Is your dental office looking for an affordable procurement or sourcing team? If so, joining a group purchasing organization (GPO) is a solution that can provide your business with plenty of savings.
A GPO will keep your team up to date on discounts and other valuable opportunities. By leveraging its members’ spending power, an organization can help you secure more affordable prices than your company could likely obtain on its own.
We’ve compiled this guide to help you discover how a GPO can help your business. Read on to learn about the benefits of becoming a member and discover if joining a GPO is what’s right for your dental practice.
GPO Benefits
When you’re diving into the reasons to join a GPO, more significant savings are frequently at the top of the list. However, your company might also discover other benefits of a GPO, like the chance to increase social opportunities or ways to strengthen your reputation. Consider some of the following high-impact benefits that attract many companies planning to join a GPO:
1. Affordable Memberships
Check the membership fees when you’re looking for a GPO to join. The GPO should encourage your office to join for a reasonable price. Some GPOs might provide memberships for free, but ask yourself if these free memberships are actually worthwhile, especially when comparing those benefits to other GPOs. Many GPOs that charge a membership fee extend discounts to new members. Look at the servicing and savings an organization provides to determine if the membership cost is worth the benefits.
2. Item-Level Savings Opportunities
While it is possible for your company to negotiate savings on its own, joining a GPO helps you gain savings more quickly and at a deeper level. GPOs combine the purchasing power of multiple companies, making it easier to negotiate discounts. The leverage of a group of providers behind you lets you collect item-level savings that most individual companies are unable to attain.
3. Maintaining Your Suppliers
If you have your own preferred suppliers, you may be hesitant about joining a GPO. However, you can often maintain your existing relationships. Members of a GPO can still contact their chosen suppliers directly and receive all product deliveries on schedule.
4. Connections With Other Members
Collaborative businesses benefit from the networking opportunities that a GPO provides. Joining a GPO will provide you with the opportunity to connect with different organizations and industry professionals. Members of the same GPO can share information on LinkedIn or another social media network. You can discuss challenges, sourcing and your industry experience with people who share your goals.
5. Management of Product Formularies
While offices often join a GPO for the convenience factor, these organizations are more than a bridge between your company and your suppliers. A good GPO will help you develop a formulary — a list of high-quality products and services with great pricing.
This service lets you identify savings opportunities during the length of your agreement with the GPO. Your GPO will review suppliers to learn more about their services and inform your office about current service enhancements or discounts.
GPOs provide information so you can avoid direct interaction with your suppliers. Providing you with this assistance makes it easier to interact with your suppliers while still leaving the important decisions up to you.
6. Additional Savings Opportunities
You can improve your process if you have a GPO monitoring the market for you. Your GPO should aim to help you find suppliers that care about the quality of their products and services.
It’s easier to find the best services when you have a well-connected GPO. Your GPO will consider the total costs of your business, helping you reduce your inventory expenses and improve your spending habits.
7. Lower-Risk Purchasing Decisions
GPOs want to support their members with the best service possible, encouraging them to stay so the GPO can continue to grow. Part of this service is ensuring that you know you can trust the suppliers they provide. Your organization will find compatible suppliers of the highest quality to help you make low-risk buying decisions.
When you join a GPO, you can count on them to vet potential suppliers to ensure the greatest benefit for the lowest cost. Rather than committing your team to spend hours on research, you can trust your organization to find quality partners quickly and easily.
8. Other Services
Your GPO might offer other valuable services besides locating suppliers. These services may include:
- E-commerce solutions
- Supply chain consultations
- Outsourcing
- Benchmarking
- Technology assessments
- Safety initiatives
Find out which services are available before you start working with a GPO.
Dental GPO Benefits
The advantages of GPOs above are universal for any business and translate easily to small or medium-sized private dental offices. A GPO would allow your practice to have:
1. Savings on Dental Supplies, Lab Fees and Equipment
Many companies join a GPO to reduce spending on their supplies. When you join an organization, you will know which suppliers are trusted partners, giving you a lower risk of buying cheap, faulty or low-quality products. Your potential savings include:
- Promotions and discounts on dental supplies.
- Discounts on lab products.
- Pricing solutions on implants and other appliances.
- Insurance reimbursements and marketing.
- And more potential savings
2. Access to Procurement Software
Procurement software simplifies the process of locating the supplies required to run your office. This service includes sourcing, negotiating, making purchases and keeping a record of the products your practice requires.
Since the services offered by GPOs tend to vary, this service might come at a cost or be unavailable through some organizations. However, you can have this service for free when you choose Synergy Dental Partners.
3. A Network of Industry-Leading Partners
Having access to a reliable network makes shopping for your business simple, and finding suppliers is always easier when you join a GPO. Synergy works with highly esteemed supplier partners and brands, offering the highest quality services for your practice. You will find everything from dental implants to the rotary tools you need and much more when you become a member.
Sign Up With Synergy Dental Partners
Now that you’re aware of the many reasons to use a GPO, the next step is to sign up with an organization that can help you achieve exactly what you’re expecting.
When you join Synergy, you start with a trial period to be sure you are fully satisfied with our services before you commit to a membership. Contact us to learn more about our group purchasing organization and how we can help you boost your savings.
