Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE NEW IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Digital Health
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • Special Reports
    • Innovations
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
  • Op-Ed
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Awards
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
    • Women in Healthcare
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
    • - Leaders to Watch
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Women Leaders
    • - Women to Watch
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Transformation Summit
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Strategic Marketing
    • - Virtual Health
  • Listen
    • Podcast - Next Up
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Finance
November 28, 2015 12:00 AM

Software coordinates surgical implant orders

Adam Rubenfire
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    “Sometimes the surgery requires things that weren't planned before. That's OK. But with our software, there are no surprises.” Amin Rahme, founder and CEO

    For hospital administrators, the process of procuring surgical implants and tools and making sure they are within budget can be complex. Medical-device representatives talk to surgeons about what they'll be bringing to a surgery. But administrators are often in the dark about what tools were actually used during a procedure.

    If administrators find out after a surgery that a tool or device used was off-contract or more expensive than anticipated, the hospital then has to haggle with the vendor over price. This takes time and slows the payment process.

    “It is a constant problem trying to reconcile all that stuff,” said Adam Higman, vice president at Soyring Consulting, a St. Petersburg, Fla.-based healthcare consulting firm. “Depending on the institution and the relationship with the surgeons and the representatives, who takes the fall (for the charges) can be variable.”

    Responding to this confusing situation, Amin Rahme founded Surgery Exchange to hold device sales representatives accountable for what they bring to a surgery so that any off-contract items can be approved ahead of time. Surgery Exchange's software requires them to pre-register all items with administrators, and allows surgical staff to record which tools and implants they use during surgery.

    Those items then can be reviewed, and if necessary, analyzed by contract compliance administrators before a purchase order is approved and sent through the platform. Compliance staff members are kept in the loop about potential supply changes and off-contract requests throughout the process, and are able to discuss any discrepancies with vendors.

    Sales representatives often bring nearly $100,000 worth of devices to a surgery, but often use only a few thousand dollars' worth of those products because surgeons don't often know what sizes or components they'll need until they open a patient up, Rahme said.

    “Sometimes the surgery requires things that weren't planned before. That's OK,” he said. “But with our software, there are no surprises.”

    Surgery Exchange

  • Headquarters: Atlanta

  • Founder and CEO: Amin Rahme

  • Products: Software that requires vendors to pre-register devices and tools that they will bring to surgical implant procedures, so that they can be approved by hospital contract-compliance administrators.

  • Goal: Rahme plans to expand Surgery Exchange and its holding company, MedTech Exchange, to support the total episode of care and hospitals' efforts to reduce readmissions.
  • Because implant surgeries typically are scheduled at least a month in advance, Rahme believes there is more than enough time for vendors to plan what products they would like to bring to the hospital. Even though it takes them extra time to log items through Surgery Exchange, they will get paid more quickly because there's less reconciliation to be done after surgery, Rahme said.

    Atlanta-based Surgery Exchange also requires surgical staff to record the lot numbers of items used during surgery. That can be helpful for hospital officials in case of a product recall.

    Software currently on the market helps providers with scheduling, purchase orders and materials management. But those products don't handle the “bill-only” reconciliation process. Bill-only happens between scheduling and accounts-payable—two departments that don't necessarily communicate with each other and have little support for this process.

    “We've got all these systems in place, but the unique challenges of the bill-only process fall mostly outside of the systems that are in place now,” Rahme said.

    Four hospitals currently use the Surgery Exchange system, which was launched in January: Huntsville (Ala.) Hospital; the two hospitals of the Leesburg-based Central Florida Health Alliance; and Sarasota (Fla.) Memorial Healthcare System.

    Rahme estimates Surgery Exchange saves hospitals an average of about 2.5% in supply costs. Beyond that, the company touts its ability to significantly reduce the time it takes hospital staff to reconcile bills for surgical tools and devices.

    For Thomas Fender, vice president of the surgical service line at 876-bed Huntsville Hospital, that means freeing up his staff for more important tasks. He said he expected surgical-device vendors to push back on adding new software to their workflow, but he hasn't gotten any negative feedback yet.

    “It creates transparency and clarity of communication and accountability,” Fender said. “There's no place for anybody to hide, because everything is out there. There's little excuse for any of us to drop the ball.”

    Right now, Fender is using Surgery Exchange only for joint products, which represent about 125 procedures a month at his hospital. He's rolling out the software for spinal implants next and has plans to eventually use the system for all implant surgeries.

    Rahme wants to expand Surgery Exchange and its holding company, MedTech Exchange, to support the total episode of patient care and help hospitals reduce readmissions. He said his company has a strategy and partners to implement that plan.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    Copy of transparencyhospital costs_0001_i copy_i.png
    Fines kicking in after slow start to hospital transparency rule
    vaccine-money_i.png
    U.S. diverts COVID-19 funds to secure vaccines amid stalemate
    Sponsored Content
    Daily Finance Newsletter: Sign up to receive daily news and data that has a direct impact on the business and financing of healthcare.
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Digital Health
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Op-Ed
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Awards
      • Nominate/Eligibility
      • 100 Most Influential People
      • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
      • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
      • Excellence in Governance
      • Health Care Hall of Fame
      • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
      • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
      • Top 25 Innovators
      • Diversity in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
        • - Leaders to Watch
      • Women in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Women Leaders
        • - Women to Watch
    • Events
      • Conferences
        • Transformation Summit
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Leadership Symposium
      • Galas
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Strategic Marketing
        • - Virtual Health
      • Webinars
      • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Listen
      • Podcast - Next Up
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing