 3: Assessed 50+ vendors as part of the market scan

The challenge

Health insurance and patient contract management has been a fast evolving space for healthcare providers. While the current Contract Management System (CMS) is outdated and inefficient, it has been a reliable platform to manage contracts for over 20 years. The system was identified as ‘End of Life’ 10+ years ago, due to competing IT priorities, the CMS has not been invested in until now. One year ago, the client attempted an unsuccessful ‘Request for proposal’ (RFP). This resulted in one vendor response, who was deemed as ‘not appropriate’.

Our client’s CMS was end of life and required urgent replacement or upgrade due to manual nature of the tool and resulting inefficiencies, as well as the inability to reprice and validate accounts. Our client sought the identification and engagement of a vendor able to provide a replacement solution that offered the following modules: Repricing and Contract Management, Validation and Risk Management.

The approach

• Elixirr collected system requirements from nurses, case workers and the contracting team through interviews, hospital visits and system demos

• Elixirr then updated the Business Requirements Document and conducted a market scan to review 50+ vendors

• Engaged vendors in an RFI process that received seven responses. Evaluated and scored vendor responses to shortlist three for collaborative solutioning workshops

• Facilitated workshops for vendors to present functionality, solution architecture, security, roadmap and commercial offer

• All workshops consolidated into a report to evaluate partnership opportunities with a final recommendation. The preferred vendor was engaged for contracting

• Developed the memorandum of understanding principles to accelerate vendor contracting. This document contained a schedule of work and a best and final commercial offer

Impact

Within 12 weeks, the client was provided with a recommendation to partner with a vendor who was able to meet all functional and non-functional requirements of the client. They built a strong working relationship with the vendor, which is not commonplace when following an RFP process. The collaborative solutioning workshops required a time investment, but led to a far greater understanding of the system scope and reduction in the time spent in contracting between the two businesses.