Monday, September 26, 2011

Price Advantage


Price Advantage

GlobalStar has a pricing analytics tool called “Price Advantage”. Price advantage is web based software suite designed to optimize Net Revenue while remaining true to Hospital business objectives, strategies and goals. The tool has been in production at a handful of accounts for over a year with quantifiable results increasing net revenue gains by the millions of dollars and supporting first year ROIs of over 300%.
Ways in which Price Advantage can increase revenue:
  • Advanced mathematical modeling, utilizing a proprietary customizable rules engine, allows our product to create pricing transparency for every charge
  • Allows your organization to reach its financial goals with defensible charges
  • Ensures rational pricing based on your specific market data
  • Unique Service Support Software allows your organization to target Peer and Competitor market data at the Charge Code, Department & Entire CDM levels
  • Allows for fully customizable market data at the State, Region and National level using our patent pending process
  • Creates detailed Gross and Net revenue reports at the Charge Code, Department, Service Line and Payer levels
  • Uses price relationships to create the proper association between Charge Codes
  • Service Supported Software allows for multiple iterations and scenarios allowing your organization to assess, select, and validate final implementation
Our Customer's Results:
Medical Center in Texas
$983M GPR, 431 beds
One year $2M incremental net rev gain
10 year contract
Health System in Florida
$2.3B GPR, 1,362 beds
One year $9.8M incremental net rev gain
3 year contract
Community Hospital in Colorado
$168M GPR, 80 beds
$1.2M incremental net rev gain
10 year contract
Hospital in North Carolina
$230M GPR, 110 beds
One year $2.2M incremental net rev gain
10 year contract

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Best Practices in ERP

GlobalStar is continually focused on providing a "Best Practices" aproach to our consulting services.

Here are a few examples of  some of the ‘leading  practices’ we focus on in HR:
Human Resource Recruitment
  • Control over PTO/Sick/Vacation/ balance tracking and accruals reflecting the changing employee statuses and addressing company policies over accruals, balance retention and payouts.
  • Alternative to Direct Deposit/Payroll checks using bank card
  • Point of sale cashless utilizing employee ID and Payroll processing to settle amounts and accurately reporting of sales
  • Settlement of Employee receivable for Hospital and Clinic charges utilizing Payroll
  • Reimbursement of Employees through Payroll (No Employee Vendors in AP)
  • Standard practice for control over payroll balancing including Taxable Wages
  • Separation of duties in shared module procedures and roles
GlobalStar Consultants’ depth of experience, including a thorough understanding of both ERP and Best Practices, and past experience migrating clients from a litany of legacy systems,  allows GlobalStar to meet or exceed time and cost requirements.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Client Satisfaction and Increased ROI are not Mutually Exclusive

What defines great service and enthusiastic client satisfaction in the ERP community?  Is it having the most knowledgeable consultants in the industry?  Being the most recognizable name?  What’ the old saying, “no one ever got fired for hiring IBM.”  Is it having the most experience as an overall company?  Is it the lowest price?  Is it all about marketing, buss words, slick proposals, etc?  Is it about Golf?  All of these items factor into the reasons why clients make a decision to choose one company over another, but do these items ultimately equate to overall enthusiastic client satisfaction and a return on investment (ROI)?  Probably not… 
If you currently own an ERP system that does not truly garner a measurable “ROI” then you are probably not enthusiastically satisfied as a client.  In my 17 years of running ERP services companies, it has been my experience that this type of end result is more common than not.  When was the last time you heard a client rave about the ERP consulting company that they used for their install?  It is extremely disappointing because really good consulting companies can have an enormous positive impact on organizations.  But more often than not clients apathetically walk away feeling jaded and disillusioned because they were delivered a mountain of documentation that they will probably never use and was mostly intended to protect the interests of the consulting company that they trusted.  Successful ERP Implementations begin and end with cohesive teams who all share the same goal, to achieve “enthusiastic client satisfaction!”
How do you ensure that you (as an ERP services company) are consistently providing service levels that lead to client satisfaction and measurable ROI?  It starts with leadership.  The person(s) that are leading these organizations really have to understand what it means to provide great service.  They have to be willing to put themselves personally on the lines for a resolve that holds “superior customer service” as their highest ideal.  These leaders need to jump in with both feet regarding a commitment to service.  To start they need look within their own organizations.  I can’t tell you how many times I have heard various organizations label a client as a “problem client.”  I don’t believe in problem clients.  Leaders have the responsibility to ensure that there is no room for such internal rhetoric.  That type of poisonous attitude has to be considered completely unacceptable within your organization.  You have to “deep dive” into “where did we fall down with this client, employee, partner, etc?”   Problems are essentially opportunities, so problem clients are essentially opportunity clients. They provide an opportunity for you to showcase your responsiveness, your flexibility, and your follow-through. Companies that take advantage of the opportunities tend to leave their clients highly satisfied which ultimately allows them to outperform their competitors. These are also opportunities to ascertain that you will have a stable business environment that is poised for longevity and success.
Successful organizations often provide an environment that is supportive, consistent, simple (in terms of policy), honest, and elicits buy-in from everyone within the organization.   How do you elicit buy-in?  You have to consistently “walk your talk” – no matter what!  Establish a very simple “Mission Statement”, so everyone within your organization knows what it is and can easily remember it.  It becomes your company mantra.  In our case, it is “enthusiastic client/partner satisfaction via employee satisfaction.”  What’s funny is that these philosophies really work.  It’s the “power of suggestion.”  People tend to “run through walls” for your cause, if they feel you genuinely care about them and their interests.  You instill confidence and integrity in this process by how your actions and words line up day in and day out.  In some ways you have to lead more with your heart instead of your mind.  If you want to create true synergy that has unstoppable momentum, then treat your own people like gold.
How do you start?  Begin by treating your employees as invaluable members of a much greater cause; which in turn establishes satisfaction across the board (i.e. Customers, Partners, and of course your team).  It can be a little on the esoteric, intangible side.  Basically it’s by having a compassionate heart as the driving spirit of your organization.  Create an environment that is open, honest, straightforward, uplifting, empowering, and where all are accountable for the ultimate goal which is enthusiastic client satisfaction!  Remember, satisfied clients and ROI are not mutually exclusive.  The most base-level success, with ERP implementations, comes down to the quality of the consultants that you have on the ground.  If those consultants are not mired with a lot of extra paperwork (unnecessary rules, etc that just weigh them down in a stifling way), then they have much more freedom to create unparalleled ROI outcomes for clients and partners.  Happy consultants that are part of a team that is there to nurture and support them are by far more likely to succeed.    
I once had a conversation with a CIO of a large Federal organization.  We will just call them the “Agency” to be safe.  He was really intrigued by the “Small Giant” of a company that we had created – especially our culture.  As we were talking over a couple of glasses of wine, he asked me why I kept referring to our employees as part of a “family” and not a “team?”  “Because you can’t fire your family”, he said.  I was like “I had better come up with something that sounded really good for the CIO of “The Agency.”  Here is what I came up with, “when you make a professional commitment to our organization you become part of our team, but whenever that commitment becomes of a more personal nature, you become part of the family.”  The answer seemed to suffice.  We closed the deal and the rest is history.  If you want to raise the probability of ERP implementation success then utilize a team that cohesively works together like a family.     

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

GlobalStar Provides Stellar Lawson Service

You’ll find that GlobalStar’s major differentiator is the enthusiastic client satisfaction that we consistently earn. Our consultants remain focused on achieving success and transferring knowledge – allowing you to achieve independence faster! We are routinely told that our friendly, knowledgeable, success-oriented approach distinguishes us from the rest.

"When deciding on a consulting firm to help us with the upgrade of our Lawson applications there were several characteristics we took into consideration; knowledge of the product, experience with the upgrade process, good communication skills, and the ability to meet deadlines. GlobalStar exemplified these characteristics throughout our experience with them from the initial meeting to the final deadline.

GlobalStar began by making an impact at that crucial first impression simply by taking the time to visit us here in KY, face to face. During the initial meeting GlobalStar opened up the floor to any questions. This gave us a chance to find out how well they knew the Lawson products. Your Lawson Project Manager/HR Functional Consultant was able to answer all of our Human Resources related questions and even gave us some tips that helped us get ready for the upgrade. Your Lawson Procurement Implementation Manager also answered all of our questions as well as gave suggestions on how to improve our current processes.

GlobalStar furnished us with a reference list of present and prior clients to contact. The list they gave us was impressive; most of the clients upgraded were in the Healthcare field. This gave us the assurance that they had extensive experience in the upgrade process and knowledge of the healthcare environment.

After choosing GlobalStar to assist us with the upgrade we discovered how well they were able to communicate with a vast array of employees within the organization. From the system administrator to the end user (with very little technical knowledge) they were able to interact with everyone effectively. Because of these crucial communication skills we also contracted for GlobalStar to conduct end user training for both Procurement and Accounts Payable within our organization. This training prepared us for the upgrade and also taught us new processes for the future.

GlobalStar's drive to complete the project has been unparalleled when compared to other consulting firms. Our projected go-live date was 4/30 and we ended up going live two weeks earlier 4/19. I know it would have taken us a considerably longer time to complete this project with out the help of the GlobalStar team. Your DataBase/System Administrator, Financial Consultant, Human Resources Consultant, Procurement Consultant, and Project Manager exemplify outstanding service, knowledge, and experience and I would recommend GlobalStar without hesitation to anyone based on the personal contact I have had with each of these individuals."

-Jason Earl, Kings Daughters Medical Center

See More: Client Testimonials

Work Smarter-Bright Ideas to Help Optimize Your Current ERP System

 
Supply Chain Management
Requisition Control—Force location/person on requested items so only approved items can be requisitioned. (RQ, RSS, IC )

Shopping List—List supply locations in sequence to skip hand-held PAR processing. (RSS, IC)

Preference Card  Pick List—Use Shopping List as preference cards… could even ‘pick’ entire equipment trays. (RSS, IC)

Lab/Specialty Dept. Restocking
Use Shopping List so non-Inventoried items can still create a PO for simple reordering. (RSS, IC, PO)

Validate Patient Prices—A simple calculation within Patient Charge can assist charges to patients for supply and implantable items. Find cost changes and lost revenue comparing Patient Prices to Billing Master. (PC, IC, PO)

Consignment Inventory Management—Inventory Control provides better
management and control over expensive inventory liabilities. (IC)

Surgery Systems Interfaces—Provide Item Master and Costing data to Surgery Systems to keep costs current and eliminate duplicate data entry. (IC527, IC, HL7, CloverLeaf or similar)

Enterprise Financial Management
Better Contract Pricing/Discounts—Reduce duplications and errors to maximize buying power. (AP, IC, MA, PO)

Faster Matching—Change display to Vendor Item Number/Item Detail if missing PO Line/Item Number . Use Create Detail when matching if delays in locating PO Lines or entering Invoice quantities. (AP, MA)

Human Capital Management
Absence Management —Not just a replacement for Time Accrual. Manage FMLA and other Leaves. Eliminate manual processes. Better manage cycle processes. (LP)

Position Detail—Establish Position Detail information that permits defaulting of primary position information to the employee and multiple position accounting data defaulted to positions (PA)

Process Flow Integrator
All Suites—Prevent  cost overruns, uncontrolled spending using Approval Levels. (WF)

Data Archival—Archive Production Product Line data while retaining Inquire and Report access to the archived data.

BSI Upgrade—Mandatory upgrade to v 9.0 (Decommission 08/31/11). Impacts both environment and application.

For More: Contact GlobalStar!