In an era of increasing financial pressure, UK HealthCare (UKHC) has achieved impressive progress in reducing non-labor expenses through a coordinated strategy that blends analytics, process improvement and cross-functional collaboration.
Lorra Miracle, UK HealthCare assistant vice president, supply chain, and her team have long relied on the Vizient Supply Analytics platform to uncover savings opportunities. Still, data alone can only take you so far — and the expertise and national perspective that Kaufman Hall brought 15-month collaboration proved to be the differentiator.
“Our team uses analytics daily, but it’s always valuable to bring in partners who’ve seen hundreds of other systems,” Miracle said. “Their boots-on-the-ground experience helps us find both the big-dollar opportunities and the smaller quick wins.”
With Kaufman Hall’s support, UK HealthCare was able to move from identifying opportunities to executing them faster and more effectively — all powered by data and expertise. The partnership also helped educate staff and establish new business review processes that strengthened internal alignment and fostered consistent supplier engagement.
Alignment and collaboration lead to results
One of the most significant achievements of the collaboration is the successful integration of physicians into cost management and product standardization discussions. By engaging physician leaders early and presenting trusted, validated data, UK HealthCare was able to gather clinical buy-in that led to more collaborative meetings and improved decision making.
“Every time we evaluate a new product, we’re looking at both sides of the equation — its clinical efficacy and its financial impact,” UK HealthCare Vice President of Finance Jake Stover said. “You can’t have a productive discussion without having the right clinical and financial leaders at the table.”
Their effort paid off. The stronger engagement yielded notable financial outcomes across multiple spend categories:
- Orthopedic implants (hips and knees): UK HealthCare successfully renegotiated contracts to deliver substantial savings while maintaining strong relationships with suppliers and clinicians.
- Courier services: Through a rigorous RFP process, in collaboration with Kaufman Hall, UK HealthCare implemented a new courier agreement that improved service reliability and lowered costs — one of the smoothest transitions Miracle said she’d experienced in over two decades.
- Clinical and non-clinical purchased services: New review and accountability frameworks brought consistency and transparency to service agreements, improving both cost efficiency and operational performance.
These wins reflect a broader shift from transactional contracting to strategic partnership management. UK HealthCare now conducts regular business reviews with key suppliers to monitor performance, ensure continuous improvement and strengthen long-term relationships — a process Kaufman Hall helped establish.
A model for collaborative excellence
UK HealthCare’s non-labor expense strategy exemplifies how health systems can achieve sustainable financial improvement through collaboration, transparency and a long-term vision.
“Supply chain leaders should look at consultants a little differently, because they’re here to help us succeed,” Miracle said. “At UK HealthCare, we’ve seen that when you build trusted partnerships and use data to inform clinical alignment, you can identify savings opportunities and still do what matters most — and that’s delivering quality patient care.”
