MedAssets to offer Prodigo's e-procurement marketplace solutions

To improve efficiency and contract compliance for hospitals and other health care providers, Prodigo Solutions LLC today announced an exclusive agreement with MedAssets to offer its customers Prodigo's electronic-procurement marketplace solutions.

“As the health care community seeks to produce the quality improvements and cost control that are the focus of national reform, we are pleased to help our provider customers reach those goals by offering Prodigo's e-procurement solutions”

The technology allows buyers of health care supplies to connect through a single online portal to multiple, disparate data systems for ordering everything from replacement knees to office furniture. At the same time, suppliers manage the online catalogs, freeing health care supply-chain employees to focus on sourcing and contract management, rather than processing requisitions and updating prices and product descriptions in internal databases.

Prodigo, a subsidiary of UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center), combines its licensed "best of breed" procurement applications with UPMC's medical and technology expertise to streamline health care purchasing. Prodigo's solutions integrate with leading enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, such as PeopleSoft, SAP and Oracle. They also can be positioned with the Prodigo Buyer application for organizations without an ERP.

"As the health care community seeks to produce the quality improvements and cost control that are the focus of national reform, we are pleased to help our provider customers reach those goals by offering Prodigo's e-procurement solutions," said Rand Ballard, chief customer officer and chief operating officer, MedAssets. "Major health systems, including UPMC, have demonstrated that Prodigo's tools can drive lower costs, higher efficiency and improved contract compliance—an outcome that benefits patients and payors."

Approximately 75 percent of UPMC's purchasing transaction volume, covering thousands of items, is now processed through Prodigo's system. Over 50 percent is fully automated, meaning that the contract-compliant orders go directly from an end user's desktop to the vendor, with no involvement from supply chain staff.

"UPMC has achieved significant savings, productivity gains and higher customer satisfaction since implementing Prodigo's solutions nearly two years ago," said James Szilagy, UPMC's chief supply chain officer and Prodigo Solutions board member. "Our procurement process automation is driving significant improvement in contract compliance and is saving UPMC nearly $3 million annually. Prodigo Solutions has been critical to achieving these results. By working with MedAssets, we can bring similar efficiencies more quickly to other health care providers struggling with labor-intensive purchasing and compliance processes."

SOURCE Prodigo Solutions LLC