Concurrent Session

1:00-2:00 PM | CEUs: 1

Speakers: Eric Wilkinson, RDN, MBA (Intermountain Healthcare) | Alex Govern, CDM, CFPP (Intermountain Healthcare) | Parker Schultz (Intermountain Healthcare)

Eric, Alex, and Parker work for one of the largest nonprofit health system in the West. Managing supply costs is key to providing affordable healthcare. In 2021, Nutrition Services partnered with a new GPO that provided multiple cost-saving opportunities. New incentives were made available through the healthcare system’s broadline distributor. Before the switch to the new GPO, the Nutrition Services team started working with its broadliner and new GPO to address changes in products through weekly meetings. Through new avenues, the team cut products while also comparing nutritional details, pricing, pack sizing, and more to achieve savings. Understanding how best to maximize savings within the GPO’s compliance programs was a complex task with some difficult decisions required. Through these efforts, the team was able to maximize compliant incentives from 50% to 105% for the 3rd quarter of 2023. Despite this huge success, the Nutrition Services team continues to work through various challenges and product changes. Join the speakers as they detail their process and provide tips that will benefit both large systems, smaller sites, and senior dining communities. Attendees will:

• — Understand the benefits of partnering with a GPO
• — Understand what worked and what didn’t when transitioning to a new GPO
• — How to maximize GPO incentives