Healing Healthcare: Using Managed Services To Heal An IT Healthcare Company's Workforce Ills

The Dilemma

Despite having highly advanced technology and analytics, there was one number into which a leading information, services and technology healthcare company needed greater insight into in order to remain a leader in their industry. This mystery number was their $20 million time and materials spend. Company executives lacked visibility and oversight of this key number and couldn’t quickly or effectively pinpoint where this money was going, who it was going to, or why it was being used. This company knew they needed help from a total talent expert if they were going to operate successfully while keeping up with new technologies. 

The Strategy

This healthcare company approached DZConneX (DZX) to help them optimize their internal processes. DZX began to work closely with the client to design and execute an accelerated Managed Services Provider (MSP) program. Tasked with bringing new and improved structure and visibility into the firm’s time and materials spend, DZX integrated our expert MSP and Vendor Management System (VMS) programs into the underpinnings of the client’s workforce planning. This innovative solution would give our client visibility into their total spend, allowing them to optimally utilize their internal resources. 

The Impact

Throughout the first year of our program implementation, DZX helped our client cut their spend by 10% – a savings of more than $2 million ($1 million of which was hard savings). This program was implemented in just 16 weeks, which is a challenging accomplishment for such an undertaking. The accelerated launch of the program that DZX made possible helped the client realize savings quickly and efficiently – a key end-value, as time equals innovation.

Industry Fast Facts

$8,600 per capita spent on healthcare in the U.S.  

43% of physicians use mobile health technology for clinical purposes 

20% increase in number of U.S. health IT jobs expected from 2008 to 2018 

$765 billion in wasted healthcare costs each year

The healthcare technology space was built on its ability to identify new efficiencies and refocus time and resources on advancing critical healthcare innovations. DZX’s client, a leader in the industry, has spent the past 60 years doing just that.

Uniquely positioned at the popular intersection of healthcare and technology, helping merge these two industries as they become ever more interdependent, the client compiles massive amounts of data on diseases, treatments and healthcare outcomes. It processes billions of healthcare transactions each year for over 5,000 clients, from providers and payers to pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, government agencies and policymakers.

Even with their highly advanced technology and analytics, there was still one number into which the client needed greater insight into in order to remain a leader in this space. And that number is the $20 million time and materials spend. Company leaders were unsure as to why this number was as high as it was and who was utilizing this money.

The realization of this overlooked spend came at a critical time for the company. Owned by a private equity firm with a laser focus on optimizing savings and maximizing value, the client needed to streamline its spend and continue providing leading information, services and technology in a cost-effective manner for clients. To accomplish this, the company would have to gain complete visibility into its contingent workforce.

Why The Typical Solution Wouldn't Work

After setting out to find a solution, the company realized that an MSP was needed in order to really get their internal processes and spend on track. But the company also knew that kind of program can be difficult to roll out on a tight timeline driven by the needs of a parent organization. Typically, organizations adopt a structured approach of selecting and developing an MSP program, and it’s often a complex process that requires company-wide buy-in. The complete journey from RFP to a live program can take as long as a year. But time is money, and DZX's client wanted an MSP service up and running as soon as possible to maximize savings and meticulously track total spend before competitors took over too much of the market share in its space.

During the time the company was having internal discussions about their spend, DZX had been brought in by their parent private equity firm to discuss technology talent acquisition for the firm’s subsidiary companies, including our future client. The more the firm worked with DZX, the more the relationship evolved as DZX introduced innovative solutions for a wide range of challenges the company was facing. Through this transparent and collaborative relationship, DZX developed a strong partnership with the firm, becoming a trusted advisor through its continuous effort of streamlining workforce programs. Seeing the value and results DZX's experts were achieving, the company made the strategic decision to quickly hand the reins of the MSP program to DZX.

Accelerating MSP Implementation Without Sacrificing Goals

Working in conjunction with the client, DZX focused on efficient and high-quality talent acquisitions, managing talent suppliers to quickly deliver and oversee contingent labor processes. The VMS solution, combined with the accelerated MSP program, also helped the company see the big picture - how much they're spending, which vendors are performing best, how many contingent workers are active, what roles they play and beyond.

That mysterious $20 million spend quickly started to dissipate as DZX showed our client where the money was really going. Over the first year of the MSP program, DZX helped the client eliminate more than $2 million in unnecessary spending. Through the quick program launch, that 10% savings were discovered sooner than expected, allowing the client to use these extra resources towards more innovative core objectives.

Extending The Efficiencies 

DZX’s management of the time and materials spend created efficiencies so quickly that the client decided to institute another MSP program for its Statement of Work (SOW) process, again handing the program’s management over to DZX's dedicated teams. While the acceptance and execution of the two MSP solutions happened quickly compared to the typical MSP engagement, it certainly didn’t happen by chance. DZX worked diligently with the client to define its savings goals and contingent labor needs, ensuring the results met the top-level goals of the C-suite from day one through to its current state.

Why MSP Was The Key

This high-touch, consultative approach DZX took with this project allowed the client to better communicate its savings goals, and craft an MSP program that not only fit its needs and offered the oversight it wanted, but realized cost savings even beyond what was anticipated. The client is a global leader in compiling and analyzing complex healthcare data, and having an MSP featuring strict oversights and controls allowed the company to focus on data collection and analysis rather than internal inefficiencies and financial leakages – allowing them to focus more on their jobs, leaving the rest to us.

Now, the client is able to distribute thousands of data points to medical experts and others throughout the world, better serving its own internal stakeholders, as well as its clients. Today, the client is the world’s leading information services and technology company, allowing the entire healthcare industry to perform better.

By working alongside DZX in employing a uniquely tailored MSP solution, the two organizations were able to identify and classify the client's current and future challenges, and developed a solution that would increase oversight, create greater savings, and provide visibility the company never had access to before.