Tyrese Alexander, Market Executive for Providers, shares his insight on how to jump start a successful new year.

The air is cooling, the leaves are turning, and the anticipation of the holidays is upon us.  And as tempting as it is to get wrapped up in a blanket and coast until next year, our top provider organizations are using this fourth quarter to create a strategic plan of attack for 2020.

While many have already hit their savings goals and are reserving their energy for the remainder of the year, it is actually the perfect time to connect with your aptitude market executive and formulate a plan.

How was your year?

The first step in this process is to review the contract plan that was established for 2019, and see how it compares to what transpired this past year.  Did initiatives take longer than expected?  Were there bottlenecks in your process?  Are there opportunities to tackle more initiatives than anticipated?

Creating a roadmap

Once you have a good grasp on the results from this current year, you can use that as a roadmap to create a contracting plan for 2020.  Larger initiatives take greater bandwidth, so it’s a good idea to spread them out over the year – maybe tackle Total Joints in Q1, then CRM in Q2.

Have you been hesitant to go after complex categories like these?  We have new features and functionality that, when combined with our subject matter experts on staff, can help align stakeholders through market insight leading to cost savings and can also streamline your supplier base to minimize variation and potentially improve outcomes.

In between your large initiatives, you can plan to sprinkle in some smaller, commodity items that are quick and painless ways to achieve your goals.  Our Savings Opportunity Report can elevate the most beneficial categories for you to pursue and makes it easy to identify what you should go after based on the size of the opportunity. It’s like that old analogy of filling a jar – you have to put the stones in first, then fill in the gaps with pebbles and sand.

Leave no stone unturned

Finally, in addition to reviewing your history and analyzing your Savings Opportunity Report, it is a good idea to explore any contracts that are up for renewal next year.  If your market pricing is competitive, it can be a good idea to complete an extension.  If the data in our platform shows it as a potential opportunity, you may want to consider planning to go through the bid process and send out those RFPs through our site.

 Finish strong, start strong

There’s no need to worry about bandwidth and stretching your internal resources too thin – we are here, we understand the challenges you face, and we are eager to help you achieve your goals.