BMI Healthcare

Having over 4,000 suppliers, validation of paper-based documents between organisations had become a labour-intensive task.

After centralised processing had been introduced, further investigation into process improvement showed that EDI data transfer would be the logical next step. This was to ensure strict data standards would be met whilst dramatically reducing document handling times.

Solution

A VAN and EDI translation solution provided by Commerce- Connections allowing for accurate validation down to line item detail.

Customer Benefits

- Improved service to clients

- Increased productivity

- Documents processed within minutes

- Cost-effective solution

- 24/7 support

- Future-proof

- End-to-end Accounts Payable automation including auto indexing and archiving of

PDF versions of the electronic invoices

- High FTM (first time match) rates and an increased level of P2P compliance

Client

BMI Healthcare is the acute private hospital division of General Healthcare Group and is the largest independent provider of private health care in the UK. It is committed to providing a consistent, high quality service to local communities.

BMI Healthcare has over 70 hospitals and healthcare facilities nationwide, each serving the health care needs of the local community. BMI Healthcare hospitals have an enviable reputation for providing excellent medical and surgical facilities supported by state-of-the- art equipment and a high standard of nursing care, within pleasant and comfortable surroundings.

“BMI Healthcare was most professional to work with. The project also benefitted from BMI Healthcare's clear communication. The trust they have shown us made us feel part of their team. We are delighted that our translation solution is to their satisfaction and appreciate their swift feedback.”


Lawrence Geung,
Managing Director, Commerce-Connections

Stephen Beaumont, the Finance Process Manager at BMI Healthcare, explains:

“The main reason for our decision to use EDI was that the original setup was labour-intensive with a lack of control and accuracy. There would be instances where invoices were matched only on PO value as opposed to line entry detail, whilst the EDI matching criteria are very specific and include looking at line level details, product code, pack size and delivery reference numbers, leaving no room for error.

We had a look at what EDI providers were available to us and chose a number of them to put through Q&A, fact finding and some further assessments. It became quite clear that Commerce-Connections was the company for us. There were a number of factors supporting this, such as the flexibility that the team offered and the openness to work with us on a scaled basis making sure our initial setup was successful.

The pricing and the quotes that came from Commerce- Connections were realistic and enabled us to take a risk with a new process and for us to have the opportunity to ring-fence our pilot before we committed to further processing. The team was very open-minded and enabled us to move on and expand the solution.
The support from Commerce-Connections has been very helpful; being able to pick up the phone and have answers to any technical questions has made it a very smooth transition.”

Smooth Implementation

The first phase of introducing Commerce-Connections’ provided solution to BMI Healthcare consisted of connecting 25% of the business’s invoice volume via EDI. The implementation was smooth and completed within a timeframe convenient for the client.

After the completion of this phase, preparations were made for BMI Healthcare to enable other existing suppliers to make use of EDI as an alternative for communications between businesses.

Growing with the Business

Stephen Beaumont, the Finance Process Manager at BMI Healthcare, talked on how the solution had been developed with future plans in mind: “In addition to our other requirements, the location code tagging future-proofs the system for us. As we transition the sites from our old system to our new ERP system, Commerce-Connections „flicks a switch‟ in the file translation mapping and it pushes the files down the appropriate processing route.”

The aim for BMI Healthcare is to have at least 80% of its suppliers signed up for EDI communications with an outlook to investigating further solution integration into its client pool.

Growing with the Business

Stephen Beaumont, the Finance Process Manager at BMI Healthcare, talked on how the solution had been developed with future plans in mind: “In addition to our other requirements, the location code tagging future-proofs the system for us. As we transition the sites from our old system to our new ERP system, Commerce-Connections „flicks a switch‟ in the file translation mapping and it pushes the files down the appropriate processing route.”

The aim for BMI Healthcare is to have at least 80% of its suppliers signed up for EDI communications with an outlook to investigating further solution integration into its client pool.

“ I have no doubts at all that I will be contacting Commerce- Connections again in the future for any similar exercises.”

Stephen Beaumont,
Finance Process Manager, BMI Healthcare