A blueprint for the necessary technological infrastructure for automating the procurement of medical supplies is now available, providing the potential for higher levels of healthcare services.
SAP, the world`s leading provider of enterprise software solutions, announced the solution, highlighting the capability of the Internet to contribute to cost-effective delivery of affordable healthcare.
The new medical solution for buying and selling medical supplies has huge potential for South Africa. It automates the procurement of medical products and supplies via the Internet by integrating the back-end processes of the SAP R/3 solution to the front-end shopping experience for healthcare organisations.
"Solutions such as this have a major role to play in South Africa, where the entire healthcare infrastructure is undergoing transformation," says Simon Carpenter, general manager: New Dimension Applications at SAP Southern Africa. "Cost effective delivery of affordable healthcare is a pre-requisite to protecting and nurturing our greatest national asset - people.
"By exploiting the business benefits of SAP`s mySAP.com Internet strategy, of which the medical solution can be part, South African healthcare providers will be able to offer higher levels of service to their publics while simultaneously reducing costs. They will be able to achieve a balancing act that is simply not possible without this type of technological infrastructure."
SAP America, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of SAP AG, has partnered with Neoforma.com to provide the joint solution for buying and selling medical supplies.
Carpenter explains: "By partnering with Neoforma.com, SAP automates the procurement of medical products and supplies via the Internet by integrating the back-end processes of the SAP R/3 solution to the front-end shopping experience for healthcare organisations.
"SAP users will be able to acquire materials and equipment through the Internet and to dispose of surplus equipment the same way. In addition, any transactions handled via the solution would be automatically integrated to that organisation`s back-end R/3 business application.
"This type of partnership allows healthcare providers to improve their bottom lines, which is critical in today`s competitive and cost-conscious healthcare environment, and ultimately benefits the patient," says Carpenter
SAP and Neoforma.com demonstrated these business scenarios at SAP`s annual global user conference, SAPPHIRE `99 which took place in the United States last month.
Share