With an annual spend of over £5.5 billion, the procurement of goods and services for the NHS is big business – without which healthcare could not be delivered. 99% of all hospitals and trusts use NHS Logistics to provide them with some or all of the goods and services they need to care for their patients.
NHS Logistics’ agenda of modernisation through investment, reform and partnership matches that of the NHS as a whole. The newly launched e-billing service reflects this modernisation and enables NHS Logistics to improve customer service levels while reducing the costs associated with the distribution, processing and administration of invoices.
Dorothy Flaxman, Head of Finance, NHS Logistics, explained: Given the phenomenal growth in Internet usage within the NHS, we are pleased to offer this unique alternative in invoice delivery. Through Microgen’s e-billing services, we will save the NHS valuable time and resources by simplifying the authorisation of invoices as well as reducing the levels of manual data entry.
Since its launch in October, 10% of NHS trusts have already agreed to receive their invoices electronically. The limited flexibility of paper bills has turned our customers’ attention towards the benefits of viewing invoices online. E-billing is the only way to overcome the volume of paperwork moving within the accounts payable process. Significantly, our customers are identifying additional suppliers from whom they would like to receive e-bills, added Dorothy Flaxman.
An outsourced application, Microgen’s e-billing offers NHS Logistics a cost-effective service that was implemented rapidly without major capital investment. Dorothy Flaxman added: We are continually looking for ways to use new technologies to enhance the work environment for our staff and customers. On this occasion, outsourcing has enabled us to introduce a new service while minimising the level of technology risk.
Richard Cooper, general manager, Microgen, said: We believe that a huge opportunity exists for organisations to benefit from e-billing. E-billing can help them improve transactions with customer organisations and enhance customer relationships.
