Contract Insights

As Coronavirus (COVID-19) is now a global pandemic - with the United States presenting the most significant number of cases - I am reminded of current and past experiences implementing contract management software to help organizations with clinical trials and drug development tracking.  Organizations in the medical field, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, and other related industries need to effectively manage drug development contracts and obligations, clinical trials, manufacturing of medicine, and key opinion leaders globally.  CobbleStone’s leading enterprise contract lifecycle management software provides the solution to these challenges.

Healthcare organizations and large health systems face ever-thinning margins and an industry-wide move away from fee-for-service contracting models to complex, value-based contracting models and reimbursement structures.  Most of these organizations still take a manual approach to managing hundreds to thousands of payer contracts, provider contracts, vendor contracts, and more. 

The Association for Health Care Resource & Materials Management is hosting AHRMM19, its annual conference and exhibition, in San Diego, CA July 28-31, 2019.  The conference is a 3-day, information-packed learning experience for health care supply chain professionals, covering topics like strategic planning, logistics and distribution, professional development, and more.  The conference agenda includes “Learning Labs” with sessions like, “Developing Your Strategic Sourcing Toolkit: Types of RFx and When to Use Each,” and, “The Culture of Change: Necessary Steps to Implementing the Next Big Thing.” 

Hospitals, healthcare providers, and health systems are facing complex challenges around cost control, regulatory compliance (HIPAA, JCAHO, Stark Law regulations, Medicare billing rules, etc.), and operation and service efficiency.  In healthcare, successful contract management is critical for organizations managing hundreds or thousands of contracts covering different departments or facilities, and multiple vendors, providers, or agencies.  Mismanaged contracts can not only lead to increased costs, thinning margins, and lack of productivity; they can lead to compliance failures that result in reputation and accreditation issues.