If you’re managing purchasing for nursing homes or long-term care facilities, knowing the right procurement terms can make your job a lot easier. It helps you communicate clearly, avoid costly mistakes, and stay on top of your budget.
Here are 7 procurement terms you’ll want to keep in your toolkit:
1. Order Guide
An order guide is like a pre-approved shopping list. It includes the items and vendors your facility trusts, making ordering faster and keeping spending in check.
2. EDI Integrations
This fancy term means your purchasing system talks directly with vendors’ systems electronically. It cuts down on manual data entry and keeps orders and invoices accurate and up to date.
3. Maverick Spending
When employees order outside approved vendors or contracts, it’s called maverick spending. It often drives up costs and causes compliance issues, especially dangerous in regulated healthcare settings.
At Platform Solutions we combat that with our robust approvals feature, where only approved orders are purchased.
4. ERP-Integrated Procurement
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) integration means your purchasing system is linked with finance, inventory, and operations data. This creates real-time visibility so you don’t over-order supplies you already have
5. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
TCO isn’t just the price tag. It’s the full cost of buying, using, storing, and maintaining a product over its entire life. In healthcare, this might include maintenance contracts, storage costs, and even staff training.
