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As part of the Brigham and Women’s and Faulkner Hospitals Patient Affordability initiative, the institution has implemented a new effort to reduce office supply spending by $200,000. Across the Partners HealthCare network, this reduction is expected to be $500,000. On Feb. 15, the “Sub Alternate” program was launched through the Staples e-buy site in an effort to make it easier for users to identify and purchase low-cost, functionally equivalent office supplies.
Andrew Madden, director of Materials Management, said the program was originally proposed to BWH alone, but since Partners HealthCare uses the same database for office supplies, it was expanded across the network. This program is being offered to any company that contracts through Staples for office supplies.
“A lot of people, for example, use 3M Post-It Notes and Staples has their brand,” said Madden. “The Staples brand is 70 percent less expensive than 3M, and the quality is the same. These are the types of changes we are implementing that will help us achieve our targets.”
It works like this: When a user chooses a product that has a lower cost alternative available, they will be prompted by the system to consider an equivalent, yet less expensive product that will save the hospital money. In addition, users have another opportunity to choose the low-cost products at checkout, by clicking on a link at the top left-hand corner of the page that will read, “Click here to view recommended alternative products.” Each time the cost-effective choice is made, the user is contributing to BW/F’s success.
BW/F spends $1.4 million annually on original equipment manufacturer (OEM) toner. Staples alternate toners are typically 25 to 60 percent less expensive than OEM toner. Each recycled cartridge uses 80 percent less energy to make, and it saves two to five pounds of solid waste and about one gallon of oil. There have been significant advances with recycled cartridges over the last two years. These toner cartridges perform as well as, or better than, new cartridges. “This program has the potential to provide BW/F and Partners HealthCare with substantial savings on office products, while at the same time continuing to supply our staff with the equipment they need,” said Madden. “It’s a win-win for the entire hospital network.”
Staples and Roxbury (another toner vendor utilized by BW/F) guarantee that the quality of their alternate toner cartridges will match or exceed that of an OEM. In the rare event of a defective cartridge, Staples will replace any defective toner cartridges free of charge or reimburse for any damages incurred.
Here are a few examples of savings: