The Challenge
As one of the top providers of unplanned medical care in the country, Urgent Care Extra faced the incredibly complex task of managing and supporting their current strong base of clinics while also focusing on continuous expansion and growth. This growth position, while great for the overall business, also put a strain on the procurement system and caused UCE to re-evaluate the needs they had from their current vendors.
In order to help UCE continue to grow rapidly they would require a vendor who could adjust and meet their increasing needs on-demand. UCE needed a dependable, low cost pricing structure in order to consistently forecast costs, solid reporting to monitor and control spending, a single source purchasing system to drive down the soft costs associated with managing multiple systems and most importantly constant communication to ensure seamless support for their rapidly growing business. Unfortunately, their current vendor, a large national supplier, was unable to consistently meet these needs.
Pain Points with Large National Vendor
- Unable to adapt solutions to keep up with UCE’s rapid growth
- Continuously fluctuating pricing
- Lack of communication
- Unreliable reporting
- Not a one-stop-shop
The Solution
To address this host of increasing complex issues, Urgent Care Extra turned to IQ Total Source. IQ’s expertise in developing custom solutions to fit the needs of growing businesses was exactly what UCE needed to take their business to the next level. IQ developed a completely flexible system that began with committed pricing, a reliable, low-cost approach that allowed UCE to not only save money, but gave them the peace of mind that they could accurately forecast future expenses. IQ also supported UCE with constant communication and their unique “President’s Access” program, which gave UCE direct contact with top level management at IQ and ensured that any potential issues would be resolved immediately.
Finally, IQ delivered high-end reporting that allowed UCE to monitor costs for each location and optimize purchasing through streamlined product selection, custom product lists and structured order approvals. This reporting went beyond standard recaps, providing detailed analysis and recommendations to save both hard and soft costs. An example of this is the re-evaluation that IQ provided for UCE’s bathroom supplies. Upon analysis of current purchasing behavior, IQ determined that replacement products could save UCE 50% on hand soap dispensers, 30% on hand sanitizing foam and 24% on paper towels. These hard cost savings were supplemented by additional soft cost savings gained by installing automated dispensers that required significantly less refilling and reordering. IQ proactively initiated the analysis and even installed the dispensers free of charge in order to ensure a smooth, worry-free transition to the replacement products.
Hard Cost Savings
Solution Delivered by IQ Total Source
- A flexible system to allow UCE procurement to grow reliably
- A committed pricing system to ensure stability
- “President’s Access” program giving UCE a direct line to the president of IQ
- Top notch reporting and advice
The Results
IQ Total Source has built a powerful, custom procurement system that has allowed Urgent Care Extra to continue its rapid growth unfettered by the logistical limitations they once experienced. UCE now has 46 locations and new location openings have been improved upon significantly by custom ordering, which ensures that all products are ordered and in-stock from the very first day. “With the growth that we are experiencing, IQ really took ownership of setting up our new locations.” noted Brooke Gamble, Inventory Control Manager at UCE “This was a big task that involved several people. Through IQ’s system and ease of use, my team and I were able to cut the time down by 50% for each new location.”
To further streamline the process and decrease soft costs, IQ has built a bundled solution allowing UCE to order specialty products, even those not sold by IQ, through the IQ system. This solution has saved significant amounts of time for UCE employees attempting to purchase large lists of items for new locations. Rather than navigate to multiple vendor sites, all products are housed on one simple list and can be added to a shopping cart with a single click of the mouse. “Working with IQ we eventually had such good controls in place that we moved from weekly to monthly ordering” added Gamble, “I was spending a couples hours a week approving and managing orders and now I spend the same time monthly. It’s really been a time saver”.
The purchasing process for the UCE team has become simple and easy, and the reporting is all housed in one centralized location, making back end accounting and analysis significantly more efficient. High level reporting, which used to require 2 full days of work from the inventory control team can now be completed in under 2 hours using IQ’s custom reporting solutions.
A System that Delivers Results
- Unique procurement system to consolidate all purchasing under one roof
- Streamlined, efficient new location openings in 50% less time
- More effective system of controls for a 75% decrease in approval/management time
- Enhanced reporting allows UCE to accomplish in 2 hours what previously required 2 days