Term Key:
blue: SCA term
cabernet: SCM term
black: used in both with the same meaning.

Meaning

Parallel Term & Meaning

Similar Terms & Notes

A

The SCM concept of "accepting a contract," which users must do, makes local contract data available to the SCM analysis tools, projects, and dashboard graphs.

The Acceptance term in SCA is different: it refers to the buyer's right to inspect and return product items that are defective.

Marking a local contract as "accepted" in SCM makes the contract's spend available for analysis in SCM and in the SCM Savings module. After contract acceptance, contract prices can be activated.

With the , accepting a local contract in SCM makes the contract data available to the Catalog.

If a site is enabled for it, SCA Price Activation occurs automatically (after the nightly SCM/SCA synchronization) for local contracts accepted in SCM. Even if enabled, the site can decide not to SCA activate an individual local contract.

SCA activation makes the contract data available to SCA, to Supply Analytics, and to other applications such as GHX, if used at the site.

In SCA, accepting a  contract is not relevant.

Local contracts accepted in SCM are automatically SCA price activated, if a site is set up for that.

SCA Price Activation writes contract data to other applications such as Supply Analytics.

In SCA, accepting a  contract is not relevant.

SCA Price Activation performs similar functions in that it writes contract data to other applications such as Supply Analytics.

Activating a contract in SCM makes the contract prices the purchasing prices for the contract items.

Activation flags the contract prices as current, and writes the prices to the site's local item master file. The contract items are available for purchase at the contract price from the date that the contract price is effective.

Both SCA and SCM use the term "activation," but meanings differ.

See SCA Price Activation.

Total spend for the product divided by the volume purchased.

One of several values that indicates how a contract was offered: as a single source contract, a multi-source contract, or a sole contract.

Multi – Contract for which there is more than one supplier.

Single – Contract for which there is only one supplier in the market or one willing supplier for a specific product or service.

Sole – Contract where there is more than one supplier but where a sole source agreement is in the best interests of the membership. A contract would be awarded to only one supplier in this product category.

B

A reference price or set of prices for supplies.

The reference prices ("benchmarks") are collected, summarized, and provided as a service by benchmarking companies.

In analyzing spend or in sourcing new items, medical centers usually want to compare current or proposed item prices (e.g., on an RFP) to benchmark prices. Both SCA and SCM provide this feature. Typically, prices can be compared to "high," "middle," and "low" benchmark equivalents.

C

SCM has an incentives feature that lets you define incentives and enter suppliers' incentive terms. SCM then calculated the incentives over time.

Incentive terms may occur in contract information sheets for SCM contracts. The Documents panel for a contract is a good place to to attach and look for an Information Sheet on a contract.

Case Mix Index (CMI) is a measure of the resources used in treating patients in each hospital or group of hospitals, and it is calculated for all patients discharged.

The Acute Adjusted Discharge (CMI-ADD) is a value that represents adjusted discharge data.

Members equate their spend trend data to CMI per Acute Adjusted Discharge (AAD), so they have a better idea of how many items are used once per discharge period at their acute facilities (or any facility that can take patients overnight).

An SCM term that is used in services contracts only to identify the type of services provided by the vendor and covered by the contract.

A Category is associated with the vendor entity.
Examples:
Vendor                     Category
Air Liquide                Medical Gases (bulk and                                  cylinder)
Cadbell Labs, Inc.    Reference Laboratory

An identifier associated with each materials system (MMIS) when a site has several materials systems. Each materials system is assigned its own catalog code.

Since manufacturers and items may be the same across the materials systems, each manufacturer item record and item catalog/inventory record displays the code for any materials system where its record exists.

The catalog number typically appears with the manufacturer number or item number in parentheses, in light gray; for example:

Item 91330 (MM456)   MM456 is the Catalog Code Thermometer Temp Incubator.

In SCA, Catalog refers to supplier catalogs. A Catalog is identified by the Contracted Catalog Number.

In SCM, the Catalog Code identifies the site's local item catalog. Large medical systems may have multiple item catalogs.

The  Catalog contains items available on -managed contracts, local contracts, and items in the site's local item master(s).

The percentage difference in an organization's compliance between the current time period (as chosen in the panel timeframe selector) and the prior time period.

If the Compliance Change value is positive, the relevant facilities are purchasing more items on a Premier contract than they were previously.

Supply contract: An agreement between a medical center and an item/product supplier (e.g., manufacturer). Supply contracts may be simple, or complex, with one, or many tiers; and may cover elements such as minimum purchase requirements, delivery terms and guarantees, incentives, etc.

Services contracts: Agreements between a medical center and a vendor who provides purchased services. A service -- for example equipment maintenance -- may also include supplies in the course of services, such as parts. But, the vendor's primary role is that of service provider, not product supplier.

In SCM, various types of contract tolerances can be set for contracts as the site looks forward to contract updates or new contract imports.

For example, SCM can be set to flag increases in contract prices larger than a set value -- or tolerance -- of, say two percent.

In SCM, the Contract Type is associated with a security level in services contracts only.

Contract Types and Security Levels are defined by sites. For example, a contract type "Photocopier Maintenance" might have a low security level allowing department managers access to the contract. Whereas "Physician Consulting" might have a higher security level, allowing only vice presidents access.

D

For SCM, one of the following descriptors if applicable for a vendor: Minority Vendor, Minority Vendor Certified, Preferred Status, Female Owned, Locally Owned, Small Business.

In SCA, a contract has a special status with regard to diversity. If a contract has a Diversity Type, one of the following descriptors applies: Minority Owned, Small Business, Women Owned, Veteran Owned.

E

A business that provides a hospital with supplies or services. An entity may be a vendor, distributor, or manufacturer.

For supply contracts, a Contract Entity is a corporate name for a manufacturer. Contract entities are regional/national companies, and are defined in the Product Index Layer.

Entities may have families of sub entities or "child" entities...companies or subsidiaries of the parent company.

For example, Novartis A.G. is a parent entity for suppliers such as Alcon Inc. and Gerber Products Company. The parent entity and its child entities are an "entity family."

A site may also have Local Entities (vendors or manufacturers) and these are defined in the site's own databases.

Note: The word "entity" has different uses in the  Catalog/SCA:

- This use, for manufacturer, vendor, and distributor "entities:" these are companies that supply products.
- A facility at a site. The Entity Code is a descriptor (in SCA) and refers to a location at a medical center, or to an entire site, depending on how the health care center is organized.

A facility at a site. The Entity Code is a descriptor in SCA (Supply Chain Analysis) and refers to a location at a medical center

or

A manufacturer, vendor, or distributor: a company that supplies products.

A local contract may contain items that do not match a hospital's item file records in every respect, or that have prices above/below limits set by the hospital. These are "exception" items.

Exceptions appear when a contract is imported; SCM generates exceptions during the matching process. In SCM, exceptions include:

• UOM errors: items whose unit of measure in the contract does not exist as a purchasing unit of measure in the item file/catalog record.
• Price exceptions: unactivated items whose prices on a new or updated contract are outside of a tolerance that the site has set.
• Contract exceptions: items that have been imported on a contract, but that are already activated on a different contract.

F

An organization at a medical center. The term facilities is another way of referencing the organizations, hospitals, or large units, that make up a medical center's structure.

Facilities may contain each other. Typically, the Top Parent facility is the highest in the hierarchy.

The Top Parent will have subdivisions -- other facilities --- that themselves may have child facilities. Here is an example:

Top Parent facility:
University of Winnipac Medical Center
child facilities:

- Children's Winnipac Hospital
- Women's Hospital at Beaver Creek
- Mulholland Cancer Center
  

 

Facilities are defined in SCA and in the  Facility module.

The term facility in SCM is used in assigning local contract eligibility to a site's organizations.

New facilities can be created in the  Facility module, and then assigned to local contracts in SCM.

Access to a contract for any user is also determined by the facilities associated with the user's role.

- In SCM and SCA, a collection of facilities (organizations) identified by the site as a unit.

The facility group assigned to the contract determines which organizations are eligible to use the contract.

In SCM, the default eligibility for a local contract is the Core Facility Group, which is defined at implementation. A different facility group can be assigned when a local contract in SCM is accepted.

Facility Groups can be created in the  Facility module, and represent the facilities tied to the same material management system.

Each facility group has a Facility Group ID and a Facility Group Name.

G

Group purchasing organization. An organization (such as ) owned by member hospitals or a hospital association that negotiates purchase agreements for supplies, drugs, food, services, capital equipment, and software.

GPOs usually achieve superior pricing by combining the purchasing volume of several hundred medical centers and either requiring or encouraging compliance.

Yes/No.

if Yes, a contract contains items identified by the supplier as environmentally preferred.

H

No terms.

I

When the current Default Tier on a  managed contract expires, Inactive appears next to the tier. The application continues to display the tier until a new tier activation message comes over from SCA.

Reimbursements from suppliers for purchases on contracts. Incentives may be compensation for services; for example, a manufacturer distribution incentive if the hospital distributes the manufacturer's items to multiple locations. Incentives can be rebates and sharebacks, loyalty incentives, and others.

In SCM, sites can define, set up, and apply different incentives based on the manufacturer's terms. An incentive may be a fixed dollar amount, or may be based on the hospital's percent of spend on a contract.

An incentive is a dollar amount or percent offered by a contract supplier that encourages purchase of items on the contract.

The incentive type is the reason why an incentive is offered by a supplier. For example, incentive types include rebates, administration charges, sharebacks, distribution charges, loyalty or utilization incentives, etc.

The  Catalog combines items from a site's contracts and from any local item catalogs at the site.

Note: This use of "catalog" is different from the SCA item supplier's catalog of items.
Similarly, it is different from the vendor's catalog in SCM and from the Catalog Code in SCM which refers to a particular local item catalog, for sites that have multiple local item catalogs.
See the discussion of Catalog and Catalog Code.

J

No terms.

K

No terms.

L

A business that has been defined in a medical center's database, whose data applies only to that medical center. Local entities may have contracts with the medical center.

In contrast, a contract entity (without "local") is typically a business of regional or national stature, for example, Johnson & Johnson, 3M, Stryker, and others.

No SCA equivalent.

M

An item in the site's local item catalog/item file that is matched with the same item on a contract.

“Match a contract” line means matching all of these: the manufacturer item number, UOM, and price.

The process involving all activities and functions related to the cycle of acquisition and use of materials. Broadly, this cycle may include production, packaging, purchasing, shipping, expediting, handling, receiving, warehousing, inventory control, distribution, invoicing, and making payments.

The abbreviation MMIS refers to a materials management information system that automates all or part of the process.  ERP is such a system. Other systems are provided by vendors such as Lawson, Oracle, and more.

Medical center MMIS systems use a subset of these activities to manage their supplies (typically, not involving production).

N

SCA does have the concept of "non-contract" items, which means either items purchased outside the window of their availability on a contract at a contract price, or items that were never on a contract

This concept in SCA, however, has more to do with analyzing spend, and is different from the idea of "non-contractible" as a descriptor on an item master record.

O

Those products which are currently on a price-activated contract with an effective date, at most, 60 days from the current date.

- If a contract is expiring within 30 days from today's date, then the data associated with it should no longer be considered "On Contract" unless the new contract has been price-activated.

- If the data will no longer be on a  contract, then it should be included with the "Not On Contract" data.

- If some facilities have activated the item's price, and others have not, for those others, the item is considered a "PA Opportunity" (price activation opportunity).

In SCM, similar, but not exactly the same metric.

The concept is used in price comparisons in SCM Projects.

In SCM, similar, but not exactly the same metric.

The concept is used in price comparisons in SCM Projects.

In SCM, similar, but not exactly the same metric.

The concept is used in price comparisons in SCM Projects.

In SCM, a top-level clinical, service, research, or administrative division within a medical center.

An organization can be an entire hospital in a large medical center, or a unit of a medical center; e.g., Med/Surg, Administration, Ambulatory Clinics, Cancer Center. An organization typically contains multiple departments.

P

PA Opportunity

(Price Activation Opportunity)

An item/product on an active contract, where the contract (or tier on the contract) has not yet been SCA price activated.

Note that a contract is not considered to be SCA price-activated until the contract has been signed, approved, and completed within SCA.

One or more values that abbreviate the unit(s) of measure (and conversion factors) for an item. Example: 1CA/10BX/100EA.

Some panels also display a Pkg UOM which is a unit of measure in the packaging string on which the product price is based; for example, BOX.

A site's MMIS item catalog entry for a product may list several units of measure (and their conversion factors) depending on whether the item is being purchased or issued.

For example, band-aids might be purchased on a contract as a case of 25 boxes. Each box may contain 100. The average cost may be based on 1 each.

In this case, the MMIS may show all three values: CA(100), BX(25), EA(1). SCM would focus on the units of measure for purchasing.

In Premier ERP, the value EA (1) for the item above is called the lowest unit of measure.

In SCA, a contract that is controlled by a parent facility, and used by the facilities under the parent, and lower in the hierarchy (i.e., "child facilities." See Facility and Direct Parent.)

IN SCM, a "parent-managed" contract originates in SCA and is activated there. Sites may also have "local" contracts, which are non-Premier contracts, and are not parent managed. Contracts from other GPOs (e.g., Vizient) are considered as "local."

Parent-managed contracts are synced between SCM and SCA.

-managed contracts are those contracts offered to  members. Prefixes for  contracts contain the following letter combinations: PP, FA, GB, GS, PS, AS, EB, RS, IC, SD, SP-, IN-, PIMS, or GH.

 contracts are created in Supply Chain Advisor (SCA) and synced with Sourcing and Contract Management (SCM). The sync process uploads new  SCA contracts to SCM, and synchronizes SCA updates of existing contracts in SCM. Synchronization runs nightly.

A -managed contract containing a tier negotiated and established by a member is still considered  managed.

In contrast to -managed contracts are "local" contracts ("NPC" contracts in SCA).

Sites may upload local contracts directly into SCM. See the discussion in the Integrated Platform topic.

The year preceding the year that you select for displaying data in SCA.

So, for example, if you select the three months of March 2018, April 2018, and May 2018, your prior time period is the same three months from the year before: March 2017, April 2017, and May 2017.

For  members, when a local contract is uploaded to SCM and accepted, automatic SCA price activation makes its data accessible to other applications, such as SCA, Supply Analytics, and GHX.

Automatic SCA price activation must be enabled for a site.

No exact equivalent in SCM. See the discussion of accepting a contract.

See SCA Price Activation.

Activating prices in SCM is different from SCA Price Activation.

In SCM, activating contract prices writes the prices to the item master file so that they are available for purchase.

In SCA, "SCA price activation" captures the member-supplier agreement on tier pricing in SCA and makes contract prices and spend data available to Supply Analytics, and other applications.

A change in a contract item's price initiated either by the contracting GPO or by a user in the site's MMIS.

Price changes -- which are different from price exceptions -- occur in SCM when...

• A user changes the price of an activated contract item in the item vendor record. This type of price change is user-initiated.
• An updated GPO contract changes the price of an activated item, and the new price is outside of a tolerance that the site sets.

A  contract attribute available on the contract Information Sheet. Outlines the buyer's rights to inspect items purchased on the contract, and to return them.

For example, if items arrive damaged, the buyer may have a specified period of time (e.g., 10 days) to check the items for breakage and return them for payment credit. Also may simply be labeled "Acceptance."

In SCM, a cross-referenced index of item records by manufacturer, MIN, vendor, and VIN that allows items on contracts and in the site's local item catalog to be matched without intensive data cleansing.

The Product Index Layer uses manufacturer and vendor entities to identify items by MIN (manufacturer item numbers) and VIN (vendor item numbers) in a standard way.

Associating a vendor or manufacturer location with the overall corporate name -- entity -- registers the vendor or manufacturer. Once registered, a vendor's or manufacturer's supply or services spend is available for display and analysis.

Q

R

A dollar amount offered by a contract supplier that incentives the purchase of items on the contract.

Contracts have a field Rebate Available - Yes/No.

SCM uses several item identifiers, depending on the application area. Manufacturer Item Number (MIN) - the manufacturer's identifier for the item. This value may also be the Catalog Number in SCA and in the  Catalog.

Vendor Item Number (VIN) - the vendor's identifier for an item in its catalog.

Item Number - the identifier for the item in the site's local MMIS item catalog."

S

Savings associated with an accepted or activated contract. On the contract, the savings may come from:

- matched file items

- activated file items

- matched non-file items.

Calculated as: (Pre-Contract Price * Comparable Qty) - (ComparableSpend)

Contract savings is computed from the contract start date or activate date (whichever is later) until the contract end or extension date.

Supply Chain Advisor - A  contract repository for member contracts. Several activities are available such as searching and SCA price activation.

SCA may also contain local ("NPC") contracts for sites that do not use the Integrated Platform.

SCA price activation for -managed contracts captures the member-supplier agreement on tier pricing in the SCA application, and makes contract data available to other applications, such as Supply Analytics.

When a local contract is accepted in SCM, it is automatically SCA price activated to write its data to SCA and other applications the site may use (if the site is enabled for auto SCA price activation).

In the Catalog, the location from which the product data was derived. Sources include:

 - the product is from a  contract and is in the  Item Master (PIM).

SCM - The product is either in the ERP item catalog/master file for the site; or is not in the item catalog, but is in an SCM contract.

Actual invoiced dollars from the previous number of months as specified by the user (default = 12 months).

Spend is a "rolling" measure: as a month is completed, the spend values change.

The SCM Spend Workbench and the Projects features provide sites the capability to work with spend.

Spend data is imported into SCM automatically from ERP Materials Management, for sites who have that as their MMIS system.

For sites with a different MMIS, spend data is automatically imported into SCM via connectors with the site's MMIS system.

See the discussion of Total Spend.

Indicates the state of the products purchased at the time of the transaction.

On Contract Spend - The products purchased are on a  , local, and regional contract. Products categorized as On Contract are included in a completed price activation, fully executed paper member designation form (PMDF). Or, a PMDF is not required to access base pricing for products to fall into this category.

Off Contract Spend - The products purchased did not utilize a contract and a functional equivalent is available on a contract.

Non Contract Spend - The products purchased did not utilize a contact and no functional equivalent is available on a contract.

On Contract Spend (PA Op) - The products purchased are on a  contract that does not have a completed price activation or a fully executed PMDF.

Categorized Spend - The products purchased are in the data cleansing review process.

T

A change in spend between the current time period and the prior time period. This value is displayed on some panels of the  Spend Dashboard.

To calculate, add: pricing changes, volume changes, and the spend for new products purchased in the current period but not purchased in the prior period. From that sum, subtract the spend for products purchased in the prior period but not purchased in the current period.

Several features in SCM calculate and display spend deltas for different parameters; e.g.:

- The Incentives feature calculates current spend compared to a threshold amount that earns an incentive, and displays the delta.

- Tier thresholds can be set to calculate spend deltas between current spend and amount of spend needed to use the next tier's pricing. See the discussion of Variance.

Total Spend=Unmatched Spend + Matched Spend + Activated Spend

or
Total Spend = On-contract Spend + Off-contract Spend

or
Total Spend = File Spend + Non-File Spend

U

The United Nations Standard Products and Services Code® (UNSPSC®) is a hierarchical set of codes used to classify all products and services.

An UNSPSC code provides multiple, layered categories for identifying goods and services.

Each code has four levels of classification: segment, family, class, and commodity. Two digits are available for each level.

(The UNSPSC web site http://www.unspsc.org provides more information about the codeset.)

The package category in which an item is priced (issued, and inventoried). For example, "Each," "Box," "Case," "Roll," "Bottle," etc.

The purchase UOM on the contract may be different from the UOM used to issue the item. For example, Band-Aids might be priced and purchased by the case, but issued by the box.

Items in a site's local item catalog typically have a lowest unit of measure; for example: each.

V

The difference between the total spend from the current time period and the total spend from the prior time period. The formula is:

Variance=Total Spend - Previous Period/Previous Year Spend

W

No terms.

X

No terms.

Y

No terms.

Z

No terms.