Since opening in 1951 to fill a void in the region’s healthcare, Buena Vista Regional Medical Center, a 25-bed critical access hospital, serves the health care needs of Buena Vista County and surrounding communities. The small public hospital has repeatedly adapted to meet the communities’ changing healthcare needs. Today it includes 23 specialty clinics and offers more than 80 inpatient and outpatient services, from emergency and cancer care to rehabilitation and mental health services.
Ahead of the curve.
Smaller hospitals like Buena Vista can also be nimble, making it possible for them to respond to time- and money-saving opportunities faster than many larger institutions. Nearly 20 years ago, for example, Buena Vista was among the first Commerce Bank customers to embrace the idea of paying bills electronically.
Long before most hospitals had made the switch, Buena Vista’s Accounts Payable (AP) Department had replaced some paper checks with the CommercePayments® AP Card, a virtual one-time-use credit card. Commerce enrolled vendors interested in online payments on the hospital’s behalf, with Buena Vista earning a revenue share on every transaction.
In the years since, Buena Vista also helped forge a path for other hospitals when it worked with Commerce to automate its invoice system. It was an early adopter of purchasing cards and merchant services as well.
Automating manual processes.
In addition to creating new revenue streams and reducing overhead costs, the changes dramatically improved the efficiency of the department’s three-person staff, enabling them to focus on high-priority, high-value projects, according to Cheryl Weber, Buena Vista’s AP Specialist.
“We process 100 or more invoices a week — as many as 500 a month,” noted Weber. “Before, our team entered the invoices into our system and sent them to managers for approval. Some would get lost, and staff would need to spend time tracking them down.”
With CommercePayments® AP Invoice Automation, Buena Vista now digitizes its invoices and integrates them directly into its accounting workflow.
“This is the first organization I’ve worked for that automated the AP function,” said Weber. “It makes everyone’s job easier. I can get the history of an invoice without leaving my desk. All the information is right there.”
When it’s time to send payments, Buena Vista transmits funds to CommercePayments®, which disperses them using the vender’s preferred method of payment: virtual card or ACH. An additional 300 or more purchases are paid online by AP staff using Commerce Bank purchasing cards.
A smooth ERP system conversion.
All these CommmercePayments® solutions were in place in 2021 when the hospital decided to integrate its AP function into a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system in 2021. Weber had been through ERP conversions at other organizations before joining Buena Vista. So she knew what hiccups might be possible when transferring vendor information and making sure invoices would be paid correctly and without disruption.
She said she was pleasantly surprised by the result. “We’ve now got a more streamlined approval process that is very user friendly,” Weber said. “Compared to other conversions, this was a breeze.”
Weekly implementation meetings led by Commerce laid out the step-by-step conversion process. “Commerce gave us the opportunity to practice uploading and approving invoices in a test environment,” said Weber. “That was so helpful.”
Having an account team at her disposal also proved invaluable. “When we have questions, one or the other will get back to us with answers within 24 hours,” she said. “Commerce is great. They give us all the attention we need.”
Despite Buena Vista’s embrace of automation, a high level of personal attention and care remains central to its mission. “The first time a patient comes in, our staff doesn’t just point them in the direction of their appointment,” explained Weber. “We walk them to where they need to go.”
In Commerce Bank, she has found payments professionals who do the same.
CommercePayments® solutions are provided by Commerce Bank.