Tool kit: MPE Purchasing Collective

Update April 2, 2014: The MPE purchasing collective is now closed.  Thank you to all of the practices that have participated and are enjoying the benefits of the service.  Due to the current state of agreements with some practices, this service is no longer open or available to new members.

If you have participated within a large group practice, know someone who has been in a group setting or have heard about a group practice, you know that one of the main benefits of being in those groups is substantially reduced pricing for your supplies combined with improved service.  The pricing reductions are not insignificant – as much as 65% off major items like bands and brackets.  Vendors like these practices because one client means substantially larger sales with a reduced investment in selling.  The relationship has other benefits for vendors including reduced administrative costs resulting from centralized billing, limited cost to renegotiate prices and availability of large packages of information in one place.  Please note that when we discuss discounts, we are not talking about a standard 40% off list price that many vendors offer.  We are talking about the possibility of significant deep discounts on supplies.

Getting discounts for a group involves considerable administrative work to get them set up.  Contacting the proper vendors, making the best possible deal, managing billing, shipping and returns and ensuring a variety of products that satisfies the needs of the doctors while not being unsustainably large.  You also need a mechanism to be able to deliver to process orders and returns that is easy to use, proven and efficient.  Instead of ordering from each vendor individually, you need to be able to go to one place, order what you need and have all the vendors be notified automatically.  Ordering done.  Back to patient care.  We have that system.  We just need people who want to participate.  All parties come together in the MPE Purchasing Collective.

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Here’s how it works: If enough doctors in a country wish to participate, we will handle the administrative work to set up pricing deals with vendors, billing arrangements and implement our online purchasing application.  The minimum number of doctors required to participate varies by country.  In the United States, the number is about 40 mid-sized practices.  Other countries may vary.  As you would expect, the more doctors that participate, the greater the discounts that can be negotiated.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are located in Spain or Mexico, the minimum thresholds have been reached and all systems have been implemented and are functioning.  Just agree to participate, provide us some information and you should be up and running in a matter of days.

Once a minimum threshold of doctors agrees to participate, we will commence negotiations and implementation of systems.  That whole process should take about 2-3 weeks and then you will be able to place orders.  There are no startup fees, no monthly fees and no fees related to the size or volume of purchases.  You just pay the cost for the supplies you order.  Just fill out the information on the signup form.  As doctors are added, we will keep you apprised of the progress in your country.  Of course, the commitment that we ask of you is to participate.  If you don’t place orders through the system, the general point of this collective is defeated.

At a certain point of growth, we will begin to include airline frequent flier miles with each purchase.  Like other purchasing systems, the number of miles will correspond directly to the amount purchased.

One other note: as you might expect, negotiations on price tend to work best if you are coming from a position of numbers and strength.  If 60 doctors get their bands and brackets from American Orthodontics and 2 get them from GAC, the best deals and preferred vendor status will go to American for rather obvious reasons.  Obviously, nothing in life is guaranteed or assured, but we have done this successfully in a previous incarnation of our business lives and feel comfortable doing it again.

Of course, if you have any questions about the process and how it works, please let us know.