Outcomes that make leadership notice

• What are the top three outcomes you are expected to deliver this fiscal year for pharmaceuticals and medical supplies?
• How often do you report fill rates, contract compliance, inventory days, and shortage incidents to your executive team? Options: Weekly, Biweekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Ad hoc
• When was the last time a supply shortage forced a clinical postponement or required a different therapeutic choice?
• Describe the financial targets tied to procurement savings this year, in dollars or percent of spend.
• Which of these outcomes would make you consider changing distribution or inventory partners this year Options: Sustained drop in fill rate, Missed contract rebates, Repeated OR case delays, Failure to integrate with ERP, Insufficient analytics visibility

Where supply breaks cost you most

• What single recurring supply failure causes the largest measurable clinical or financial harm today?
• Tell me about the last three incidents of that failure and the downstream impact on OR scheduling, drug waste, or revenue.
• How many unique SKUs are typically involved when this problem occurs in a month? Options: 1-10, 11-50, 51-200, 201-500, 500+
• Who on your team is first alerted when the failure happens and what steps follow in the first 24 hours? Options: Materials manager, Pharmacy director, Supply chain operations, Clinical engineering, Other
• If this failure continued for two weeks, what measurable operations or financial metric would move enough to trigger executive attention?

Where contract leakage is hiding

• If you could eliminate one source of off-contract purchasing tomorrow, which would move your savings needle most?
• List the departments or service lines that most frequently buy off-contract and the common reasons they give.
• Describe how your procurement or ERP system currently flags non-compliant orders and how often those flags are reviewed. Options: Real-time match and alert, Daily batch reconciliation, Monthly review, Manual spot checks, No automated flags
• Who owns your contract master data and how often is it reconciled to vendor feeds? Options: Procurement, Pharmacy informatics, Shared governance team, Finance, Not owned
• What would have to be true about your current approach for you to keep it instead of changing vendors?

Can your systems carry a fast integration

• Which critical integration or data gap would prevent you from completing a production integration in 90 days?
• List the systems that must be connected for ordering, EDI or HL7 feeds, and clinical inventory visibility.
• Do you have API endpoints or EDI feeds available for those systems today? Options: All available, Partially available, Not available but planned, Not available
• Who is the technical owner of those integrations and can they provide credentials within your target timeline? Options: Internal IT team, Integration vendor retained by you, Shared IT/vendor responsibility, No owner assigned yet
• How clean and current is your item master for the top 1,000 SKUs by spend? Options: Well maintained and audited, Mostly accurate with gaps, Significant inconsistencies, No single item master

Exactly what must be true before we start

• What single operational constraint would force you to delay go-live beyond your preferred date?
• How many full time staff will be allocated to integration and will they be dedicated or shared across projects? Options: 0, 1-2 shared, 3-5 dedicated, 6+ dedicated, Varies by site
• Who will act as the site lead at each major facility for inventory cutover and training?
• Please enumerate the physical access permissions, dock schedules, or site prerequisites that must be confirmed before the first delivery.
• Identify any regulatory or contracting approvals that are still outstanding and provide expected completion dates.
• If any of these prerequisites are not met, what is your fallback plan for initial service continuity?

Competitors, incumbents, and in-house fixes

• Tell me which alternatives you are actively evaluating right now, including the incumbent and any internal build option. Options: Incumbent vendor, New distribution partner, Build internally, Group purchasing alternatives, Other
• For each option you are considering, what would have to be true about its availability or performance for you to stay with it rather than move to a new partner?
• Is there a concrete proposal from an internal team to solve this without an outside partner, and what resources would that require? Options: Yes, with dedicated headcount, Yes, with existing teams, No internal proposal, Under discussion
• Name the stakeholders in procurement, pharmacy, or finance who are advocating for the incumbent or the internal build.
• If the incumbent met a specific threshold for fill rate, integration time, and price, would that be sufficient for you to stay? Please state the threshold you would require.

Acceptance criteria that make this engagement measurable

• If the pilot proves the projected savings and fill rate improvement, what internal approval would enable you to sign within two weeks?
• What exact service levels and KPIs must be met in pilot to consider enterprise rollout, list targets for fill rate, order accuracy, and days of inventory.
• Who holds final contracting authority and which roles will approve pilot acceptance?
• How will you measure shortage resolution and realized savings during the pilot, and on what cadence will reports be required? Options: Daily, Weekly, Biweekly, Monthly, Quarterly
• If pilot targets are missed by 10 percent, what decision gate would that trigger for your leadership? Options: Pause rollout, Run extended pilot, Proceed with remediation plan, Cancel project

Next steps and timeline

• Outline the immediate actions in the next 30 days that would move you to a committed implementation timeline.
• Who needs to be involved from your side in an executive decision meeting and who will set the date?
• What timeline do you have in mind for pilot start, completion, and enterprise decision points? Options: Pilot start in 0-30 days, 31-60 days, 61-90 days, 90+ days
• Do you have internal budget windows or fiscal constraints that would accelerate or delay contracting? Options: Yes, current quarter, Yes, next quarter, Yes, next fiscal year, No constraints, Unsure
• How confident are you in this timeline today and what would raise or lower that confidence? Options: Very confident, Somewhat confident, Unsure, Not confident

• Solution Experience Session

• Confirm the current state and its cost
• You confirm that the demonstrated end-to-end scenario eliminates the manual alternative sourcing scramble and materially reduces emergency orders.
• Run a sample fill-rate and off-contract spend analysis on the provided item master for the selected pilot sites and deliver the results before the follow-up meeting.
• Provide the item master extract plus six months of order, delivery, and shortage logs for the selected pilot hospitals.
• Quantify the consequence using your metrics
• You agree on the measurable acceptance criteria that define the future state, such as target fill rates, reduction in emergency orders, and reduction in off-contract spend.
• Walk an end-to-end hospital shortage scenario
• You agree to the pilot scope and the remaining evidence the buyer needs to make a decision.
• Confirm the pilot hospitals and the buying committee attendees for the proof review session.
• Demonstrate analytics to close contract compliance and prioritize savings
• Validate the future state
• Agree next evidence and pilot scope

• Solution Experience Session
• Solution Experience Deck
• Solution Brief

• meeting
• slides
• document

• National Next-Day Distribution
• Pharmaceutical Order Fulfillment
• Medical-Surgical Delivery Service
• Automated ERP Ordering Integration
• GPO Contract Integration and Compliance
• Vendor-Managed Inventory Replenishment
• Drug Shortage Alternative Sourcing
• Cold-Chain Temperature-Controlled Logistics
• Returns and Reverse Logistics
• Spend Analytics and Utilization Reporting
• Pharmacy Automation Equipment Delivery and Installation
• Emergency Expedite and On-Call Sourcing

National Next-Day Distribution

• How many hospital locations need next-day delivery coverage under this agreement? Options: 1-5, 6-20, 21-100, More than 100
• Which receiving windows do your sites currently operate (local time) for next-day shipments? Options: Morning (07:00-11:00), Afternoon (11:00-16:00), Evening (16:00-20:00), 24-hour receiving
• Which product groups require guaranteed next-day fill rates (e.g., high-cost biologics, time-sensitive OR implants)? Options: High-cost pharmaceuticals, Operating room implants, Emergency supplies, All medical-surgical SKUs, Other
• Identify the baseline fill-rate or on-time delivery metric you expect for next-day service (percent of lines or percent of orders). Options: 95% lines, 98% lines, 95% orders, 98% orders, Custom
• Describe any geographic limitations for service such as off-network islands, restricted-state licenses, or trauma-center island routing.
• Are there credentialing or security requirements at any receiving site (e.g., badge access, controlled substance DEA access) that affect delivery cutoffs? Options: Yes, No

Pharmaceutical Order Fulfillment

• Which product identifier does your pharmacy use as primary for orders (National Drug Code NDC, internal SKU, or GTIN)? Options: NDC, Internal SKU, GTIN/UDI, Mix of identifiers
• How many unique pharmaceutical SKUs should be included in the initial catalog or item master? Options: Less than 1,000, 1,000-5,000, 5,000-15,000, More than 15,000
• Which controlled substance schedules (DEA) exist in your ordering profile that require chain-of-custody or segregated fulfillment? Options: Schedule II, Schedule III-IV, No controlled substances, Unknown
• Specify required lot and expiry handling rules (e.g., earliest-expiry-first, quarantine for recalls) to apply during picking and shipping. Options: Earliest-expiry-first, Reserve for clinical priority, Quarantine on recall, Custom rules
• Which dispensing workflows must be mirrored (cart fill, unit dose, bulk ADC replenishment) to validate fulfillment processes? Options: Cart fill, Unit dose, Automated dispensing cabinet (ADC) replenishment, Outpatient pharmacy kits
• Do any formulary substitutions require pharmacist approval or physician sign-off before shipment? Options: Yes, No

Medical-Surgical Delivery Service

• Which surgical service lines drive most of your implant or procedure supply spend (e.g., orthopedics, cardiac, neuro)? Options: Orthopedics, Cardiac, Neurosurgery, General surgery, Other
• How many high-value or consigned implant SKUs require serial number tracking on delivery documents? Options: None, 1-50, 51-500, More than 500
• What is the maximum allowed lead time for specialty case carts or OR tray builds before the scheduled procedure? Options: Same day, 24 hours, 48-72 hours, Custom schedule
• Are sterile chain-of-custody or lockout/tagout (LOTO) receiving procedures required in your OR or CSP processing? Options: Yes, No
• Which documentation must accompany medical-surgical deliveries (UDI/serial logs, implant logs, patient-matched labels)? Options: UDI/serial logs, Implant log, Patient-matched labels, Packing list only, Other
• Describe peak cadence for OR replenishment (cases per day or carts per week) that will inform routing and inventory staging.

Automated ERP Ordering Integration

• Which ERP or materials management system will be the ordering source for automated integration (provide system name and version)
• Which electronic document formats must be supported for ordering and invoicing (EDI 850/810, flat file, API JSON, HL7 FHIR), and which are required at go-live? Options: EDI 850/810, API JSON, Flat file SFTP, HL7 FHIR/HL7v2, Other
• Which ERP endpoints will the integration use (purchase order inbound, goods receipt outbound, invoice reconciliation), list each endpoint and expected cadence.
• Who is your technical owner for the ERP integration and what contact method will they use for connector testing? Options: ERP project manager, IT integration lead, Third-party integrator, Unknown
• What acceptance criteria will validate the ERP ordering integration at go-live (for example: X% of POs processed without manual intervention, matching on item master ID and price)?
• List any transformational mappings required (your item master ID to supplier SKU, unit-of-measure conversions, tax or charge codes).

GPO Contract Integration and Compliance

• Which GPO contract IDs or master contract numbers must be enforced in contract pricing checks?
• Which contract attributes are critical for compliance checks (effective date windows, tiered pricing, minimum purchase commitments)? Options: Effective dates, Tiered pricing, Minimums, Clinical exclusions
• How will you provide contract rate tables or Excel price files for ingestion into the compliance engine? Options: CSV/Excel upload, EDI contract feed, Manual entry, API feed
• Which tolerance for price variance triggers an exception for manual review (dollar or percent threshold)? Options: 1% or $1, 2% or $5, 5% or $10, Custom
• Are there class-of-trade or affiliate carve-outs (e.g., outpatient pharmacies, physician offices) that should bypass GPO pricing enforcement? Options: Yes, No
• Describe the audit frequency you require for contract compliance reporting (monthly, quarterly, on-demand) and preferred delivery format. Options: Monthly, Quarterly, On-demand, Other

Vendor-Managed Inventory Replenishment

• Which locations or storerooms will be part of vendor-managed inventory (VMI) replenishment (main pharmacy, OR stock rooms, satellite clinics)? Options: Main pharmacy, OR stock rooms, Satellite clinics, All locations
• Which SKUs should be in scope for VMI by priority tier (Tier 1 - critical, Tier 2 - high-turn, Tier 3 - low-turn)? Options: Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3
• What cadence do you require for physical cycle counts and reconciliation under VMI (daily bin count, weekly cycle, monthly full count)? Options: Daily bin, Weekly cycle, Monthly full count, Other
• Who will be the inventory owner for accounting and write-off approvals once items are in VMI stock? Options: You retain ownership, Vendor assumes ownership, Consignment model
• What service-level acceptance criteria will confirm successful VMI deployment (for example: inventory accuracy >= X%, weeks-of-supply within Y range)?
• Describe any regulatory or compliance constraints for VMI items (cold-chain medications, controlled substances, USP 797/USP 800 handled products).

Drug Shortage Alternative Sourcing

• Which drug classes currently face shortage risk in your formulary (e.g., oncology injectables, IV fluids, common antibiotics)? Options: Oncology injectables, IV fluids, Antibiotics, Analgesics, Other
• How quickly must an alternative sourced product be presented when your preferred SKU is unavailable (hours, 24 hours, 48 hours)? Options: Within 4 hours, Within 24 hours, Within 48 hours, Other
• Which clinical approvals are required for therapeutic substitutions (pharmacy director sign-off, physician consent, formulary committee)? Options: Pharmacy director, Physician consent, Formulary committee, Automatic substitution with formulary mapping
• Which documentation must accompany sourced alternatives (certificate of analysis, manufacturer lot, NDC mapping)? Options: Certificate of analysis, Manufacturer lot, NDC mapping, Other
• Do you require back-up sourcing for compounded sterile preparations subject to USP standards (e.g., USP 797), and if so which products? Options: Yes, No
• Provide the maximum acceptable price premium for an alternative during shortage as a percentage over contract price. Options: 0-5%, 6-15%, 16-30%, Case-by-case

Cold-Chain Temperature-Controlled Logistics

• Which temperature profiles are required for cold-chain SKUs in scope (refrigerated 2-8°C, frozen -20°C, ambient with controlled humidity)? Options: Refrigerated 2-8°C, Frozen -20°C, Ambient controlled humidity, Multiple profiles
• Which telemetry or temperature-monitoring standard do you require for shipments (continuous logger with tamper evidence, spot-check on delivery)? Options: Continuous logger, Spot-check on delivery, No telemetry required
• How should excursions be handled and escalated (automatic quarantine on receipt, immediate replacement shipment, documented exception)? Options: Quarantine on receipt, Immediate replacement, Documented exception with clinical sign-off
• Which qualifying documentation do you require on delivery (temperature chain-of-custody, logger PDF, calibration certificates)? Options: Logger PDF, Chain-of-custody, Calibration certificates, Other
• Where are your primary cold-chain receiving locations and do they have dedicated refrigeration capable of accepting shipments on arrival? Options: Yes, dedicated refrigeration, Shared refrigeration, No dedicated refrigeration
• Estimate your average weekly volume of temperature-controlled lines to size staging and trailer capacity. Options: Less than 50 lines, 50-200 lines, 200-1,000 lines, More than 1,000 lines

Returns and Reverse Logistics

• Which return categories must be supported (expired drugs, damaged goods, consignment recalls, creditable returns)? Options: Expired drugs, Damaged goods, Consignment recalls, Creditable returns
• What documentation do you require for reverse flows (RMA form, lot/expiry, manufacturer return authorization)? Options: RMA form, Lot/expiry, Manufacturer RA, Other
• Who is the authorized signatory for return credits and where should credit memos be applied in your financial system? Options: AP contact, Inventory control, Chief pharmacy officer, Other
• Which quarantine and disposition rules apply to returned sterile or cold-chain products (destruction on-site, return to vendor, re-inspection)? Options: Destruction on-site, Return to vendor, Re-inspection
• Do you require traceability back to patient or case for any reverse-logistics items such as implants? Options: Yes, No
• Provide your average monthly return volume and typical credit turnaround expectation (days). Options: Less than 50, 50-200, 200-1,000, More than 1,000

Spend Analytics and Utilization Reporting

• Which spend categories must appear in the initial analytics dashboard (pharmacy drugs, MDS supplies, capital equipment)? Options: Pharmacy drugs, MDS supplies, Capital equipment, Purchased services
• Which key performance indicators do you require (contract compliance rate, on-contract spend %, shortage days avoided, inventory turns)? Options: Contract compliance rate, On-contract spend %, Inventory turns, Shortage days avoided, Other
• What historical period of data should be ingested for benchmarking (12 months, 24 months, 36 months)? Options: 12 months, 24 months, 36 months, Custom
• Which data sources must be connected for analytics (your ERP purchase history, GPO rebate reports, ADC usage logs)? Options: ERP purchase history, GPO rebate reports, ADC usage logs, Clinical utilization records
• Describe the delivery cadence and format you require for executive-level reports (weekly PDF, monthly interactive dashboard, quarterly presentation). Options: Weekly PDF, Monthly interactive dashboard, Quarterly presentation
• Are there target thresholds for analytics alerts (e.g., single-SKU variance > X% week-over-week) that should trigger operational review? Options: Yes, No

• Master Services Agreement (MSA)
• Statement of Work (SOW)
• Supply & Distribution Agreement
• Service Level Agreement (SLA)
• Pricing & Order Form
• Data Processing Agreement / HIPAA BAA
• Integration & Implementation Addendum
• Acceptance Criteria & Cutover Plan
• Change Order Agreement
• Termination & Transition Agreement

• Go-live Health Check (weeks 1-4)
• First Measurement Review (weeks 4-10)
• Acceptance Gate Meeting (around day 90)
• Ongoing Operational Review (monthly)
• Quarterly Realization Review

• Update the shared issue tracker with agreed priorities and target resolution dates for all high-impact items.
• Produce a documented acceptance decision with named signatory for the managed engagement.
• Record pass/fail status for each acceptance criterion from Solution Scope and list required remediations if any.
• Confirm the incumbent system wind-down status to avoid dual-running and adoption leakage.
• Publish the formal acceptance record, including pass/fail per criterion and the named signatory.
• Initiate the remediation plan for any failed criteria with target close dates and acceptance checks.
• Execute the incumbent decommission checklist and archive or migrate legacy data as documented.
• Service level and SLA review
• Confirm SLAs and operational metrics are being met or have a defined remediation path.
• Ensure the enhancement backlog is prioritized with clear next steps and timelines.
• Close or escalate overdue action items to prevent recurring operational impact.
• Reconfirm scope, acceptance criteria ownership, and escalation path
• Deliver the monthly reconciled savings report and flag any items needing finance reconciliation.
• Promote prioritized enhancement requests into implementation planning with defined acceptance checks.
• Cumulative savings and contract compliance review
• Confirm cumulative realized savings and contract compliance rate versus Solution Scope targets and reconcile any variance.
• Identify systemic shortage drivers and agree 2-3 system-level improvements to reduce recurrence.
• Set the enhancement roadmap for the next quarter with acceptance criteria for each item.
• Publish the quarterly savings reconciliation package with variance explanations and supporting data extracts.
• Create and schedule implementation plans for the top 2 systemic improvements agreed in the meeting.
• Update the operational risk register with newly identified risks and assigned mitigation owners.
• Confirm critical integrations are live and basic transactions are successful.
• Document all critical open issues with a mitigation plan and target resolution dates.
• Agree the date and required deliverables for the first measurement meeting.
• Publish the deployment validation checklist and raw integration test logs for async review.
• Create a short remediation runbook for each critical blocker with target completion dates.
• Confirm access permissions for data owners and reporting endpoints before the first measurement meeting.
• Present first period outcomes for key metrics
• Establish whether order fill rate and realized savings are trending toward targets recorded in Solution Scope.
• Document root causes for each gap and an owner-assigned remediation plan with dates.
• Confirm the data reconciliation approach that will be used for the acceptance gate presentation.
• Produce a gap analysis report linking each missed KPI to transactional evidence and proposed fixes.
• Open and assign shortage resolution tasks with target resolution windows and escalation steps.
• Deliver reconciled metric datasets for the acceptance gate no later than five business days before that meeting.
• Restate acceptance criteria and numeric targets
• Root cause diagnosis for metric gaps
• Present outcome data for each acceptance criterion
• Deployment and integration validation
• Trend analysis for shortages and fulfillment reliability
• Realized savings reconciliation
• Open issue and incident burn-down
• Shortage resolution and breach review
• Enhancement roadmap and resource alignment
• Document pass/fail per criterion and aggregate decision
• Early adoption and usage signals
• Operational risk register and mitigation plans
• Blockers and open issues with owners
• Formal acceptance and signatory capture
• Corrective actions and timelines to reach acceptance gate
• Enhancement request backlog and prioritization
• Incumbent system wind-down confirmation
• Agree immediate remediation actions and next checkpoint
• Review action item progress from prior meeting
• Confirm data provenance and reconciliation steps
• Agree remediation items and closure timeline if any criteria failed