Transforming procurement: Rush University Medical System’s success with Agiloft CLM

Rush University Medical Center, known for its excellence in patient care, education, and research, faced a significant roadblock in one of its core operational areas — procurement. The institution, comprising multiple medical centers and outpatient facilities, had long struggled with an inconsistent procure-to-pay process. This lack of cohesion led to poor contract tracking, extended approval times, and unnecessary costs.

With services spanning different hospitals and healthcare units, Rush’s decentralized procurement process made it difficult to ensure contracts were consistently stored and properly reviewed. The absence of a streamlined system resulted in various operational inefficiencies that threatened the organization’s ability to manage budgets effectively and control expenses.

However, by adopting Agiloft’s contract lifecycle management (CLM) system, Rush was able to overhaul its procurement processes, improving visibility, cutting down processing times, and significantly boosting efficiency.

Identifying the challenges

Rush’s procurement issues stemmed from a lack of centralized oversight and inconsistent procedures across departments. This fragmented approach resulted in contracts being poorly managed—or bypassed entirely—introducing financial risks and operational bottlenecks. Unfortunately, this challenge is not unique to Rush. In fact, 71% of companies are unable to locate at least 10% of their contracts, according to The Journal of Contract Management. This widespread issue highlights the critical need for better contract visibility and streamlined processes across organizations.

Among the key challenges were:

• Inconsistent procedures: Departments operated independently, resulting in contracts often being initiated without proper review or documentation. Employees circumvented the formal procurement process, signing agreements without legal oversight.
• Delayed contract approvals: In some cases, contracts could take up to 200 days for approval. The sluggish process drove frustration across departments, pushing staff to bypass formal procedures to expedite urgent agreements.
• Limited contract visibility: Without a unified tracking system, Rush struggled to reconcile contracts with budgets, making it difficult to forecast financial commitments accurately. This lack of visibility increased the risk of overspending and mismanagement.
• Overwhelmed legal team: The legal department, responsible for reviewing and approving contracts, was inundated with requests. With no prioritization mechanism in place, legal staff faced an unmanageable volume of contracts, preventing them from focusing on higher-risk or high-value agreements.

An external audit brought these issues to light, confirming the negative impact the decentralized process had on the organization’s efficiency and financial health. Rush realized that continuing down this path posed a threat to their ability to manage procurement effectively.

Dustin Slodov, AVP of Procurement and Systems at Rush University, reflected on the situation, stating, “We needed to move away from that loose system of controls and bad tracking.”

The solution: A modern, data-first CLM platform

Recognizing the urgency for change, Rush decided to overhaul its procurement process by leveraging Agiloft’s CLM platform. Unlike many organizations starting from scratch, Rush already had a contract management solution in place. However, the existing system was outdated, rigid, and unable to adapt to the evolving needs of the institution.

The procurement team took the lead in transforming the system, realizing that the key to solving the problem lay not just in legal oversight but in establishing a standardized, scalable process across the organization.

The implementation involved several critical steps:

1. Standardized contract review metrics: Rush introduced metrics to determine whether contracts needed legal review or could be managed by procurement and their team of paralegals. This step helped reduce the burden on legal staff by filtering simpler contracts directly to procurement.
2. ERP integration for seamless management: Agiloft was integrated with Rush’s core ERP system, enabling contracts to be directly associated with vendor records. This integration allowed purchase orders (POs) to be automatically linked to contracts, simplifying audits and ensuring compliance.
3. Training and process alignment: Employees across departments were trained to follow standardized procedures for submitting contract requests. These requests were then automatically routed to the appropriate team for review and approval, ensuring consistency and reducing errors.

The flexibility of Agiloft’s platform played a critical role in the success of the rollout. “It’s modular. You can just do a lot with it… if you have a passable understanding of how to manage a no-code system, you can translate how your business needs need to work using this tool pretty well,” Slodov said.

How CLM software transformed Rush’s procurement processes

The results of implementing Agiloft’s industry-leading CLM platform were immediate and impactful:

• Accelerated contract approvals: The average contract approval time dropped from 70 days to just 30. High-volume contracts could now be processed in as little as 18 days.
• Greater contract visibility and tracking: The number of contracts processed each month nearly doubled. This boost in visibility allowed Rush to manage budgets more effectively and forecast spending with greater accuracy.
• Reduced off-process payments: Payments to vendors that bypassed the formal procure-to-pay process decreased by an impressive 80%, reflecting greater adherence to procurement protocols.
• Optimized legal workload: With a streamlined system in place, the legal team could now prioritize high-risk and complex contracts, reducing their workload by two-thirds. Simple, lower-risk contracts were managed by procurement and paralegals.

Additionally, Agiloft’s AI-driven assignment system ensured that contracts were automatically routed to the right review teams based on pre-established rules, further expediting the approval process. Employees found the system intuitive and began relying on it for contract submissions, significantly curbing the tendency to bypass formal procedures.

Building flexibility for the future

One of the standout features of Agiloft’s solution is its adaptability. Unlike Rush’s previous, rigid system, Agiloft empowered non-programmer staff to adjust workflows and update processes as needed. This no-code functionality enabled Rush to remain agile, adapting to new operational needs without costly and time-consuming vendor involvement.

“For a distributed organization, Agiloft is providing an invaluable example of how to support different employee groups with a consistent solution that can save time and money,” Slodov noted.

The ability to pivot and make changes post-implementation proved essential in maintaining adoption and effectiveness across Rush’s multiple hospital sites and outpatient facilities.

Conclusion

Rush University Medical System’s successful procurement transformation illustrates the power of a well-implemented contract lifecycle management system. By addressing inefficiencies head-on and choosing a flexible, data-driven solution like Agiloft, Rush significantly improved operational efficiency, reduced costs, and enhanced budget visibility.

Their experience serves as a compelling example of how technology, when implemented strategically, can drive meaningful improvements across large, complex organizations. For healthcare institutions and beyond, Rush’s story highlights that with the right tools and processes, procurement challenges can be turned into opportunities for innovation and growth.

Want to dive deeper into how Rush transformed their procurement processes with CLM? Read the full case study to see how Agiloft helped Rush University Medical Center achieve faster contract approvals, greater compliance, and optimized legal workflows.