Welcome to BlueBin's Financial Focus newsletter! We're excited to bring you insights on the intersection of finance and healthcare, specifically how supply chain dynamics impact financial performance. Tailored for those on the finance side of healthcare, this newsletter will provide valuable analysis and strategies to help you navigate the complexities of healthcare finance. Stay tuned for expert insights and actionable tips to enhance your financial decision-making!
Employee Spotlight
Get to know our team!
Learn more about the folks here at BlueBin who keep supplies and operations flowing.
MARGARET BOWERS
What inspires your passion for the healthcare supply chain?
I’m passionate about the healthcare supply chain because it lets us drive meaningful impact at scale. At BlueBin, we work behind the scenes—solving problems, organizing workflows, and pushing for the next right step even when change is hard. When our solutions click, everyone wins: hospitals operate smoothly, supply teams and clinicians feel empowered, and patients receive better care. That ripple effect motivates me every day.
Can you share a specific “before and after” example of the impact of a BlueBin implementation?
One of my most memorable “before and after” stories involves an EP Lab supply coordinator who was overwhelmed, skipping lunch, arriving early, and staying late just to keep up. After implementing BlueBin, my PM and I did a week‑long time study: I shadowed him, pinpointed bottlenecks, and introduced targeted changes based on our SOPs. We limited orders to empty bins, avoided overstocking, and moved put‑away tasks to after lunch once deliveries arrived. By week’s end, he was noticeably less stressed, followed a transparent, efficient process, and even could manage more. That shift—from merely surviving to truly thriving—is the impact BlueBin delivers.
Outside of Work
My time usually starts with a fundamental debate—between me and my two corgis, Bernie and Tess—about which dog park we’re heading to that day. (Spoiler: they always win.) These two are my forever sidekicks, tagging along wherever they can. On sunny days, you’ll find us adventuring on beach walks or cruising down local trails—sometimes even by bike, if I’ve got enough energy to tow them behind me! When the weather’s not so great, I trade the outdoors for cozy quilting projects and getting lost in an Elin Hilderbrand book.
Industry News
Learn what's happening in the financial side of healthcare.
Healthcare organizations are still operating below pre‑COVID margins, and in response to ongoing economic uncertainty and regulatory pressures, most are now deploying financial contingency plans—scaling back services, right‑sizing staff, bolstering high‑reimbursement lines, and prioritizing tech investments in revenue-cycle and denials management—to manage narrow margins amid rising costs and staffing challenges .
Hospital M&A activity remained sluggish through Q2—just eight transactions closed between April and June (half being divestitures), with total transacted revenue at a low $1.4 billion—reflecting ongoing policy uncertainty, smaller deal sizes, and cautious strategic affiliations as health systems pause large-scale consolidation.
Healthcare systems are seeing strong M&A performance in the outpatient sector—particularly in ambulatory surgical centers and diagnostic imaging—as rising outpatient utilization and profitability are prompting both health systems and private equity to consolidate these high-margin, lower-acuity assets.
BlueBin Client Success Story
Learn more about BlueBin client partner successes.
Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center achieved 7.8% savings in medical supply costs, 7% reduction in recurring supply expenses, maintained a 99.5% supply fill rate, and expanded supply management into new areas—all while staying FTE-neutral.
Polls
Give your feedback on the state of the industry.
📊
How are you accelerating Supply Accounts Payable (AP) Days?
Request a Complimentary Supply Chain Resilience Assessment
For a limited time, BlueBin is offering a complimentary supply chain resilience assessment for healthcare organizations, including acute and non-acute facilities, to evaluate their resilience framework against industry-leading practices.
Note: BlueBin’s mission is to transform healthcare by enhancing the supply chain process, ensuring that patient care staff have the right supplies at the right time, and maximizing efficiency. In line with this mission, BlueBin advocates for and supports the AHRMM Keys for Supply Chain Excellence. By focusing on improving inventory management, optimizing supply chain processes, and minimizing waste, we aim to reduce costs, accelerate operational efficiency, and enhance clinical outcomes throughout the continuum of care. The AHRMM Keys for Supply Chain Excellence serve as key performance indicators (KPIs), establishing essential standards for supply chain management in the healthcare field. Learn more about the AHRMM Keys.
Article summary: A set of 17 best practices—including centralized invoice intake, digital approvals, automated matching, AI-based exception handling, and performance analytics—can streamline accounts payable operations, reduce manual errors, accelerate payment cycles, and lower invoice processing costs to as little as $2.81.
Did you know? BlueBin enhances AP automation in healthcare by integrating real-time inventory data with ERP systems to streamline invoice matching, reduce exceptions, optimize vendor performance, and capture early payment discounts—all while providing actionable insights for continuous financial improvement.
Financial Tip
Trim Inventory Carrying Costs with Precision PAR Levels
Utilize item velocity and PAR master reports to identify overstocks and slow movers. By adjusting PAR levels based on real-time consumption and lead-time-matched velocity, healthcare organizations can avoid locking up capital in excess inventory, freeing up cash flow and slashing carrying costs by thousands per month.
If this newsletter was forwarded to you, sign up to receive it directly!
