The medical supply market had never been too much of an issue or a concern until COVID came along. A market that was largely ignored and allowed to continue with antiquated processes could not keep up and became the forefront in healthcare supply distribution concerns. These supply distribution concerns impacted the world heavily when COVID came along. The lack of medical supplies and equipment availability left patients and staff exposed to illness or perhaps even death. It was only then that medical supply chains were exposed for fraud, abuse, and waste. The system was frail and failing fast when the world needed the most supplies.
Then came along the Seattle-based health tech startup, bttn, a next generation healthcare distributor who has redesigned the medical supply market through faster distribution, big data insights, pricing transparency, and incredible customer service. All while providing the same brand name medical supply products with increased pricing transparency for procurement teams. They do all of this while also providing healthcare customers with better supply cost savings too – often a 20-40% reduction on their supply bills. These high value changes for healthcare professionals allowed bttn to add more than seven thousand customers in their first year online! bttn serves healthcare providers across the United States and Mexico and have partnerships with dozens of top-rated suppliers, distributors, and manufacturers. Customers order their supplies online through bttn, and they help facilitate the entire ordering & fulfillment process with ease.
The business model bttn uses runs very light – they don’t carry any inventory or warehousing. Instead, they rely on distribution networks and delivery methods of their supply chain partners. They have many clients, such as large healthcare providers and smaller doctors’ practices. Their purchasing methods vary from using credit cards to the more traditional method of purchase orders with 30/60/90 net terms. Their services are integrated with the healthcare industry as a whole and partner with nationwide and worldwide manufacturers and even some group purchasing programs.
bttn works to reinforce the weak spots in the healthcare supply chain. Some have said bttn disrupts the supply chain, however they prefer not to use that term. The front end of medical care successfully transitioned in most cases to virtual appointments and more. However, it was time to improve the back end and address the entire system holistically. And this is where bttn is exceling.
The healthcare system is highly complex, and with a recent $20M Series A investment in bttn, their team can continue to build their state-of-the-art healthcare supply purchasing platform with the vision to continually reduce medical supply costs, improve client satisfaction, efficiencies, capabilities, and more. They have significantly impacted the medical supply chain since going to market in March 2021. Many industries have craved and required transparency over the last decade, but largely healthcare has not had to offer transparency. Through their innovative practices, bttn focuses on transparency, which will lead to patient cost savings in the long term.
Even post-pandemic, the standard healthcare supply chain is still struggling to meet the needs of healthcare facilities and practices. At the same time, bttn has been able to meet their needs promptly with greater transparency. Patients still need medical care, and bttn is playing a crucial part in ensuring no supply concerns are disrupting their level of care.
Alton Clarke was born and raised in Syracuse. He has written for MSNBC, The Business Insider and Passport Magazine. In regards to academics, Alton earned a degree from St. John’s University. Alton covers entertainment and culture stories here at Diving daily.
