See how one hospital saved 11% with a sense of negotiation urgency
For many hospital supply chain professionals, January offers a welcome respite from the negotiation urgency of December, where it’s all about pushing deals through to meet year-end deadlines. While the stress of year-end enables many hospitals to push deals over the goal line that may have lingered for months, it can also be a source of immense stress when everything piles up in December. If December is such a powerful force to break the deal logjam, it’s worth asking the question: why can’t you have that same degree of efficiency (without all the stress) in the other 11 months of the year?
Repeat December negotiation strategies year-round. It might sound too good to be true, but recreating the conditions that enable December efficiency may be easier than you think. First, establish a hard deadline (not December 31!) that both you and the supplier agree on. Then, establish key milestones/deadlines for technical review, internal stakeholder approval, and leadership signoff. Communicate these timelines proactively so that everyone is on the same page before you start final negotiations. Once everyone is aligned, used the compressed timeline to fuel the negotiation urgency that will get you the savings you need, without the months of back-and-forth. December isn’t just a time of year; it’s a mindset—one that can bring many benefits if applied systematically throughout the year.
A Miga hospital client recently found the value of establishing a hard deadline for completing a purchase for a two new CTs and an MRI. The approved budget was low by about $400k, given their desired configurations—and the price was set to increase further on January 1. Harnessing their negotiation urgency, the team got both the hospital and the supplier to agree to a September 30 signing deadline instead of December 31. Though the decision technically sacrificed three months of time, the team made up for it in results. The added deadline pressure not only allowed the team to negotiate an extra $583k in savings, but it also helped them to complete the deal in just 19 days—ahead of their 9/30 deadline.