Purchasing Buyer-Procurement Specialist - Purchasing

Lakeland Regional Health is a leading medical center located in Central Florida. With a legacy spanning over a century, we have been dedicated to serving our community with excellence in healthcare. As the only designated Level 1 Trauma Center for Polk, Highlands, and Hardee counties, and the second busiest Emergency Department in the US, we are committed to providing high-quality care to our diverse patient population. Our facility is licensed for 910 beds and handles over 200,000 emergency room visits annually, along with 49,000 inpatient admissions, 21,000 surgical cases, 4,000 births, and 101,000 outpatient visits.

Buyer/Procurement Specialist is responsible for creating and sending purchase orders to suppliers in alignment with LRH Procedures. Responsible for acting on exceptions to supplier orders, deliveries and invoices. Resolves and escalates issues related to supplier’s performance, supply shortage, quality or cost. Communicates with internal and external customers in a timely manner to expedite, source, and receive supplies and inventory.

People At The Heart Of All We Do

• Fosters an inclusive and engaged environment through teamwork and collaboration.
• Ensures patients and families have the best possible experiences across the continuum of care.
• Communicates appropriately with patients, families, team members, and our community in a manner that treasures all people as uniquely created.

• Behaves in a mindful manner focused on self, patient, visitor, and team safety.
• Demonstrates accountability and commitment to quality work.
• Participates actively in process improvement and adoption of standard work.

• Demonstrates responsible use of LRH's resources including people, finances, equipment and facilities.
• Knows and adheres to organizational and department policies and procedures.

• Initiates routine purchase orders for stock and non-stock supplies, equipment and services in the MMIS within 1 business day of receipt in accordance with LRH policies and standard work scripts. Ensures all procured items meet the required quality standards and specifications taking into account demand price, GPO requirements and inventory objectives.
• Assists in maintaining MMIS database integrity, including correct pricing on item files, normalizing product description information, reviewing of non-contracted purchases, validating unit of measure issues and resolving any discrepancies related to vendor purchase orders. Reviews all product information for accuracy, completeness and consistency prior to issuing purchase order.
• Coordinates and provides follow-up to departmental staff members regarding late orders, material outages, back orders based on lead times and inventory requirements. Problems solves item shortages and works with distributor and/or departments to procure substitute items. Effectively communicates to end-user departments in a timely, professional, consistent manner via email or phone information on backorders, price issues, receiving issues, etc. Provide departmental support by generating detailed reports for special orders by cost center, as well as reports outlining supply purchases.
• Reviews all non-contracted, special item purchases for compliance with GPO and contract spend. Processes new item adds to MMIS database via spreadsheet in accordance with LRH policy and procedures.
• Resolves all Infor and Info invoice discrepancies concerning pricing and packaging issues in a timely manner. Ensures item costing is fair and reasonable as well as validating invoice unit of measures.
• Monitors Purchase order acknowledgements throughout the day to ensure purchase orders are transmitted to the correct vendor and purchase from, and to verify any unit of measure discrepancies. Utilizes GHX to verify order exceptions
• Sources products and supplies by evaluating competitive quotes/bids considering cost of items, delivery time and most economical quantity of item to be purchased according to LRH policy. Researches, evaluates and clarifies vendor specifications to assist departmental staff in selecting or recommending product to meet LRH patient needs. Support departments with the setup and ordering of custom materials, including business cards and address stamps. Coordinate with new locations to establish and implement custom office stationery requirements.
• Processes new vendors add request in accordance with LRH Policy and Lawson Scripts. Contacts vendors to discuss pricing issues, vendor performance issues, request samples, quotes, bids or other product documentation.
• Reviews MMIS Operational reports and spreadsheets weekly and takes action to resolve outstanding issues included but not limited to Open Back Order report, Distributor Forecasting report, and Proactive Backorder Reports.
• Monitors, reviews and orders rental specialty equipment and beds as need for patient care according to LRH policy.

Essential:

• Excellent customer service and interpersonal skills interacting with all levels of the organization.
• Possess Intermediate MS Office and Excel Skills
• Strong organizational and planning skills with attention to detail and ability to maintain accurate records.
• Computer literacy skills to operate in several applications at once

• GPO contract knowledge preferred
• Experience with Lawson/Infor Materials Management Information System.
• Hospital purchasing experience preferred

Essential:

• High School or Equivalent

Essential:

• Preferred: Business or related field

Other information:
Experience Essential:
-1 year experience in Supply Chain or Finance environment
Experience Preferred:
- 2 years’ experience in hospital or healthcare environment
-Experience in medical products or supply chain management processes; Working knowledge of healthcare supply chain, POs, financial and non-financial healthcare measures
Certifications Preferred:
-CMRP