Cook Medical introduces full electronic commerce package to the UK
E-invoicing, e-cataloguing, e-ordering and e-order acknowledgement solution now available
Cook Medical has introduced its full electronic commerce package to all UK customers, a solution that offers an automated, paper-free way to do business.
E-invoicing completes the e-cataloguing, e-ordering and e-order acknowledgement services already on offer.
E-commerce in healthcare enables improved workflow efficiency without impacting patient care, as customers reduce the time and costs spent on business transactions, while improving data accuracy by eliminating the need to rekey information.
According to the European Associations of Corporate Treasurers, e-invoicing, the most recent addition to Cook’s e-commerce solution, can offer businesses a possible 80% cost saving.
Leeds Teaching Hospital was one of the first UK hospitals to pilot Cook’s e-invoicing, and from May 2013 now uses the full e-commerce solution. The trust started by implementing effective e-cataloguing through the use of electronic data interchange, allowing Cook to directly access and update the hospital’s catalogues, which then need only be checked by the hospital’s staff, saving precious time.
“The effective use of e-commerce technologies in procurement can deliver a range of significant benefits for the NHS,” said Chris Slater, head of procurement and supply chain at Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust.
“The partnership between Cook and Leeds Teaching Hospital is designed to improve patient safety and drive unnecessary supply chain cost out of the system to make healthcare safer and more affordable.”
Cook’s Healthcare Business Solutions (HBS) team understands that hospitals have different capabilities when integrating e-commerce into their systems. As a result, a tailored approach on the uptake of e-commerce is offered. Hospitals can choose to introduce e-cataloguing as stage one and then gradually introduce e-ordering, before finally completing the transfer by implementing e-invoicing.
Martin Matkin, director of healthcare business solutions and distribution management at Cook Medical, said: “Electronic ordering and invoicing is proven to give better accuracy and efficiency, something that is key to managing the budget constraints of modern healthcare systems. We are delighted customers can now carry out their business with us in an automated and paper-free environment, thanks to our new e-commerce package.”
