Leverage GPOs to Save Healthcare Costs on Cleaning Equipment

With expenses on the rise, roughly half of the country's hospitals ended 2022 with a negative margin, according to Kaufman Hall Research. In particular, healthcare cleaning and EVS teams feel the acute pressures: inflation continues driving up equipment costs, and the tight job market keeps labor costs high. As a result, leaders need smart strategies to even out their balance sheets and get back in the black—and more and more providers are turning to Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) to lower spend and gain better cost control while maintaining the highest cleaning standards.

Let's explore how GPOs can help reduce healthcare cleaning costs when purchasing new floor cleaning equipment—and why Tennant GPO contracts deliver unique benefits.

What is a GPO?

GPOs enable an alliance of healthcare providers to flex their collective purchasing power. According to the Healthcare Supply Chain Association (HSCA), GPOs reduce the overall cost of healthcare by up to $55B each year. Healthcare providers typically leverage GPOs for drug and medical device procurement. But GPOs can be a powerful path to negotiating lower prices and better terms on the procurement of operational products like floor cleaning equipment.

Why are GPOs Necessary?

GPOs deliver a range of benefits to healthcare cleaning and EVS teams:

1. They Lower Costs

A GPO’s collective purchasing power enables the negotiation of lower costs on equipment and supplies than if each member was negotiating on their own. It also helps drive standardization and consistency in pricing, protecting members from overpaying.

2. They Streamline the Purchasing Process

GPOs help healthcare providers streamline purchasing processes by negotiating on their members' behalf. This establishes an agreed-upon price for equipment for the entire GPO, meaning each member does not have to renegotiate with each purchase. In addition, by reducing the administrative and contracting efforts, members can focus their staff time on more critical items.

3. They Improve Performance

The consolidated focus of a GPO enables a more extensive evaluation of suppliers during the contracting process. GPOs typically put specific vetting processes in place, implementing value analysis committees of multiple members to help evaluate the equipment/supplies during the contracting process. As a result, the member organizations know they are getting the best equipment and supplies for the best value.

Emerging Strategy: Leveraging GPOs to Purchase Floor Cleaning Equipment

Savvy healthcare providers are increasingly using their GPOs in a new way: To procure high-quality floor cleaning equipment in the preferred price structure of a GPO.

This GPO strategy fits within the broader reality that cleanliness is more critical than ever within healthcare facilities. Between value-based reimbursement and healthcare consumerism, the expectations for sparkling spaces and exceptional experiences keep rising. The complexity of healthcare cleaning requirements continues growing, as well.

At the same time, healthcare organizations feel the squeeze of labor challenges—from rising labor costs, to staff absenteeism, to burnout and turnover from overextended cleaning and EVS teams.

Innovative programs are leveraging new floor cleaning technologies to significantly increase cleaning efficiency—from allowing staff to clean floors in less time, to implementing automatic floor cleaning machines that allows staff to focus on other, more complex cleaning tasks.

As the promise of modern floor cleaning equipment grows, GPOs are becoming an essential strategy that enables healthcare providers and their cleaning teams to effectively evaluate floor care vendors and gain access to high-quality equipment at the most competitive price.

Tennant GPO Contracts Deliver Value

Tennant provides a full portfolio of best-in-class floor cleaning equipment designed to meet the specific needs and demands of the healthcare industry—machines that protect your environment's health, safety and comfort with optimal cleaning performance. Tennant GPO contracts offer a high-value strategy for accessing Tennant equipment, delivering several key benefits:

Existing Healthcare GPO Contracts

Tennant already contracts with major healthcare GPOs, including Vizient, Premier, and Healthtrust Purchasing Group. This means healthcare providers that are members of these GPOs can rapidly take advantage of the time and cost savings available to you.

Lower noise = Less Patient Disruption

Tennant has a full range of machines for every cleaning need, including equipment specifically designed to have lower noise and odor levels than comparable machines. Reduced noise levels mean less patient disruption, directly driving positive impacts on your HCAHPS scores.

Lower Total Cost of Clean

Long-lasting Tennant equipment is renowned for its durability and reliability, enabling you to maximize machine uptime throughout an extended service life. This drives down your total cost of cleaning.

Control Labor Costs

Tennant equipment is specifically designed to boost staff productivity and labor efficiency. Features like easy-to-use ergonomic controls and easy-to-locate maintenance touchpoints enable staff to do more in less time. Automate the large spaces and mechanize the small spaced with the i-mop® Lite walk-behind floor scrubber —making it the ideal cleaning tool for tight spaces.

Health & Safety

Tennant equipment delivers second-to-none cleaning performance to protect and elevate the health and safety of your facilities and spaces. Tennant's NSFI-certified cleaning equipment removes dirt and soil, maintains air quality, and leaves surfaces safe and dry, helping reduce the risk of slip and fall accidents – as well as sustainability efforts by limiting chemical use.

Lower Total Cost of Clean

Tennant leads the charge in developing the next generation of autonomous cleaning machines. This autonomous floor cleaning equipment can radically transform a healthcare cleaning program, allowing cleaning teams to:

• Clean more frequently and more consistently.
• Focus EVS staff on high-touch cleaning.
• Increases staff engagement by shifting non-essential tasks and freeing their time.
• Provide proof of coverage.
• Visual evidence of continuous cleaning with daytime cleaning.
• Address labor challenges.
• Improve efficiencies with automated day and night cleaning.
• Maintain a high standard of cleaning.
• Designed to work safely alongside patients and employees.

Learn How Tennant GPO Contracts Can Help Your Organization

There’s little doubt that cost control will remain a top priority in healthcare. As cleaning requirements continue to rise, healthcare cleaning and EVS teams need to build strategies to protect cleaning performance while controlling costs. Tennant delivers powerful technologies to support exceptionally clean spaces and experiences. And Tennant GPO contracts offer a smart path for healthcare providers to access leading-edge Tennant equipment with greater cost visibility, control, and predictability.

Schedule your free facility assessment today.

RELATED LINKS

Ready to take your cleaning to the next level?

Whether you are requesting a product demonstration or a quote, ordering parts, or making a service appointment, you've come to the right place. Tennant professional representatives are ready with answers to your questions, and we look forward to showing you how much we appreciate your business.