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9. Ignoring early-pay discounts
Some vendors offer a discount for customers who pay early. One common offer is a "1/10 net 30" payment. This means that while
the payment is normally due on the 30th day of the month, a customer can take a 1% discount by paying before the 10th day of the month. That savings amounts to an 18% rate of return. Some vendors offer a 2% discount, bringing the savings up
to a 36% rate of return.
Example of savings: The 1% discount for early payments brought yearly savings of $16,885 for an oncology center and $12,600 for a GI
center.
Many more savings opportunities
The moral is that if you're willing to do a little digging, you can come up with a lot of money you didn't know you had. The total savings
from the examples for the 9 items above amounts to more than $300,000 a year, and there are plenty of other types of leaks that I haven't even mentioned. Based on experience, I can tell you that virtually every surgical facility operating today can save at least $25,000 by plugging previously undetected leaks. OSM
Mr. Denny (barry@expensemanagementnetwork.com) is founder and CEO of Expense Management Network in
Kernersville, N.C. He's also OR manager at the Patseavouras Center for Plastic and Laser Surgery in Greensboro, N.C.
