Major hospital rehabilitates paper-based accounts payable.

Major Hospital spent hours every week sorting mail, tracking down invoices across multiple locations, and printing checks to their vendors. With employees shuffling paper more than 40 hours a week, Major realized they needed a more efficient method. “We truly didn’t know how many invoices we had or where they were,” said Christie Dennett, Accounting Manager. The search began for an automated accounts payable solution that could reduce their reliance on paper and organize their daily workload.

As one of the most technologically advanced hospitals in the Midwest, Major Hospital was committed to finding efficiencies throughout their entire accounts payable department. After evaluating several solutions and providers in the marketplace, Major chose to continue their relationship with Commerce Bank, largely due to the success of their existing Purchasing Card and Accounts Payable programs. Through experience, they knew Commerce’s commitment to technology and personal service closely mirrored their own values.

Knowing Commerce Bank would provide the same hands-on service they had grown accustomed to, Major opted to completely overhaul their AP process to achieve complete automation with CommerceHealthcare^®. Once implemented, this end-to-end solution would automate the receipt, scanning, approval, and payment of their invoices.

CommerceHealthcare^® support teams managed the time-consuming aspects of implementation, including enrolling suppliers to receive electronic payments, educating suppliers on new invoice procedures, and training hospital staff on the online platform and new processes.

"The support teams are easy to work with and Commerce follows through on their commitments. The team they put together for implementation – the implementation specialist, the IT people, and the enrollers – really worked together to get everything accomplished."

Today, Major sends invoices to Commerce’s in-house Invoice Processing Center, which receives and scans an average of 575 invoices per month for the hospital, creating noticeable time and cost savings weekly. “It used to take me until 5:30 to get through the mail, now I’m done and working on other projects by 3:30 every day,” said Terri Muldoon, Accounting Associate.

Once the invoices are scanned, approvals are automated through an easy-to-use, web-based tool. “The technology behind the program has made the AP process more convenient for our managers,” shares Dennett, “Approvers can go online and finish approvals in a few minutes a week instead of dealing with physical invoices on their desks every day.” Managers run history reports and find past invoices from the comfort of their offices, instead of physically searching file cabinets in the AP office or storage facilities.

After invoices are approved, the Payment Hub facilitates card, ACH, and check payments to suppliers. Since CommerceHealthcare^® facilitates all payments from invoice receipt through payment, payment type doesn’t affect Major’s new efficiencies. Likewise, suppliers are pleased with the faster cycle times and dedicated support from Commerce payment specialists.

"At first, we were nervous about losing control over our invoices and relying on someone else to scan them for us, but the savings were immediate. It is everything that we expected."

Major Hospital has reaped hard and soft dollar savings and earns monthly revenue share on every virtual card payment made through the Payment Hub program. With electronic invoice, approval and payment workflows in place, savings and visibility have flourished for the entire organization. As the organization continues to grow, they anticipate adding many more payment options for their suppliers to maximize automation. They are most excited for the one thing that won’t grow with automation: offsite storage costs. “It’s going to save a lot of money,” said Dennett, “Because of this solution, our department never needs to buy another filing cabinet again!”