Behind the Scenes: How Valify’s Benchmarking Works

Healthcare organizations are under constant pressure to reduce costs, improve operational efficiency, and make smarter sourcing decisions. Yet benchmarking purchased services has traditionally been difficult due to fragmented data, inconsistent categorization, and limited market transparency.

Valify has changed that. By leveraging more than $1 trillion in categorized spend data across over 1,400 purchased services categories, Valify enables healthcare leaders to compare costs, contract terms, supplier utilization, and performance metrics against meaningful peer groups. The result is actionable intelligence that helps organizations uncover savings opportunities, negotiate with confidence, and optimize supplier strategies.

In this blog, we’ll explore how Valify’s benchmarking capabilities work, what makes its approach different, and why healthcare organizations rely on Valify to make better purchasing decisions.

Benchmarking is one of the most effective ways for healthcare organizations to evaluate whether they are receiving competitive pricing and optimal value from their purchased services vendors. However, not all benchmarks are created equal.

Traditional benchmarking often relies on limited datasets, broad industry averages, or generalized market assumptions that fail to account for important organizational differences. As a result, healthcare leaders may struggle to determine whether they are truly overpaying or simply operating under different circumstances than their peers.

Valify addresses this challenge through a multi-layered benchmarking approach that combines market intelligence, normalized spend data, peer-group analysis, contract reviews, and category-specific expertise. Whether organizations need a quick directional assessment or a deep strategic analysis, Valify provides benchmarking solutions that help turn data into action.

The Foundation of Valify’s Benchmarking Data

Accurate benchmarking starts with reliable data.

Valify’s benchmarking capabilities are built upon one of the industry’s largest repositories of purchased services intelligence, providing visibility into more than $1 trillion total categorized spend across 1,400+ purchased services categories.

The foundation of this intelligence is Valify’s normalized categorization process. Rather than relying on inconsistent supplier naming conventions or disparate accounting structures, Valify organizes spend into standardized categories that allow for meaningful comparisons across healthcare organizations.

This normalized framework powers several benchmarking capabilities:

Category Market Share

Category Market Share provides visibility into supplier utilization and spending patterns across the healthcare market.

Organizations can:

• Explore supplier market share within specific categories
• Identify alternative suppliers during sourcing initiatives
• Analyze supplier adoption trends
• Drill down into regional and geographic markets
• Understand which suppliers peer organizations are using

This capability is particularly valuable when preparing for an RFI, RFP, supplier evaluation, or contract renewal.

KPI Benchmarking

KPI Benchmarking uses standardized denominators such as:

• Adjusted Patient Days (APD)
• Staffed Beds
• Square Footage
• Other operational metrics

These benchmarks enable healthcare organizations to compare spending efficiency against peers and quickly identify potential outliers.

With benchmark visibility across more than 1,400 categories, users can rapidly uncover areas deserving further investigation and prioritize strategic sourcing opportunities.

How PinPoint Benchmarks Are Built

While broad benchmarking provides strategic direction, organizations often require deeper analysis when a contract is approaching renewal or a sourcing decision must be made quickly.

This is where PinPoint Benchmarking comes into play.

PinPoint Benchmarking is Valify’s request-driven benchmarking service designed to answer specific questions about categories, suppliers, pricing, and contract performance.

Unlike generic benchmark reports, PinPoint Benchmarks draw from multiple sources of market intelligence, including:

• Previously completed benchmark reports
• Power Benchmark studies
• Valify’s Subject Matter Expert Network
• GPO contract portfolio intelligence
• Member feedback and market observations
• Historical category-specific research

By combining these inputs, Valify develops a benchmark that reflects real-world market conditions rather than theoretical averages.

What a PinPoint Benchmark Includes

A typical PinPoint Benchmark evaluation may include:

• Contract status analysis
• Notice period assessment
• Termination language review
• Co-terminous opportunity identification
• Invoice pricing comparisons
• Market price ranges and averages
• Peer-group comparisons
• Supplier performance observations
• Patient and staff satisfaction considerations

The result is a practical benchmark that helps organizations understand:

• Whether pricing is competitive
• How contract terms compare to the market
• Where negotiation leverage exists
• Potential savings opportunities
• Strategic sourcing alternatives

Because these benchmarks are based on actual healthcare purchased services market intelligence, organizations receive guidance that is highly relevant to current purchasing decisions.

Why Peer Grouping Produces Better Benchmarks

One of the biggest flaws in traditional benchmarking is comparing organizations that have very little in common.

A regional community hospital should not necessarily be compared to a large academic medical center. Likewise, a multi-state health system may face different operating realities than a standalone facility.

Valify addresses this challenge through peer-group-based analysis.

Instead of relying solely on broad market averages, Valify allows organizations to compare themselves against healthcare providers with similar characteristics, such as:

• Facility size
• Geographic market
• Operational scale
• CMS-related metrics
• Utilization patterns
• Service requirements

This approach produces more meaningful benchmarks because it reflects the realities of organizations operating under similar circumstances.

Benefits of Peer-Based Benchmarking

Peer grouping helps organizations:

• Eliminate misleading comparisons
• Identify true pricing discrepancies
• Better understand supplier market adoption
• Create realistic savings targets
• Build stronger sourcing strategies

When healthcare leaders can see how they compare against organizations that genuinely resemble their own, decision-making becomes significantly more accurate.

How Valify’s Benchmarking Supports Better Decision Making

Benchmarking is only valuable if it drives action.

Valify’s benchmarking solutions are designed to help healthcare organizations move beyond analysis and toward measurable financial outcomes.

Identifying Hidden Savings Opportunities

Many purchased service categories suffer from limited transparency and outdated pricing structures.

Valify helps organizations uncover opportunities where:

• Pricing has drifted above market levels
• Long-standing supplier relationships have not been challenged
• Contract terms create unnecessary risk
• Category strategies have not evolved with market conditions

In many cases, benchmarking reveals opportunities that would otherwise remain hidden.

Strengthening Contract Negotiations

One of the most common uses for benchmarking is preparing for contract renewals.

Valify helps organizations enter negotiations with:

• Market-backed pricing intelligence
• Supplier comparison data
• Defined opportunity ranges
• Contract term insights
• Category-level strategic recommendations

This transforms negotiations from reactive discussions into informed strategic conversations.

Supporting Proactive Sourcing Strategies

Valify’s Power Benchmarking program takes a proactive approach by identifying categories for deeper review based on:

• Market trends
• Client feedback
• Survey responses
• Common workplan priorities
• Emerging sourcing opportunities

Participants receive comprehensive reports that include:

• Category education
• Market observations
• Best practices
• Contract reviews
• Price comparisons

These insights help organizations continuously improve purchasing performance rather than waiting for issues to surface.

Aligning Stakeholders Around Data

Benchmarking often plays an important role in gaining alignment across supply chain, finance, operations, and executive leadership teams.

By providing objective market intelligence, Valify helps stakeholders:

• Validate sourcing initiatives
• Prioritize opportunities
• Build business cases
• Support negotiation strategies
• Make more confident decisions

The result is greater organizational alignment and faster execution.

Frequently Asked Question’s

What is healthcare purchased services benchmarking?

Purchased services benchmarking is the process of comparing vendor pricing, contract terms, operational metrics, and service performance against peer organizations or market standards to determine whether an organization is receiving competitive value.

What makes Valify’s benchmarking different?

Valify combines normalized spend data, peer-group comparisons, contract intelligence, market share visibility, subject matter expertise, and historical benchmark research to provide highly actionable insights for healthcare organizations.

What is PinPoint Benchmarking?

PinPoint Benchmarking is Valify’s request-based benchmarking service that provides detailed analysis of specific categories, suppliers, pricing structures, and contract terms to support sourcing and renewal decisions.

How does peer-group benchmarking improve accuracy?

Peer-group benchmarking compares organizations with similar characteristics such as size, geography, operational metrics, and utilization patterns, creating more relevant and meaningful comparisons than broad market averages.

What information is included in a PinPoint Benchmark?

A PinPoint Benchmark may include pricing comparisons, contract evaluations, notice period analysis, termination language reviews, supplier insights, peer comparisons, satisfaction considerations, and savings opportunity assessments.

How can benchmarking support contract negotiations?

Benchmarking provides market-backed pricing intelligence, identifies leverage points within contract terms, quantifies savings opportunities, and equips sourcing teams with data-driven insights that strengthen negotiation outcomes.

Can benchmarking be used beyond contract renewals?

Yes. Benchmarking can support supplier evaluations, strategic sourcing initiatives, RFP development, category planning, opportunity identification, and ongoing spend optimization efforts across purchased services categories.

How much does the US hospital market spend annually?

The US hospital market size is currently estimated to be between $1.6 trillion and $2.0 trillion annually.

Nicole Tidwell

I’m a storyteller who blends marketing insight with strategic thinking to bring ideas to life. My work spans healthcare, product and program development, and publishing—translating complex challenges into clear narratives and actionable solutions. As an advisor and facilitator, I help leaders uncover opportunities, align vision with execution, and drive meaningful impact at the intersection of creativity and strategy.