Crystal Run Health is one of the fastest growing multi-specialty group practices in the country, with over 600 providers covering 50 medical specialties in multiple practice locations in the Hudson Valley and lower Catskill region. The organization is committed to quality care, demonstrated by numerous accreditations and certifications recognizing Crystal Run’s adherence to the most rigorous standards for safety and quality including American Academy of Sleep Medicine; Quality Oncology Practice Initiative; Urgent Care Association of America; and Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care.
THE CRYSTAL RUN STORY
The Challenge: Creating Centralized Processes Across a Diverse Organization
Faced with rapid expansion across this multi-specialty organization, Kevin Keller, CMRP, Director of Purchasing/Materials Management, recognized the increasing need to centralize procurement functions and ensure the supply chain team could support growth. “With a wide range of patient services being delivered across multiple specialty areas, we saw that supply chain was in a position to strategically support the organization,” said Keller. Based on an in-depth review of available systems, Keller and team selected Envi® to support the needs of this complex organization, specifically to enable an enterprise-wide approach to item master, purchasing and contract management. “We also needed a system that supported electronic approval processes, including the necessary routing across the organization.”
Envi Enterprise Structure Equals Accuracy
Keller leads a team that supports all supply chain related functions, including purchasing and contract management, distribution and logistics, receiving, and inventory management. Today all facilities in the organization use Envi to standardize and automate processes, around a centralized item master built with cleansed and verified data. “With Envi, all facilities use the same data in the same system. We have a single item master with approximately 10,000 items. We also have approximately 1300 vendors and over 600 users.”
With a commitment to quality in both patient care and business process development, Keller and team have developed an area of excellence in ongoing formulary management. By continuously evolving their formulary, Crystal Run ensures they have the best products at the best prices. “Every month we pull a line level purchase history detail from Envi, which is submitted to our GPO, where the detail file is analyzed. Our contract manager reviews all identified opportunities for product conversions, vendor consolidation, product price updating, contract activation and much more.”
Crystal Run has virtually eliminated rogue shopping. “There are rules in place that you can’t add to a shopping list without your manager’s approval. We now have strong, electronic approval processes.”
In addition, Envi brought the flexibility needed to support different supply chain use cases. While the organization doesn’t use a central warehouse, most facilities have supply closets throughout, and in the larger facilities, onsite supply chain team members handle materials and inventory. “Three of our buildings are designed to be lean. In these areas, we’re using a two bin system within designated supply areas, and it’s worked extremely well. Envi provides us with the flexibility to manage inventory in all areas.”
“Everything we’ve built is based on data accuracy. I’d estimate our data is about 99% correct. When we identified the need for a materials management system, Envi was the solution we chose, but I didn’t expect as much as I got.” Keller notes his experience with other organizations, including those without centralized purchasing. “Most of my colleagues tell me they don’t have a system they can go into and pull information out of. They can’t share data, within their organization or with their GPO. They don’t have good analytics. I never realized how quickly I can get data out of Envi until I looked at other systems and reporting tools. I can go to my item master right now, pull up an item, click on the purchasing history and say, ‘you’ve ordered 50 of these this year,’ without even running a report. I can do that in seconds.”
To ensure price accuracy, Crystal Run’s supply chain and AP teams use Envi’s automated 3-way match of purchase order, packing slip and invoice, which seamlessly interfaces with their financial system for payment processing. “We’re working to ensure we’re as automated as possible, so we’re also doing electronic invoicing and PO con¬firmations. Envi gives us an ability to do more with less.”
Best Practice Highlights
- 3 separate companies, using the same data, same system
- Single item master with approximately 10,000 items, with process for continual updates
- GPO partnership for ongoing contract management, product conversion, vendor consolidation, price file updates, contract activations
- Automated approval routing and rules
- Full integration of systems (Workday, HST, Envi)
- 3-way match (PO, packing slip, invoice) for accurate pricing and payments
- Proactive management drives continual savings opportunities
It’s All About The Data
The team at Crystal Run emphasized the importance of a strong data foundation. For organizations looking to implement new systems and processes, Keller advised, “The data is the most important thing you have. Even before you decide to implement a new system, take the time to clean your data. Then you can begin with data that’s verified and accurate. It’s how you make progress toward real automation.”
