Making the Case for Spend Management
A step-by-step, practical guide to creating a compelling and data-driven business case for a Spend Management solution.
How Upstate Services Group is streamlining their purchasing with Unimarket.
An eProcurement success story
This is the remarkable story of how Upstate Services Group, a long-term healthcare provider with 13 facilities across New York State, transformed its procurement processes with Unimarket’s Spend Management solutions bringing in a new era of unprecedented visibility, control, and budget discipline.
Building the Foundation
When Melvin Szwerin, the Head of Purchasing at USG, joined the company, he immediately recognized opportunities to improve the procurement of essential patient supplies and services. “There was no procurement department,” Melvin recalls. “Procurement was ad-hoc, which led to inefficiencies and a lack of visibility across our organization’s many facilities.” Without the tools to manage and oversee procurement, it was challenging to control purchasing and spending, especially in an environment of capitated, value-based care payment models and razor-thin profit margins.
Recognizing that the state of USG’s financial health directly impacts the ability to deliver high-quality patient care, Melvin began building the infrastructure to support USG’s procurement processes, starting with the selection of Unimarket as their spend management platform. Today, Szwerin’s team of five manages procurement for all 13 facilities, leveraging Unimarket’s source-to-pay software to ensure compliance and the budget discipline needed to maintain USG’s financial health. This evolution has allowed their medical staff to focus 100% on patient care, not procurement.
There was no procurement department. Procurement was ad-hoc, which led to inefficiencies and a lack of visibility across our organization’s many facilities.
Melvin Szwerin
Head of Purchasing at Upstate Services Group
Financial Benefits and ROI
“The establishment of a dedicated purchasing department – and our selection of Unimarket’s Spend Management platform – has been pivotal,” Melvin stated, emphasizing the significant cost savings achieved by ensuring buyers purchase from strategic suppliers at negotiated rates across all of the organization’s facilities.
The establishment of a dedicated purchasing department – and our selection of Unimarket’s Spend Management platform – has been pivotal.
Melvin Szwerin
Head of Purchasing at Upstate Services Group
The adoption of Unimarket’s platform has resulted in substantial financial gains, reducing procurement costs and maximizing return on investment. At any point in time, USG has real-time visibility of enterprise-wide spend, the ability to review purchases before they are made, and insight into where costs are trending relative to the budget.
The Quest for the Right Solution
Upstate Services Group’s existing procurement system was failing to meet their needs, causing disruptions that impacted the delivery of patient care. “We tried different software providers,” Melvin explained. “We initially selected a competitor of Unimarket’s and used it for two years, but we recognized that it just didn’t meet our needs.”
Enter Unimarket. Known for its intuitive and easy-to-use functionality, Unimarket offered USG a comprehensive suite of software tools for managing every aspect of their source-to-pay processes. Melvin was meticulous in his evaluation, finding other platforms inconsistent and unreliable. “I heard that Unimarket was stable and dependable,” he says. “It’s been over eight years and I’ve never, ever had any downtime at all.” This dependability was non-negotiable for USG, where any system downtime could disrupt critical operations.
Seamless Implementation & Support
Implementing Unimarket was a seamless experience, thanks to the unwavering support from their implementation and customer support teams. “We definitely had good support working with the team setting it up,” Melvin notes. “It’s a system that streamlines for you. I never felt that it was cumbersome or too involving.” The Unimarket team provided comprehensive training and consistent support, ensuring a smooth transition and building confidence among USG’s staff.
The real magic, however, lay in Unimarket’s user-friendly design. “Unimarket has a very clean, easy platform that even the not-so-computer-literate find easy to use,” Melvin shares. This intuitive interface allowed USG to save invaluable time, automating and simplifying purchasing activities, and enabling the team to be more efficient. This efficiency has allowed employees to focus on more strategic tasks and has enabled the organization to scale without adding more headcount.
Unimarket has a very clean, easy platform that even the not-so-computer-literate find easy to use.
Melvin Szwerin
Head of Purchasing, Upstate Services Group
Impact on Patient Care
With Unimarket, USG has gained unprecedented controls to manage their spend and oversee their procurement processes. Unimarket’s ability to integrate seamlessly with Upstate’s accounting system, Reliable, puts new meaning into ‘procure-to-pay.’ “We can now track our spending in real time and address any issues before they escalate,” Melvin explains. This real-time tracking and enhanced control allows USG to enforce compliance and ensure 100% of all purchases are made with suppliers on contract.
Unmatched Customer Onboarding and Support
The journey with Unimarket didn’t just stop at implementation. The ongoing customer service and support provided by Unimarket have been exemplary. “When there are no complaints, it means Unimarket’s doing a good job,” Melvin says with a smile. The proactive approach of Unimarket’s support team ensures that USG’s procurement operations run smoothly, addressing any issues promptly and effectively.
A Bright Future Ahead
As Melvin Szwerin reflects on the journey, he sees the investment in Unimarket’s software as the cornerstone of USG’s remarkable evolution. What was once a series of manually intensive, paper-based, ad-hoc processes has evolved into a streamlined, efficient procurement organization enabled by Unimarket’s Spend Management solutions.
This transformation is felt every day within USG’s 13 facilities, where the ripple effects of strategic procurement reach the very heart of patient care. Nurses no longer worry about supplies, doctors have the tools they need, and administrative staff can focus on enhancing patient experiences, not juggling logistical challenges.
We can now track our spending in real time and address any issues before they escalate.
Melvin Szwerin
Head of Purchasing, Upstate Services Group
This is the remarkable story of how Upstate Services Group, a long-term healthcare provider with 13 facilities across New York State, transformed its procurement processes with Unimarket’s Spend Management solutions bringing in a new era of unprecedented visibility, control, and budget discipline.
Making the Case for Spend Management
A step-by-step, practical guide to creating a compelling and data-driven business case for a Spend Management solution.
Sign up for our newsletter and every now and then, a round-up of our best content will magically appear in your inbox.
Unimarket needs the contact information you provide to communicate with you about our products and services. You can update your communication preferences or unsubscribe at any time simply by clicking on the link in the footer of any email from us. For more information about our commitment to protecting your privacy, please review our Privacy Policy.