The truth is you need funds. And you need them now. COVID’s still launching variants, and the price you must pay to control outbreaks is mounting. Workers are burnt out and replacements are hard to find, PPE prices and availabilities are uncertain, and every new wave seems to change the rules.
You don’t have time to wait for increased aged care funding. You don’t have other revenue streams funneling cash. But you can mitigate outbreak costs, using secure supply partnerships and reliable, win-win relationships to keep infections subdued.
So, how can you work with your consumables supplier to manage costs and guarantee supply during outbreaks?
Use a Hygiene Consumables Contract to Prevent Extra Costs
Some of the heftiest prices paid during outbreaks come from urgently sourced extra supplies. To prevent these costs, you want confidence that your hygiene consumables supplier will prioritise your needs during times of trouble.
The best way to get that priority status? Put it in writing. Agree on a legally binding supply contract requiring your supplier to step up. If the contract’s formed the right way, it’ll also incentivise your supplier to help you curtail outbreaks.
Our contract process works like this:
- The site survey team figure out your normal usage of a range of products
- We agree to supply your needs, up to a standard capped amount, each month
- You agree to a ‘subscription’ payment every month based on your average usage
- We negotiate a market charge for any in-demand items
- Our install team gets everything at your site ready, and
- Your operations continue smoothly with us in the background.
By now you could be asking ‘How does this help me curb costs in an outbreak in my aged care facility? And how does this make a supplier invested in our infection control?’
Both good questions – let’s break them down.
How Do Hygiene Consumables Contracts Help Curb Costs in Aged Care Outbreaks?
During an aged care outbreak, your use of items like hand sanitiser, face protection, isolation gowns, and rapid antigen tests increases rapidly. These usage increases can lead to supply constraints and demand-inflated prices.
A hygiene consumables contract documents and seals the supplier’s promise of delivery and places agreed-upon limits on the cost to you.
With our subscription model, your average product usage is already accounted for. We hold these goods available in our warehouses for on-time delivery. Monthly variations in usage, beyond the regular allowance and up to the capped amount, are included under the subscription fee.
If you’re needing extra supply above the capped amount, you only have to pay current prices (or the product’s market charge) to cover our costs, and you have the assurance that we will prioritise your needs with incoming stock.
This supply assurance leads on to why a trusted partner will be invested in your infection control.
Why Would a Hygiene Consumables Contract Incentivise My Supplier to Help Manage Outbreak Costs?
Your assurance of supply rests on two factors that incentivise your supplier. First, the supplier’s job is made easier by early prioritisation – they can rapidly allocate stock to those who most need it. Second, under the subscription model, if a lack of supply contributes to an outbreak and increased usage, this incurs costs to the supplier.
That’s because of the monthly capped amount, where the subscription model benefits you most. If you use a moderate amount more of a product than the regular allowance, say during an outbreak, it is provided for under the subscription.
You might ask, ‘why would a supplier risk having to absorb these excess costs?’
Our hygiene audit and ongoing service can help surface infection control issues that impact our costs of doing business. With that risk mitigated, the subscription model allows us to optimize our relationship and still provide you with a safety net for any outbreak situations.
During this pandemic period, we’ve had to negotiate market charges for products with adverse supply issues, to maintain availability and manage price fluctuations even when supply conditions are rough.
Here’s an example of where it worked.
Cranbrook Care Case Study
Cranbrook Care, a four-site residential aged care group in the Greater Sydney region of New South Wales, was ahead of the game during the Omicron wave.
When Omicron cases began to spread in New South Wales, many aged care facilities were caught unprepared and suffered outbreaks. But because Cranbrook Care already had a consumables contract in place, they had priority access to high demand products.
Cranbrook Care requested 591 cartons of gloves, 49 cartons of overshoes and 627 cartons of other PPE to be held in our warehouses. We were also able to supply them with 1000 rapid antigen tests per week over 5 months.
As part of the contracted service, our team transported them straight to a secure storage location on each of their four sites and restocked when necessary.
Cranbrook Care’s contract was based on the subscription model, so they paid only their normal fee plus the agreed market charges for extra supply. Their contract meant they were free of the last-minute ring-around that many facilities faced when it became clear that there was a shortage.
Hygiene Consumables Contracts Really Do Mitigate Aged Care Outbreak Costs
In a day when nursing home groups appear to be the last to receive help, it seems risky to trust anyone.
But hygiene consumables contracts, when operated on a subscription model, really do work.
The right supply partner will help you limit the consumables budget overrun from another COVID outbreak, reduce the search for PPE to last you out the week, and help prevent your staff from succumbing to infections because they have inadequate protection.
Your partner will be there for you when a COVID, gastro, or norovirus outbreak happens. They’ll negotiate alternative supply lines, arrange for delivery, and manage extra stock for emergencies. And most importantly, your partner will have a financial incentive to help you prevent infections and quell any if they do appear.
You don’t have to wait for increased aged care funding at all. You can manage costs, by starting a relationship with a reliable supplier who will have your back.
And you can take the first step today.