Healthcare procurement 2.0 at Zilveren Kruis

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From supplier-oriented to patient-specific. In short, that’s the major change the healthcare procurement department of Zilveren Kruis introduced with Gupta in 2016.

Insurance companies
Strategy
Procurement
Sustainable change

In the healthcare sector, change is complex. For this project, Gupta supported Zilveren Kruis in redesigning their healthcare procurement organization. It needed to better align with developments in the healthcare field, as well as their own ambitions and resources. The new policy? Stop working the separate procurement teams for hospitals, mental health facilities or other institutions, but instead, look beyond the silos of healthcare segments. In other words, investigate where you as an insurer can add real value for patients by making smart agreements for healthcare procurement, and then coordinate your teams to match. That ensures you focus on the patient, not the healthcare provider. As a result, you can create a single ‘chronic heart care’ procurement module, for example, instead of separate diabetes policies for first, second and third-line care.

The experience of Olivier Gerrits

director of healthcare procurement at Zilveren Kruis

Gupta’s fresh perspective is very valuable”

"How can we better tailor healthcare to specific patients? That was the starting point for reviewing our procurement strategy. In times like this, Gupta’s fresh perspective is very valuable. Their expertise and experience, as well as their ability to translate complex issues into practical strategies, is why we’ve enjoyed working with them for almost ten years. This project was a joint effort once again: during the implementation, they shared their knowledge and skills with the people at Zilveren Kruis who actually had to do it. That’s how you really make change happen. Two years after we introduced Healthcare Procurement 2.0, a major change was on its way with our healthcare procurement team. Instead of just sitting opposite each other and negotiating, we now work together with individual healthcare institutions on a common goal: how can we create maximum value for patients? When that occurs, healthcare sourcing is really geared to patients’ needs, and you’re making healthcare better. And that’s exactly what’s needed.”

Marloes Hagemans' experience

What I remember most about this project is how carefully we went through every step of the process”

"An assignment with so much impact on employees as well as those insured certainly made this a challenge. But with a relatively small Gupta team, a solid core group of enthusiastic Zilveren Kruis employees and a dedicated procurement management team, it was a challenge we were happy to accept. What I remember most about this project is how carefully we went through every step of the process. It began by thinking broadly about major trends and themes in the organization, and the role you need to play as an insurance company… And it ended with the actual implementation of a suitable organizational structure – one that isn’t based on segments or healthcare providers, but instead on the needs and wishes of the patients. The cooperation with the Zilveren Kruis team was therefore very in-depth and enjoyable. Their understanding of the healthcare sector, their customers and their own organization, complemented by our analytical perspective, ‘helicopter view’ and focus on the end result created a solid foundation. Add to that our shared drive to truly ‘disrupt’ procurement to create more value for insured patients and you can understand why it was such a great project to contribute to.”