Procurement software consists of a set of tools that automate tasks and processes associated with sourcing and purchasing goods and managing communications with suppliers and vendors. The benefits of using procurement software include streamlining the process for finding the best prices on preferred supplies, improved visibility into your supply inventory, more efficient management of your AR/AP tasks and centralizing administrative processes across multiple locations.
The best procurement software solution will quickly prove to be a valuable asset for any dental practice looking to improve its bottom line by reducing costs and helping its busy staff work more efficiently. If you’re considering procurement software for your practice, the following information can help.
What Does a Dental Procurement Software Do?
Dental procurement software is a computer program or suite specifically designed to meet the needs of the dental industry. The most basic dental procurement software will help you with your dental supply purchasing and manage your purchase orders and invoices. More advanced solutions allow you to quickly comparison-shop across multiple suppliers to find the best price, create a customized list of preferred suppliers, maintain real-time visibility into your inventory and manage your spending against a monthly budget.
Procurement software is also able to help with other functions, like:
- Automating the submission of electronic purchase orders.
- Generating recent purchase order confirmation reminders.
- Executing inventory and financial transactions upon the arrival of materials.
- Gathering and analyzing data to help improve or maximize profitability.
- Streamlining standardization and administration across your practic’s platforms.
Why Use Dental Procurement Software?
One of the most appealing uses of procurement software is that it can save you time and money. Procurement software will help you find the best prices on products you need from the suppliers you prefer. Dental procurement software will also make the processes of ordering supplies and managing your payments easier and faster, leaving you and your staff more time to spend with patients.
Here is a more detailed list of all the tasks and activities that dental procurement software solution will assist with:
- Creating new purchase orders according to your needs with input from the right personnel
- Submitting purchase orders to the right personnel within your practice for rejection or approval
- Achieving greater communications between you, your vendors and your suppliers
- Matching invoices and purchase orders
- Managing your inventory to prevent shortages
- Monitoring and managing your budget throughout all steps of your procurement process
- Standardizing and centralizing administrative processes for smoother functioning and increased efficiency
- Collecting and analyzing trends to better understand purchasing behavior
The Many Advantages of Dental Procurement Software
Using procurement software for your dental practice can produce several benefits that will have a direct impact on your business. Here is a closer look at the advantages of procurement software for your dental practice.
1. Reduce Supply Costs
An effective procurement solution will help you save money on supplies in many ways. First, it should give you the ability to compare the cost of products across multiple suppliers, helping you to get the best available price. More sophisticated solutions will even calculate potential savings on shipping by consolidating your orders with certain preferred suppliers.
Some e-procurement platforms will monitor supply levels and prevent you from overstocking on supplies or notify you when you are running low. Many of the leading solutions allow you to collect and analyze supply ordering and usage data. This capability gives you better visibility into your spending and enables you to make data-driven decisions to save money, reduce supply costs and expand the reach of your budget.
2. Improve Supply Chain Reliability
In any industry, there is the possibility of global supply chain issues, including the dental industry. Procurement software makes it quick and easy to search multiple suppliers when a specific product is out of stock with your preferred supplier. It will also enable you to search for reliable and affordable substitute products if there is an industry-wide shortage of a specific item.
3. Increase Productivity
Automating internal processes and tasks can enhance the efficiency of your business operations. The automation of your practice’s process also prevents your staff from having to do everything on their own. The automation provided by procurement software works to free up your staff’s availability, allowing them more time to spend with patients.
4. Enhance Organizational Planning
As you increase automation and documentation, you will drive more organization and efficiency into your practice and increase visibility into how your business is being run. This insight into the use of resources will allow you to take a more structured approach to planning.
5. Maintain Accurate Records
Procurement software has the ability to precisely track and store all transactional data in digital format. Keeping accurate records will allow you to monitor both buying and usage behavior while avoiding wasteful practices and costly errors. Keeping digital records helps reduce waste and makes searching for information fast and easy.
How Does Dental Procurement Software Work?
Most procurement software platforms are easy to install, and they should integrate with any other back office software you are already using. Your solution provider will take you through a basic setup process that may include the following:
- Setting up preferred suppliers
- Building a catalog of frequently ordered items
- Giving a walk-through of how to place an order
- Demonstrating how to input POs and invoices
- Giving a review of the reporting dashboard
Learning how to use the software should be pretty straightforward for anyone who is familiar with placing orders online through sites like Amazon. Most providers offer support services through their customer success teams.
As consolidation in the dental industry picks up momentum, it will become even more important for individual practices to find ways to work more efficiently and improve the patient experience. Using dental procurement software to automate administrative tasks and free up time, while also keeping your costs down, is a highly effective way to make sure your practice continues to thrive, remain profitable and provide superior patient care.
Join Synergy Dental Partners Today and Save
Synergy Dental Partners is a dental group purchasing organization (GPO) that works to save you money on your dental equipment while streamlining your operations. When you become a member, you get access to Method procurement software for free. This gives you access to all the benefits mentioned throughout this article to help you experience the procurement process in a whole new way.
Contact us today for more information and take the next step toward savings and greater efficiency in your dental practice.
