For healthcare organisations from procurement to point of care, the challenges of effectively managing spend, product catalogue content and supplier information are many and varied – and all too often, they stand in the way of accuracy, efficiency, and patient safety.
From diverse standards and duplicated data to fragmented responses to multiple supplier requirements, organisations without effective product data management software run into a multitude of issues, not least in the area of procurement.
In this article, we’re exploring how a product data management solution such as Bizcaps’ MCIS™ (Master Catalogue Information System) can enable stakeholders in the healthcare supply chain to streamline procurement processes through consolidation, automation, and the embedding of business rules for a robust yet customised approach to product data management.
What is Bizcaps’ MCIS™ (Master Catalogue Information System)?
An advanced product data management solution from Bizcaps, MCIS quickly and securely validates and synchronises key product information between buyers and suppliers.
The MCIS solution:
- Provides data recipients, such as procurement and supply chain professionals, with a framework for product master data management and governance.
- Enables secure cloud-based software application deployment (Software as a Service).
- Delivers visibility into, and control over, unified supplier product and pricing information, with workflow automation of business processes involving data collection, enrichment and approvals.
- Offers advanced connectivity, with web API connectors that enable integration with existing systems such as ERP, EMR, and Inventory Management.
- Leverages global data standards and pre-built integration with GDSN/NPC supplier data in a compliant GS1-XML format.
- Provides a fully supported and maintained MDM solution.
- Consolidate multiple requirements in a single platform
Effective product data management software provides a trusted, reliable, and centrally accessible source of product and pricing information. As a result, team members across the organisation are empowered with accurate and complete and current product data, streamlined procurement processes, and more control over product information.
By consolidating multiple supplier requirements and providing the ability to address these within a single platform, a product data management solution allows healthcare organisations to overcome the challenges of fragmented responses to supplier demands and the complexity associated with product proliferation and geographical expansion.
An advanced product data management solution provides your team with improved visibility and far greater control of your existing product data, enabling you to securely validate and synchronise product information between buyers and suppliers with ease.
- Automate procurement and compliance activities
Without an effective, automated information-sharing system that supports global data standards, team members are required to expend significant amounts of time and manual effort in repeatedly cleansing product and pricing information.
With a master data management system, manual processes are automated for greater speed and accuracy, reducing inefficiencies, inaccuracies, and wasted resources—and freeing up staff to focus on higher-value tasks.
A solution such as Bizcap MCIS automates the process of extracting and integrating the relevant product information from suppliers via GDSN datapools, e.g. GS1 National Product Catalogue (NPC), and other product sources into internal product catalogues while enabling corrections and adjustments to be performed automatically.
| “This is the only solution to directly address our key procurement requirement by eliminating the need for us to log into datapools and extract product and pricing information. Once the data is automatically downloaded into our system, internal catalogue management is streamlined with Bizcaps MCIS’s highly customisable online search facility.”
Valentino Bulaon, Manager Catalogue and Procurement Information, HealthShare NSW |
- Improve data governance and establish business rules
Effective data governance is a critical consideration in healthcare procurement processes, with organisations requiring a solution that allows them to embed appropriate controls and business rules in order to ensure the right people have access to the right data in the right way.
A customisable master data management solution equips healthcare organisations with diverse requirements to make use of the data residing in GS1 and the NPC by creating and managing their own synchronisation processes that are tailored to suit the specific requirements of the business and its systems.
For example, to enable a custom approach to product data management, MCIS comes with a DIY Builder Toolkit option that provides a set of intuitive tools to design, build and enrich your own application.
- Quickly and easily search for information
The time-consuming and painstaking process of manually searching for the product data you need is both frustrating and extremely costly from an organisational perspective. An effective product data management tool transforms this area, providing you with fast online access to accurate and standardised product information.
A solution like Bizcaps MCIS offers powerful Google-style search capabilities, as well as context-sensitive support. As a result, procurement, supply chain, and frontline staff can easily search and manage multiple supplier product catalogues concurrently in a single, secure cloud-based platform.
As well as simplifying information searches, a product data management system needs to offer fast access to the insights you need for strategic decision-making. With customisable dashboard-style reporting, MCIS provides powerful reporting metrics to support aspects such as supplier performance and spend analysis.
- Improve the standard of patient safety
The benefits of a product data management solution that ensures the correct products are purchased at the right price and delivered when and where they’re needed go far beyond cost savings and increased efficiencies.
By providing far greater supply chain integrity and a vastly improved level of data accuracy and completeness, master data management software can be a critical component in improving patient safety and delivering a higher standard of patient care.
The unifying and standardising of supplier product and pricing information means a master data management solution minimises the risk of errors in ordering and managing health supplies, leading to more effective product delivery that will ultimately benefit the patient.
| “Over the past 12 months, hospitals and the health sector have achieved financial benefits to the tune of $55 million through direct cost reductions and negotiating best-value pricing. This is a saving that hospitals have been able to direct to patients and front-line services.”
David Davis, former Victorian Minister for Health |
| To learn more about how Bizcaps is helping healthcare organisations to streamline, automate and transform their processes with powerful product data management tools, visit https://www.bizcaps.com/mcis-master-catalogue-information-system/ |