Aspirus Health

Aspirus Health Becomes the Latest Health System to Build a Custom Equipment Formulary with the OpenMarkets Platform

A non-profit health system of 17 hospitals based in Wisconsin, Aspirus customized and implemented the OpenMarkets Exchange to sync standards of care for equipment across hundreds of end users.

For Aspirus Health, building an equipment formulary on the OpenMarkets Exchange platform had several positive outcomes and the singular theme that connected each individual outcome? Making it easier for the process of purchasing capital equipment to match the Aspirus standards of care.

While each equipment formulary on The Exchange is custom—with personalization and nuance engineered for the unique needs of users at other health systems like Bon Secours Mercy Health and Yale New Haven Heath System—there are features that are standard to the platform.

Perhaps the key feature of Exchange Premium is that it’s a simple, scalable system for end-users to access rich product information on current standards or preferences and stay current on the right products, from the right supplier, for the right clinical application. The platform institutes controls and imposes guardrails so that multi-disciplinary teams always know what they can buy and who to buy from for every order, and helps them get to the correct sales rep in a transparent, efficient way. It’s an automated ‘cheat sheet’ that a central budget office rolls out across hospitals and clinics, aligning heads of departments or service lines, turning their needs into approved budgets—quicker and more efficiently.

Aspirus Health executed the enterprise-wide rollout of the OpenMarkets Exchange across all areas of care. The equipment formulary is currently stocked with products from multiple suppliers, including GE, Medline, Philips, MDM, Getinge, Arjo, LABORIE and more.

Since onboarding teams to The Exchange, Aspirus Health leadership has cited three significant outcomes:

  1. Improved adherence to and an understanding of equipment standards and contracts
  2. More visibility to upcoming needs for the Supply Chain
  3. Stronger partnerships with suppliers

On this last point, the Chief Supply Chain Officer at Aspirus, Gary Rakes, recent inductee to the Bellwether Supply Chain Hall of Fame, expanded on the benefits of the platform, saying:

“We’re better as a health organization when we work better with suppliers. The OpenMarkets Exchange levels up our entire capital budgeting process. Rather than waste time and energy on rote tasks, our supply-chain teams now pour more energy and imagination into working with suppliers. We’re strengthening our partnerships, which is leading to better outcomes, like more customized equipment orders. Now, we’re getting exactly what we need to care for patients and provide them equipment that’s meeting and exceeding our standards of care.”

As more providers, suppliers, and overall end-users work together on The Exchange, the more OpenMarkets leverages usage data and customer insights to build new features, enhancing a product specifically engineered to save time and money in the process of procuring equipment.

Learn more about how a custom equipment formulary could be built on OpenMarkets for your hospital or health system.

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Casey Kearney
Casey Kearney

Renting and Financing Options for New and Used Equipment