Member Spotlight: Miller-Keystone Blood Center

Medical Plastics

The Situation: In the past, Miller-Keystone Blood Center relied on ABC group purchasing for their medical plastics needs. “After GSABC became independent, we decided to continue our group purchasing from GSABC,” said Matthew Byrnes, Miller-Keystone's Manager for Purchasing and Facilities.

“Total price was an important factor in going with GSABC, but we were also impressed with the way that GSABC unites independent blood centers and gives them one voice,” added Byrnes.

The Solution: While Miller-Keystone could calculate the bottom line savings of access to quality plastics contracts from choosing GSABC, one of the more difficult things to measure are the returns on investment from the less transparent value added services offered by GSABC.

“Every contract has room for improvement,” said Byrnes, “And what makes GSABC unique is their ability to listen to and understand our concerns. When there have been areas that we feel could be improved upon, GSABC listened to us and has taken steps to make changes based on our concerns.”

The Outcome: “Membership in GSABC goes beyond saving a dollar on a blood bag - they're looking beyond that to serve us in other ways,” said Byrnes, citing the renegotiation of contracts as well as programs being developed by GSABC as evidence that the young organization is growing in the right direction.

About Miller-Keystone Blood Center: Miller-Keystone Blood Center is the supplier of blood products serving acute and tertiary care hospitals in the eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey area and is a supplemental supplier to other hospitals through the GSABC resource sharing program.  The blood center also provides donor testing services for other blood collection facilities in the US.