Bellin Health Saves on Custom Medical Packs
Category: Medical Packs
Savings: $803,000
Bellin Health System, based in Northeastern Wisconsin is an integrated health care organization made up of Bellin Hospital, Bellin Psychiatric Center, Bellin Fitness Center, Bellin Medical Group and Bellin College of Nursing. Since it opened in 1907, it has not only aimed to provide the best patient care, but it has also tried to be the most efficient and innovative in terms of organizational processes and procedures. For this reason, and also to achieve savings, Bellin Health decided to try an eAuction with TradingPartners when the time came to renew a contract for custom medical packs.
The Project
Custom medical packs are disposable kits which contain the necessary medical equipment that surgeons require for particular types of surgery (i.e. syringes, suctions, gowns and disposable drapes). Because the majority of medical products that a surgeon needs is bundled into one pack, they are crucial in terms of saving time for the operating team before a procedure and for maintaining the necessary standards of hygiene.
The existing three year contract for custom packs was up for renewal and buyers at Bellin Health decided to put the contract out to bid using an eAuction process to see if they could save money and time by not having to go through the traditional, laborious RFP process.
The Process
Bellin Health hired TradingPartners to help source new suppliers and to negotiate the price using an eAuction. Kayne Coleman, Director of Materials Management at Bellin Health said, “We heard about TradingPartners through another healthcare organization and decided to hire them as we knew they had the necessary experience and technology to assist us with this project.”
Bellin already had two suppliers who were due to bid for the new contract. Through extensive research, TradingPartners sourced three more. All five suppliers were issued a detailed specification which listed the branded medical items that needed to be in each custom pack, as well as catalogue and list numbers for the manufacturers who produced each item. As part of the specification, the suppliers were also given strict guidelines that each item must be purchased from the recommended manufacturers, and they were not allowed to substitute items from other manufacturers when they made up the packs. All five of the suppliers were successfully pre-qualified to meet the price and standards required by Bellin Health and all five were invited to the eAuction.
The eAuction and Outcome
After three weeks sourcing and researching suppliers, the eAuction took place. All five suppliers accepted the entry bid level of $3.12 million and agreed to take part. The eAuction lasted 91 minutes and during this time, the five suppliers submitted 86 bids for the contract, culminating in a final saving of $803,000. Bellin Health was delighted with 
the speed, efficiency and results of the project. Kayne Coleman said, “This is the first time we have run an eAuction but it definitely will not be the last. The innovative process saved us not only money, but time. We are very pleased and we are now looking at other categories to auction.”
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