The successful deployment of the software is anticipated to lead to the procurement of MediChain across 75 of Quebec’s hospitals and healthcare facilities this year.
Irwin Kramer, president and CEO of iCongo, claims that the new technology will change the route normally taken by hospitals in buying goods and services: Moving from traditional paper ordering to a paperless electronic process is expected to substantially reduce order-processing cycle times and administrative costs for both healthcare institutions and suppliers.
MediChain aims to overcome the obstacles posed by integrating diverse healthcare enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and supplier customer relationship management (CRM) systems by providing a platform that allows them to exchange business documents over the internet.
iCongo’s MediChain platform will initially be used by the health center in conjunction with several of Canada’s largest providers of healthcare products. After its successful installation, it is intended to be made available to 75 hospitals and healthcare facilities and their suppliers, who will try to shorten the supply chain, reduce costs of processing orders and improve overall customer service through greatly improved productivity.
Currently healthcare organizations buy less than 1% of their equipment and supplies over the internet. Quebec’s hospitals spend more than $2bn a year, using the telephone, fax and mail as well as other manual procedures to place and track orders. It is expected that MediChain will enable them to reduce their procurement operating expenses by approximately 50% by using a web-based e-procurement solution.
