SDCExec.com |

Atlanta — June 19, 2008 — Seeking a fiscally and environmentally responsible approach to automating its accounts payable and supply chain process, Memorial Hermann Healthcare of Houston is using electronic invoicing and joined the OB10 e-Invoicing network.

Memorial Hermann Healthcare, widely considered one of the best hospital organizations in the country, is the latest client to partner with OB10, citing the cost savings, streamlined processes and environmental benefits that e-invoicing enables. It is the largest healthcare organization to join the OB10 network since the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the second largest federal agency, became part of the network in 2007.

The Memorial Hermann Healthcare Procure-to-Pay (P2P) initiative includes both e-invoicing and the use of p-card Buyer Initiated Payment. After performing a pre-delivery audit to eliminate exception handling, the OB10 network will deliver suppliers' invoices within minutes of their submission so that Memorial Hermann Healthcare can provide real-time invoice processing therefore maximizing the back-end purchasing card payments into suppliers' bank accounts. This allows suppliers to be paid within a few days, and Memorial Hermann can, at the same time, reduce processing costs.

With 569,000 invoices annually, the 14-hospital Memorial Hermann Healthcare organization said it could see cost savings and incremental revenue. e-Invoicing reduces at least 40 percent of the average cost to process a paper invoice, since it eliminates the time and potential errors of data re-entry, misplaced invoices and staff time spent handling invoices.

"We were looking for significant process improvements in which we could eliminate the manual data entry points, and we wanted a solution that was 'green' and environmentally friendly," said Daron Whisman, director of Finance and Supply Chain at Memorial Hermann Healthcare. "The combination of e-invoicing and the payment card was an ideal fit for our Procure-to-Pay initiative."

OB10 said clients typically cut 10 to 15 days out of the invoice cycle, which enables them to better manage their cash flows. Also, the electronic availability of e-invoice data gives them much greater control over their cash flow. Suppliers benefit from quicker, more accurate payments, along with the assurance that their invoices have been received by their customers. OB10 has assigned a dedicated team to work with Memorial Hermann's suppliers in the migration to e-invoicing.

"e-Invoicing will benefit both Memorial Hermann Healthcare and its suppliers. And we are quite excited to help them achieve significant savings," noted Jamie Gunn, CEO of OB10. "The healthcare system will be able to reduce its accounts payable costs thanks to a truly green technology, and its suppliers will be paid more quickly and accurately, and never have to worry that an invoice will get lost in the mail."