GPO Case Study

How this network of behavioral health centers is working with Una to save an average of 27% across multiple categories.

Introduction

The Una member featured in this story is a network of behavioral health centers providing comprehensive and safe medical detoxification services to individuals battling addiction.

Due to the nature of the services they provide, this member has chosen to remain anonymous for the purpose of this case study, but has graciously allowed us to highlight the success they’ve seen with Una since joining last year.

As a network of facilities consisting of both detox and inpatient rehabilitation centers, this valued member was purchasing items for several locations spanning multiple states. Without a traditional procurement function in place, they needed help managing indirect spend categories and delivering cost savings quickly.

Una’s robust supplier portfolio proved to be a valuable asset, allowing our team of Sourcing Advisors to connect the member to double-digit savings via multiple contracts right away.

Read on to learn more about this member’s success with Una.

GPO CASE STUDY

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CENTERS
This network of behavioral health centers focuses on providing comprehensive and safe medical detoxification services.

LOCATION:
USA

INDUSTRY:
Non Acute Healthcare

TYPE:
Addiction Treatment & Mental Health

An honorable mission

Drug and alcohol addiction affects millions of lives each year. According to statistics , an estimated 10% of Americans will struggle with some form of substance abuse at one point or another, with only 1 in 10 seeking treatment. Drug and alcohol overdoses claim the lives of 70,000 people annually, and addiction is known to devastate families and put strain on the communities in which we live.

Knowing this, our member remains dedicated to serving their patients through proven treatment and therapeutic methods that lay the foundation for a life of sobriety. Their efforts not only affect the lives of those seeking help, but positively impact the communities around them. They’re also committed to serving veterans, developing custom treatment plans to help those returning from deployment that may be battling alcoholism, dealing with anxiety or depression, drug abuse, or PTSD.

Our member offers state-of-the-art facilities staffed with trained medical professionals to ensure patients detox in a way that is safe, effective, and comfortable. Each treatment plan is based on the specific needs of the patient, ranging from detox programs, 24-hour residential care, aftercare planning, and outpatient therapy options.  

Challenges

It’s no secret that the United States is experiencing rising costs on everything from energy and fuel, to shipping, labor, food, and more. Coupled with ongoing supply chain disruptions, companies are faced with daunting challenges. Those that are weathering the storm are tasked with finding creative ways to offset the burden of higher prices and product shortages, while trying to remain in business.

Through it all, the member featured in this GPO case study has been rapidly expanding, adding new behavioral health centers along the way. They needed to continue sourcing goods and services for multiple facilities and coordinate supplies and deliveries to several locations without breaking the bank.

Without any mature procurement policies or strategies in place, however, spend was going unmanaged in several categories including food, office supplies, and JanSan. Staffing to handle their procurement needs was also limited, which meant they didn’t have the time available to search for suppliers or negotiate contracts and pricing.

After some initial research, this member realized that bringing in a third party like a group purchasing organization was the resource they needed to support and continue their remarkable growth.

Why partner with Una?

This member was new to the group purchasing space, having never worked with a GPO in the past. Not knowing what to expect, they first made contact with Una’s sister company, Culinary Consultants Purchasing Alliance, for help when it came to saving money on food spend.

Their locations needed to purchase food on a consistent basis and CCPA was able to connect them to several national food distributors to ensure orders were being fulfilled in a timely manner. Within weeks, this member was saving 22% on food costs.

After the initial success, CCPA introduced the member to the Una team to help facilitate similar savings in other categories. A discovery call identified additional areas of concern including office supplies, staff uniforms, and JanSan where indirect spend was out of control. The member needed to deliver these savings right away, too.

The level of customer services offered by the Una team, along with our ability to act as an extension of their lean procurement team, showed the member what kind of partnership was possible:

"The service from Cindy Rittel and Marissa Muzik [with CCPA] is second to none! They truly have our best interests in mind and are committed to facilitating all the processes for us."

Una's response

Much like CCPA’s connection process to food suppliers, Una’s process for connecting members with suppliers outside of the food category is seamless. Our team works category by category, conducting spend analyses, comparing current pricing to our pre-negotiated contracts, and working with National Account Managers to ensure members are able to start saving immediately.

As the number of facilities continued to expand and as they hired more staff, it was crucial to secure a discount on branded uniforms and other items for their employees. Next, our team tackled office supplies so they could stock new and existing locations, and examined their JanSan spend to secure savings on industrial supplies and facilities maintenance. 

Our ability to run cost analyses based on the member’s current spend data allowed us to present accurate depictions of the savings they’d be able to capture by participating in Una’s group purchasing platform. Connection was fast, too. In one instance, they were taking advantage of discounted pricing within two weeks of joining Una.

Combined, this member was able to save an average of 27% across all categories of spend.

GPO Case Study Results

Here’s a breakdown of the percentage of savings this member realized once joining Una’s group purchasing platform. These are real numbers based off of cost savings analysis completed in each category.

0 %
Savings on Office Products
0 %
Savings on Food Costs
0 %
Savings on Staff Uniforms
0 %
Savings on JanSan/MRO

A true partnership

Una’s goal is to move beyond the standard GPO business model and strives to become your true partner in procurement. It’s a relationship based on trust and transparency, and one that is focused on helping our members grow and achieve their goals.

“We have [not only] found great discounts, [we're also] looking forward to other valuable services such as analytics and spend control."

In the midst of inflation, supply chain disruption, and product shortages, the member featured in this story has been able to grow and expand their network of behavioral health centers and increase the number of people they’re able to help combat addiction. By bringing in a group purchasing organization to help support their procurement needs, they were able to analyze spend quickly, secure discounted pricing, and streamline their purchasing within a matter of weeks.

Our partnership doesn’t stop there, either. Una’s team has joined this member on calls speaking to general contractors overseeing the construction of new locations, along with current facilities managers at operational sites, to see if there are other savings opportunities available as they continue expanding.

Una is proud to be supporting our member every step of the way.

Additional resources

Find more GPO case studies here.

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