About Purch
Purch’s goal is to create a better healthcare system. To achieve this, we focus on saving money for healthcare providers by developing smart purchasing and supply chain management solutions. We also help healthcare providers by freeing up some valuable time to allow them to focus on improving the quality of healthcare for the patients.
Purch is a purchasing organisation, specialising in healthcare and we work in close collaboration with our customers and members.
Our perspective on strategic purchasing in healthcare
Purchasing in the healthcare sector has great potential for improvement. Many of us are all too aware of the current lack of transparency in today’s healthcare market, where information on prices and product quality is hard to come by. The contrast to other areas is great. For example, as a private consumer, you’ll find it easy to search the Internet for the best tv or computer prices. You get instant access to other consumers’ product reviews and which suppliers give you the best price. Search the internet for wound care dressing prices, what other caregivers thought about the product and which suppliers have the best price, and you’ll find it so much harder to get a good result.
The big spenders in healthcare are in the public sector where compliance to rules and regulations and risk aversion is higher priority than minimising total cost or collaborating well with suppliers. There’s also a lack of incentive to set up efficient and effective supply chains. This results in high costs for the taxpayer and an unclear, unnatural purchasing process which leads to high cost of sales for the suppliers and often fails to match the buyer with the most suitable supplier.
Healthcare professionals already have too little time to spend with their patients. A recent study showing how healthcare professionals allocate their time in health centers* shows that only 23% of their time is spent directly working with patients. 36% of the time is spent on indirect work, for example documentation, and 41% of the time goes to “other work”. There is a limit to the amount of things we humans can excel in, so if we let the healthcare professionals be great at taking care of the patients, we can let the strategic purchasing be taken care of by the purchasing professionals working in close collaboration with the healthcare professionals.
*Anskär, E. (2012), Vad gör vi på jobbet? En deskriptiv studie om arbetstidens innehåll på en vårdcentral.
What we believe in
Purch believes that an efficient and effective purchasing market (supply chain) leads to the best possible healthcare. An efficient and effective purchasing market is characterised by:
Transparency
Transparency when it comes to information about e.g. quality and prices.
Competition
Many suppliers per purchasing category. Profit margins that mirror a market with healthy competition. Ineffective and inefficient suppliers are taken out of the competition.
Innovation
Through a close collaboration between customer and supplier in a market that premiers the solutions that give the greatest value whilst maintaining the lowest total cost.
Balance
In strength between sales and purchasing.
Competence
Products are chosen from a rational cost and benefit perspective. Suppliers are subject to competition from several angles such as values, sustainability, regulatory compliance, ability to deliver, quality, service, cost and innovation.
Who we are
Purch team are professionals in purchasing within the healthcare sector. We give healthcare providers the opportunity to strengthen their competitiveness through strategic and effective purchasing. Healthcare providers get more time for the patients which generates a higher quality of care, reduced waiting time for patient treatments whilst simultaneously allowing caregivers to save money and make safe purchases.
Purch was founded in 2010 to meet the demand for strategic and structured purchasing within the healthcare sector.
