By enforcing strict compliance
to GPO contracts, facilities might
be inadvertently increasing supply
costs, even though the obvious
mandate is to provide surgeons
and patients with the best quality
and best value alternative regardless of GPO contract. Does it make
sense to pay five percent more
for an item in exchange for a three
percent rebate at the end of the
year? This is the result with
many GPOs.
Mintel’s “Online Shopping U.S.
2015” report reveals that 70 percent
of U.S. adults shop online at least
monthly, with 33 percent shopping
online weekly. Consumers are using
the online marketplace to their advantage to search for the best deals on
products and services.
Purchasing online has also
been increasing exponentially, so
why shouldn’t hospital purchasing
agents be doing the same thing?
AED’s online portal, Endoscopy
Superstore, was specifically
designed to streamline the ordering
process and enable hospitals to
compare the prices offered
direct from the manufacturer to
the GPO contracted price from
the multinational instrument
manufacturers.
AED has been in the business
of endoscopic instruments, scopes,
and sheaths for a long time. As one
of the most experienced OEM/ODM
manufacturers of minimally invasive
instruments, AED has likely provided
the specific tools your surgeons have
been using for years.
By selling directly to hospitals
and surgery centers online, AED
streamlines the supply chain. Simi-
larly, AED provides support directly,
fulfilling the role often taken up
by salespeople, who commonly
provide instruction for assembly,
cleaning, and sterilization of
instruments, as well as facilitating
repairs for scopes, instruments,
sheaths, and power equipment.
Because this knowledge base is
important, AED produces highly
detailed video and PDF instructions
on assembly, maintenance, and
sterilization.
All IFUs (Instruction For Use) are
posted online, making them available
on a continual basis for perioperative
and instrument processing teams.
Any time there’s a question on
assembly or processing, the answers
are there.
Costs are reduced by minimizing
the number of touch points in both the
instrument acquisition process and
any follow-up for support. We know
that reducing costs is a critical need,
and it’s a need that’s not likely to
diminish anytime soon.
