Today’s healthcare providers are counting on distributors – and their manufacturer partners – providing a wide array of solutions for complex projects.
By Graham Garrison
With both large and small construction projects, there are an incredible number of moving parts for healthcare providers to consider. Issuing and managing 50+ POs to various vendors/manufacturers, as well as obtaining things like specification sheets, electrical requirements, etc. is an extremely challenging and time-consuming process, said Matt Poyma, account manager, CME Corp.
“From a procurement standpoint, managing all these orders and follow ups on ship dates, discontinuations, and even unannounced price increases can cause massive delays which can lead to millions of dollars in lost revenue,” Poyma said. “This is where CME can bring the most value. By often covering 80%+ of the manufacturers on the equipment list and being a single point of contact for procurement, warehousing, receiving, inspection, assembly, delivery, and installation drastically reduces the amount of bandwidth the hospital or planning firm is required to provide.”
Providing value throughout the process
In late November 2021, the University of California, Irvine and UCI Health announced they had broken ground on a $1.3B medical complex. By early 2022, the organizations were in conversation with CME Corp. and third-party equipment planners Mazzetti GBA about procurement of healthcare equipment for the 225,000 square foot Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and Ambulatory Care building.
From the beginning, CME said it was able to leverage its focused medical equipment expertise and assisted with the creation of the product specifications list as well as standardization of the equipment planned for the facility by providing samples for UCI’s mock showroom warehouse.
CME’s quote encompassed 80% of the product specification list – over 4,500 pieces of equipment across 425 different product categories. In addition to managing the procurement of healthcare equipment across multiple manufacturers, CME project management team played a critical role in coordinating the timely delivery and assembly of OFCI healthcare equipment, the company said.
Poyma was heavily involved in the project, making sure the equipment list matched the hospital’s standards and double checking the list to make sure the wrong equipment wasn’t ordered (like a medication refrigerator accidently being ordered for a breakroom, or specifying an incorrect model on exam tables).
CME was also involved in ordering and delivering samples of various product categories to a Mock Showroom for the decision makers to see and make selections of their preferred models ahead of the procurement process. “These demos and setups were at no additional cost to the customer and brought a tremendous amount of value to the decision making and sign off process heading into procurement,” said Poyma. “We work closely with our manufacturing partners to bring this value to the customer. CME represents over 2,500 manufacturers and has the largest offering of medical equipment in the country. We are 100% dedicated and laser focused on equipment only.”
With so many manufacturers involved and multiple POs for the project, the CME Project Manager (PM) played a crucial role in managing those orders, identifying any back orders that may affect licensing and go live dates and providing 100% transparency with the customer and Equipment Planning team. The PM is responsible for scheduling deliveries and making sure all the equipment is delivered on time, in the room where it is intended to be used based on the room numbers and floor plans that we are provided. “This is a huge differentiating factor when working with CME on a project, as we are the only national distributor with a dedicated project management team that supports our healthcare facility and equipment planning customers,” Poyma said.
The weekly tracker was another useful tool and process used by the team. The tracker could identify what has shipped to CME, what had been received and what was on back order. “With the tracker, we can plan for deliveries with full confidence and know exactly what is being delivered in the most efficient way possible.”
A seamless experience
The collaboration, flexibility, innovation, and passion for excellence of all CME’s teams supporting the new UCI ACC facility culminated in the successful and timely delivery and installation of medical equipment by agreed upon dates, the company said. In one week alone, CME delivered 30 17-foot trucks of equipment to the new facility.
Of course, even with every box checked and contingency considered, disruptions and delays on any sizable project are inevitable. In those instances, flexibility becomes critical to help customers cross the finish line.
“At CME we are extremely flexible, whether that is delivering the equipment at 5 a.m. on a Friday and being out of the building by 8 a.m. to avoid any disruptions with the delivery schedule that day, or providing wall-mounted installations after the GC has turned the building over,” Poyma said. “CME can also help to receive and deliver equipment that can only be ordered direct with the manufacturer to avoid equipment showing up on a construction site when the building is not ready to receive it yet. Not all manufacturers will adhere to requested ship dates so offering those logistical solutions made the deliveries seamless.”