Getting Oriented — Tell Us About Your World

• What is your role and primary responsibility for supply chain, contracting, or finance at your organization? Options: VP Supply Chain/Materials Management, Chief Financial Officer, Director of Procurement, Chief Nursing Officer/Clinical Leader, Supply Chain Manager, Other
• How would you classify your organization’s scale? Options: Single hospital (<200 beds), Regional health system (200–999 beds), Large system (1,000+ beds), Academic medical center, Integrated delivery network, Other
• Which categories typically make up your top 5 areas of non‑labor spend? (Select all that apply) Options: Pharmaceuticals, Medical devices, Clinical supplies (consumables), Purchased services (e.g., laundry, staffing), Capital equipment, IT systems & software, Laboratory supplies, Other
• Roughly what percent of your non‑labor spend is currently governed by GPO or externally negotiated contracts? Options: <25%, 25–49%, 50–74%, 75–89%, 90–100%, Unsure
• How do you currently monitor contract compliance and realized savings? Options: Dedicated analytics platform (internal), GPO-provided dashboard, Manual reconciliation/spreadsheets, Third‑party consultant, We don’t have a reliable method, Other
• Describe one recent procurement or contracting success you’re proud of and what made it work.

Are You Comfortable Leaving Money on the Table?

• When projected savings fall short, what do you suspect is the real cause more often — execution, clinician preference, contract complexity, or something else? Options: Execution (adoption/compliance), Clinician preference/clinical exceptions, Contract terms or carve-outs, Data/analytics gaps, GPO/member alignment issues, Other
• How far below your budgeted or projected savings do you typically land in a given year? Options: We exceed projections, On target, 5–10% below, 11–25% below, More than 25% below, Unsure
• Which of the following most often prevents you from achieving full contract adoption? Options: Clinician preference items, Local supplier commitments, Lack of awareness/training, Inadequate analytics visibility, Contract terms that limit adoption, Other
• Tell us about a recent contract where expected savings didn’t materialize—what happened and how did it feel for your team?
• What would have to change in that scenario so you would expect projected savings to be realized next time?

Who Really Decides What Gets Bought Here?

• When clinical preference collides with the option that delivers the best price, whose decision usually prevails—and how often does that decision get revisited? Options: Physician preference prevails most of the time, Procurement/administration enforces standardization, Shared decision-making, varies by category, Governance council decides, It’s unresolved/conflicted
• Which stakeholders need to sign off on category-level contracting changes? (Select all that apply) Options: Supply chain/procurement, CFO/finance, Chief Medical Officer or physicians, Nursing leadership, Clinical department chairs, Legal/compliance, Other
• How actively engaged are your physician leaders in sourcing and contract governance? Options: Highly engaged and accountable, Participate occasionally, Engaged only in select categories, Hardly involved, Engagement is reactive
• Describe a governance decision that meaningfully changed contract outcomes—what drove the change and who pushed back?
• If you could change one thing about how procurement and clinical leadership make tradeoffs, what would it be?

What If Contracts Worked Like a Dashboard, Not a Guess?

• How confident are you that your analytics identify the exact dollars being left on the table today? Options: Very confident, Somewhat confident, Not very confident, Not confident at all, We don’t have analytics
• Which analytics and reports do you currently use regularly? (Select all that apply) Options: Contract compliance by facility, Price variance benchmarking vs peers, Physician preference spend reports, Savings realization vs committed targets, Unmatched/invoice-level spend, Custom category scorecards, We don’t have these
• How often do you review compliance and savings dashboards with leadership? Options: Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Ad hoc, Never
• What one insight do you wish your analytics would surface automatically but currently don’t?
• How quickly can your team attribute a line‑item purchase back to a specific contract today? Options: Immediately (automated), Within days, Weeks, Not reliably/unknown

Where Negotiations Fail — Tell Us the Untold Story

• Why haven’t you consolidated suppliers or awarded single‑source contracts in your highest‑spend categories—what’s stopping that move right now? Options: Clinician preference/clinical differentiation, Local vendor relationships, Risk of supply disruption, Governance resistance, Financial model or fee concerns, Other
• For the top one or two categories you’d like to fix, how many internal FTEs and months of effort would you estimate it takes to negotiate and implement custom contracts today? Options: <1 FTE / <3 months, 1–2 FTEs / 3–6 months, 3–5 FTEs / 6–12 months, 5+ FTEs / 12+ months, Unsure
• Have you engaged external or GPO custom contracting support before? What worked and what didn’t? Options: Yes — successful, Yes — mixed results, Yes — unsuccessful, No, never
• Are there contractual terms or governance clauses that make you particularly wary of GPO membership or fees? Options: Member fee transparency, Administrative fee conflicts, Exclusivity clauses, Volume commitment concerns, Compliance audit obligations, None of the above, Other
• Tell us about a negotiation that stalled—what was the final sticking point?

Imagine a Year Where Savings Actually Match Projections

• If you could guarantee one measurable outcome from a GPO relationship in the next 12 months, what would you choose and why? Options: % reduction in category spend, Dollar savings realized, Contract compliance %, Number of contracts consolidated, Time saved for procurement staff, Other
• What is your target annual savings goal from GPO/contracting efforts (choose the option closest to your target)? Options: <1% of non‑labor spend, 1–3%, 4–6%, 7–10%, >10%, Unsure
• Which adoption targets would make a contract a clear success in your view (e.g., facility coverage, clinician uptake, spend under contract)? Options: >90% facility adoption, >75% clinician adoption, >80% of category spend under contract, Contract price parity across sites, Other
• What evidence or reporting would make your leadership feel confident that savings are real and sustainable? Options: Independent audit of savings, Live dashboards with drilldown, Quarterly executive summaries, Clinical validation of standardization, Case studies from peers, Other
• What timeline would you consider realistic to see material savings from a new contract or consolidation effort? Options: <3 months, 3–6 months, 6–12 months, 12–24 months, Depends on category

Next Steps That Don’t Waste Your Time

• What would cause you to cancel a pilot or leave a GPO relationship within the first year?
• Which decision criteria will your executive team use to evaluate a new GPO engagement? (Select all that apply) Options: Net dollar savings, Speed to value, Clinical relevance/physician acceptance, Transparency of fees, Data and analytics capability, Governance representation, Other
• Who are the decision‑makers that must sign off and what is their expected timeline for decision?
• What scope of pilot would feel low‑risk but meaningful to you (e.g., single category, single facility, clinician cohort)? Options: Single high‑spend category in one facility, Multi‑site category pilot, Physician preference item trial, Analytics-only deep dive, Governance pilot with advisory council, Other
• Would you be open to a short proof-of-value using anonymized spend data and one category to demonstrate potential savings and adoption barriers? Options: Yes — ready now, Yes — within 1–3 months, Maybe — need internal approval, No
• What’s the best way for our team to support your internal stakeholders through the evaluation — data, co‑presenting with you, clinical engagement, or something else? Options: Provide anonymized analytics, Co-present to governance/physicians, Run clinician focus groups, Draft contract language, Other

• Pre-Read: Current State Confirmation & Data Validation
• Spend-to-Contract Mapping Workshop (Live)
• Clinical Preference & Adoption Scenarios
• Financial Impact & ROI Decision Session
• Integration Proofpoint & Pilot Planning

• Identify any gating approvals or procurement steps needed to proceed to Deployment.
• Scenario Overview & Targets
• Validate that advisory interventions materially increase adoption on preference items and close the value gap.
• Agree measurable adoption targets and the governance steps needed to reach them.
• Identify any additional clinical evidence or materials needed to enable conversion.
• GPO advisory to draft a clinician engagement playbook tailored to the agreed scenarios.
• Customer to nominate clinical champions and schedule site-level education sessions.
• Define exception approval workflow and responsible governance participants.
• Recap of Validated Inputs
• Customer leadership understands net ROI and selects a scenario to proceed with (or requests clarifying deliverables).
• Agree acceptance criteria tied to measurable savings and compliance milestones.
• Introductions & Meeting Objective
• GPO to produce final ROI package and scenario recommendation document for procurement and finance review.
• Customer to route selected scenario for internal approval and confirm decision owner and timeline.
• If required, schedule follow-up clarifying session within 5 business days.
• One-Sentence Future State Confirmation
• Confirm the future-state sentence that the pilot will prove and agree that pilot metrics will validate it.
• Establish a clear pilot plan with owners, timeline, and measurable success criteria.
• Validate that analytics integration requires acceptable minimal IT effort and secure data transfer methods.
• Kick off data-integration tasks and provide analytics sandbox access to customer pilot users.
• Finalize pilot site roster, governance participants, and pilot start date.
• Prepare pilot dashboard and weekly status cadence for tracking adoption and savings.
• Customer and supplier agree on a clear, one-sentence current-state statement.
• Obtain validated spend and contract data sufficient to run real-scenario analyses.
• Agree scope (categories and preference scenarios) and timeline for the Solution Experience.
• Customer to provide corrected/cleaned spend file with required fields within 3 business days.
• GPO to deliver a confirmed one-sentence current-state and preliminary consequence statement in writing.
• Assign data owner and confirm single point of contact for dataset clarifications.
• Recap: Confirmed Current State & Consequence
• Demonstrate real, transaction-level savings opportunities with concrete examples.
• Validate mapping accuracy and identify remaining data or contract gaps.
• Agree on the prioritized categories to take forward for deeper clinical/adoption scenarios.
• GPO to deliver a savings workbook with transaction-level mappings and opportunity totals for prioritized categories.
• Customer to flag clinician-preference SKUs for further clinical scenario analysis.
• Document and confirm contract applicability questions for legal/contract review.
• Integration Proofpoints
• Net Savings & Fee Modeling
• One-Sentence Current State
• Mapping Methodology & Rules
• Advisory Interventions & Playbooks
• Consequence Framing (Preliminary)
• Pilot Scope, Metrics & Timeline
• Simulated Impact: Adoption vs Savings
• Sensitivity & Risk Analysis
• Live Mapping: Top Spend Categories
• Data Inventory Review
• Leakage & Opportunity Callouts
• Roles, Governance & Escalation
• Decision Criteria & Recommendation
• Governance & Exception Handling
• Validation Checklist & Next Steps
• Scope & Success Criteria for Next Sessions
• Validation & Commitment
• Assumptions & Validation
• Customer Q&A and Decision
• Validation & Sign-off

• Publish Negotiated Pharmaceutical Contracts
• Publish Medical Device and Capital Equipment Agreements
• Publish Clinical Supplies and Consumables Contracts
• Provide Online Contract Portfolio Access
• Provide Contract Price Comparison and Search Tool
• Deliver Compliance Analytics and Monthly Savings Reports
• Generate Transaction‑Level Savings Reconciliation
• Execute Competitive RFPs and Supplier Negotiations
• Execute Member‑Requested Sole‑Source Contracting
• Integrate Contract Prices into Member ERP/Procurement
• Operate Rebate and Committed‑Volume Administration
• Recover Overcharges via Audit Recovery Process
• Deliver E‑Signature and Electronic Contract Acceptance
• Provide Category Benchmarking Data and Price Benchmarks
• Facilitate Member Advisory Council Contract Voting

Publish Negotiated Pharmaceutical Contracts

• Do you want negotiated pharmaceutical contracts published to your member portfolio? Options: Yes, No
• Which therapeutic categories should be included (select all that apply)? Options: Oncology, Cardiology, Infectious Disease/Antibiotics, Anesthetics/Analgesics, Specialty Biologics, Other
• Do you require formulary alignment, preferred product lists, or an exceptions workflow? Options: Formulary alignment, Preferred product list only, Exceptions workflow required, No
• At what product granularity do you need pricing published (e.g., NDC-level, pack-level, or category level)? Options: NDC/SKU-level, Pack/pack-size level, Category-level only, Other
• What contract start date and typical term length do you expect for published pharmaceutical agreements?

Publish Medical Device and Capital Equipment Agreements

• Do you want device and capital equipment agreements included in the published portfolio? Options: Yes, No
• Which device categories should be prioritized (select all that apply)? Options: Surgical Equipment, Imaging (MRI/CT/Ultrasound), Cardiac Devices (stents/pacemakers), Orthopedics/Implants, Surgical Instruments/Handheld, Other
• Do you require site-specific service, installation, or preventive maintenance terms to be captured in the agreement? Options: Yes, No
• Are consignment, trial, or evaluation-period terms required for any device categories? Options: Yes, No
• Please estimate expected annual spend or anticipated purchase frequency for capital/device categories.

Publish Clinical Supplies and Consumables Contracts

• Should clinical supplies and consumables be included in scope? Options: Yes, No
• Which supply groups should be prioritized (select all that apply)? Options: Surgical disposables, IV/Infusion supplies, PPE, Wound care, Laboratory consumables, Other
• Do you require standardization of pack sizes, SKUs or clinical specifications as part of the contract? Options: Yes, No
• Are there minimum order quantities, local distributor constraints, or preferred distribution channels we should capture?
• Which pricing model do you prefer for supplies (select one)? Options: Fixed price per SKU, Percentage discount off list, Tiered pricing by volume, Index or market‑based, Other

Provide Online Contract Portfolio Access

• How many named users will require access to the online contract portfolio? Options: 1-10, 11-50, 51-200, 200+
• Do you require single sign-on (SSO) or directory integration (e.g., SAML, Azure AD)? Options: Yes, No
• What access roles are needed (select all that apply)? Options: Admin, Procurement/Buyer, Finance/Accounts Payable, Clinician/Provider, Contracts Manager, Other
• Do you need a branded portal or member‑specific landing pages and training materials? Options: Branded portal, Standard portal with custom links, No branding required
• Do you want onboarding and user training for portal use and contract lookups? Options: Yes, No

Provide Contract Price Comparison and Search Tool

• Do you need SKU-level price comparison across suppliers? Options: Yes, No
• Which search and filter capabilities are essential (select all that apply)? Options: SKU/Item code, Manufacturer, Contract price vs list, Unit of measure normalization, Effective date/term, Other
• Do you require automatic unit‑of‑measure normalization and price-per‑common‑unit calculations? Options: Yes, No
• Which export or integration options do you need for reports and comparisons? Options: CSV export, PDF reports, API access, Direct ERP sync, Other
• Who will maintain SKU mapping and taxonomy (select one)? Options: Member (internal team), GPO maintains mapping, Shared responsibility, Third-party vendor

Deliver Compliance Analytics and Monthly Savings Reports

• Do you expect monthly savings and compliance reporting? Options: Yes, monthly, Quarterly, Ad hoc, No
• Which KPIs should be included in reports (select all that apply)? Options: Contract compliance rate, Realized savings ($), Price variance vs benchmark, Utilization by preferred SKU, Physician preference exceptions, Other
• What source data can you provide for analytics (select all that apply)? Options: Invoice-level data, PO/receiving data, GL/AP extracts, ERP catalog/pricing, E-procurement punchout logs, Other
• Do you require automated alerts for out-of-compliance purchases or SLA breaches? Options: Yes, No
• What report delivery format and recipients do you prefer (e.g., PDF to procurement and finance, dashboard access)?

Generate Transaction‑Level Savings Reconciliation

• Can you provide invoice- or transaction-level purchase data to enable line-item reconciliation? Options: Yes, No, Partial
• Which transaction fields are available from your systems (select all that apply)? Options: PO number, Invoice number, SKU/NDC, Quantity, Unit price, Ship-to location, Other
• How frequently do you want reconciliations performed (select one)? Options: Monthly, Quarterly, Per invoice/on-demand, Annually
• What exception-handling or tolerance rules should we apply during reconciliation (e.g., price variance threshold)?
• Who will own resolution of reconciliation exceptions (select one)? Options: Member procurement, Member finance/AP, GPO, Shared

Execute Competitive RFPs and Supplier Negotiations

• Do you want the GPO to run competitive RFPs for selected categories? Options: Yes, No
• What is a typical or acceptable RFP timeline for you (select one)? Options: 4-6 weeks, 6-10 weeks, 10+ weeks, Depends on category
• Will member stakeholders participate in supplier evaluations and demos? Options: Yes, actively, Occasionally, No
• Which evaluation criteria are required (select all that apply)? Options: Price/total cost, Service & warranty, Clinical outcomes/evidence, Implementation/time to value, Diversity/supplier sourcing, Other
• Do you need templated RFP docs and scoring tools provided? Options: Yes, No

Execute Member‑Requested Sole‑Source Contracting

• Do you expect to request sole-source contracts for specific suppliers or items? Options: Yes, No
• What supporting documentation do you require to justify sole-source awards (select all that apply)? Options: Clinical justifications, Manufacturer exclusivity letter, Price benchmarking, Supply continuity risk assessment, Other
• Who holds approval authority for sole-source awards (select one)? Options: Procurement Director, CFO, Board/Executive Committee, Member Advisory Council, Other
• Do you require pricing protections, caps, or periodic benchmarking on sole-source agreements? Options: Yes, No
• What exclusivity period would be acceptable if sole‑source is approved? Options: None, Less than 1 year, 1-3 years, 3+ years, Other

Integrate Contract Prices into Member ERP/Procurement

• Which ERP or procurement system(s) should we integrate with (select all that apply)? Options: Oracle/PeopleSoft, SAP, Cerner/Supply Chain, Meditech, Infor, Workday, Other
• What integration method do you prefer for price updates? Options: API (real-time), Scheduled flat file (SFTP), Punchout/Catalog, Manual CSV upload, Other
• How often must price and contract updates be pushed to your systems? Options: Real-time/API, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, On-demand
• What data fields must be synchronized (e.g., SKU, unit price, effective date, contract ID)?
• What IT resources and timeframe can your team commit to support integration? Options: Dedicated internal resources (available), Limited availability (project-based), No internal resources — need GPO support

Operate Rebate and Committed‑Volume Administration

• Do your contracts include rebates or committed-volume incentives that require administration? Options: Yes, No
• How do you prefer rebates to be handled (select one)? Options: Pass-through to member, Pool and redistribute, Apply to future invoices/credits, Other
• What reporting cadence do you need for committed-volume performance and rebate reconciliation? Options: Monthly, Quarterly, Semi-annually, Annually
• Do you have historical rebate or commitment performance data available for onboarding? Options: Yes, No, Partial
• Who will be the primary owner for rebate disputes and settlements? Options: Member finance, Member procurement, GPO, Shared

Recover Overcharges via Audit Recovery Process

• Do you want the GPO to pursue retrospective audits to recover overcharges? Options: Yes, No
• What historical lookback period should audits target? Options: 12 months, 24 months, 36 months, Custom
• Can you provide the transaction and invoice data required for an audit? Options: Yes — full data, Partial data available, No
• Are you willing to engage on a contingency or success‑fee model for recovery? Options: Yes, No, Need more info
• Are there legal, contractual, or privacy constraints we should know before initiating an audit? Options: Yes, No

• Membership Agreement
• Fee Schedule & Administrative Fee Addendum
• Statement of Work (SOW) — Implementation Plan
• Service Level Agreement (SLA)
• Contract Participation & Scope Appendix
• Compliance Milestones & Acceptance Criteria
• Data Sharing & Privacy Agreement (DPA)
• Analytics Access & Integration Agreement
• Governance & Advisory Charter
• Payment Authorization & Billing Terms
• Change Order & Amendment Process
• Termination, Transition & Exit Terms
• Regulatory & Compliance Attestation

• Quarterly Savings & Impact Review
• Compliance & Adoption Deep Dive
• Lessons Learned & Continuous Improvement Workshop
• Governance & Member Review Council
• Issue Triage & Enhancement Planning (Monthly Ops Check-in)

• Resolve escalations or set remediation paths with accountable owners and timelines.
• Implement agreed EHR/e-procurement rule changes and test at pilot sites within 45 days.
• Schedule follow-up compliance snapshot in 6 weeks and publish to the shared channel.
• Framing: Goals and Pre-reads
• Capture a prioritized, evidence-backed list of process and product improvements.
• Select pilots with clear owners, success criteria, and timelines to drive measurable improvement.
• Create a communication plan to keep members and governance informed of changes and outcomes.
• Produce a Lessons Learned document and circulate to all stakeholders within 7 days.
• Add prioritized items to the enhancement backlog with assigned owners and target delivery windows.
• Kick off the top-priority pilot with a defined measurement plan and weekly check-ins.
• Opening & Conflict of Interest Declarations
• Ensure governance transparency by presenting performance metrics and material issues to member representatives.
• Approve or recommend policies and contract changes with documented rationale and member impact.
• Opening & Objectives
• Publish governance minutes, decisions, and associated rationale to the member portal within 5 business days.
• Implement approved policy or contract changes and notify affected members with implementation timelines.
• Track escalations to closure with weekly status updates to the Council until resolution.
• Roll Call & Review of Open Issue Log
• Triage and assign ownership to all open issues to ensure SLAs are met.
• Prioritize the enhancement backlog so product and implementation teams have a clear, short-term plan.
• Surface blockers early and escalate to appropriate governance or technical teams when necessary.
• Update the shared issue tracker with newly assigned owners and SLA due dates immediately after the meeting.
• Move top-priority enhancements into the next delivery cycle and confirm resource allocations.
• Escalate unresolved critical blockers to governance with an executive summary and recommended remediation path.
• Confirm and document actual savings relative to the agreed baseline and projection.
• Identify the primary causes of any material variance and assign owners for remediation.
• Agree on updated forecasts and any financial reporting or settlement actions required.
• Publish reconciled savings report and variance memos to the shared CustomerNode workspace.
• Assign remediation owners for top 3 negative variance drivers with 30/60/90 day milestones.
• Update the financial forecast and circulate revised projection to finance and procurement stakeholders.
• Quick Alignment & Pre-work Confirmation
• Validate the root causes of low compliance with concrete evidence and clinician input.
• Approve a prioritized set of adoption interventions with owners and measurable targets.
• Establish reporting cadence and SLAs to track improvement.
• Launch targeted clinician engagement sessions for the top two non-compliant categories and document feedback.
• Executive Summary of Realized Savings
• Governance Performance Dashboard
• Successes & Pain Points (Roundtable)
• Top Non-Compliance Categories Review
• Enhancement Backlog Prioritization
• Quick Wins & Blockers
• Policy & Contract Change Proposals
• Clinician Preference & Clinical Governance Inputs
• Root Cause Themes and Evidence
• Compliance & Adoption Metrics
• Adoption Interventions & Enablement Plan
• Owner Commitments & SLA Review
• Prioritization Exercise (Impact/Effort)
• Open Member Issues & Escalations
• Variance Root-Cause Analysis
• SLA, Reporting, & Ownership
• Decisions, Voting, and Communication
• Roadmap & Pilot Decisions
• Follow-ups & Next Ops Check-in
• Financial Reconciliation & Forecast Update
• Decision & Action Assignment
• Documentation & Communication Plan
• Decisions, Owners & Next Steps