Discount Management System (DMS) Guidance Notes Version 1.2 May 2015
Contents General Information...3 System messages...3 Document conventions...3 Glossary of terms and abbreviations...3 Icons used within the Discount Management Scheme...3 Overview of the Discount Management System...4 Accessing the system...4 Log out...5 Viewing Schemes...6 Subscribing to Schemes...7 Deciding whether to subscribe to a scheme...7 Applying to subscribe to a scheme...8 Reviewing Your Subscriptions... 11 Generating the signoff document... 11 Notification of subscriptions approaching their expiry date... 12 Monitoring Your Rebates... 13 Discount Management System (DMS): Guidance Notes (version 1.2) 2
General Information System messages System messages are shown towards the top of the web page. Confirmation messages are in green: Notification messages are in yellow: Information messages are in blue: Failure messages are in red: Document conventions Menu options, labels and links are all shown in bold. For example, in Click Save before leaving this page, Save is the text on a button. The screenshots in this document are taken from our test system. Any correlation with actual trusts, products and suppliers is coincidental. Glossary of terms and abbreviations Confederation DMS Scheme Subscriber Tier Trust A collection of trusts working together to maximise savings. These are not distinguished from groups or aggregations in terms of how the system works. Any confederation, aggregation or association must have a Department of Health code to use DMS. Discount Management System the application discussed in this document. A collection of products provided under a specific contract that are associated with a discount. A trust or confederation that has joined a particular discount scheme. Graded levels of discount based on increasing commitment. An individual organisation that may subscribe to schemes. In this document, this term is used to refer to CCGs and other organisations as well as trusts. Icons used within the Discount Management Scheme Download information in PDF format. Discount Management System (DMS): Guidance Notes (version 1.2) 3
Overview of the Discount Management System NHS Supply Chain negotiates discount schemes with suppliers on your behalf. You can identify schemes you want to join and subscribe to them using the Discount Management System web application. An individual trust can subscribe to a scheme, or you can join as part of a confederation. You cannot do both. When you join as part of a confederation, you share an overall group rebate with the amount allocated to your trust based on your purchases. Once subscribed, you can monitor your progress within a scheme (for example, identifying the quantity purchased to date when the commitment is to purchase a minimum quantity) and see the rebate you have earned. Accessing the system You access the Discount Management System through your web browser in the same way that you access other NHS Supply Chain applications. 1 Go to the NHS Supply Chain website (www.supplychain.nhs.uk). 2 Select the Savings tab, and then click Commitment discounts in the Helping you save list on the right of the page. Log in to start working with commitment discounts. 3 The application opens, showing the Available schemes page. For an explanation of the information on this page, see Viewing Schemes on page 6. For instructions on subscribing to a scheme, see Subscribing to Schemes on page 7. Discount Management System (DMS): Guidance Notes (version 1.2) 4
Overview of the Discount Management System The Terms of use associated with the use of the Discount Management System and subscription to schemes are available from the menu within the application once you have logged in. Log out To log out from the Discount Management System, click Sign Out from the top left corner of the web page. Discount Management System (DMS): Guidance Notes (version 1.2) 5
Viewing Schemes Viewing Schemes When you first log into the Discount Management System, a list of available schemes is shown. These are any schemes that are available for subscription and that you have not already subscribed to either as an individual trust or as part of a confederation. The information in the Subscriber type column indicates whether this scheme is available for subscription by individual trusts (Trust only), by confederation (Group only) or by all. This list may include schemes that you have not subscribed to because you are not eligible. You can return to this page at any time by clicking Scheme and then Available schemes in the blue menu bar. You can change the number of schemes shown per page and move to a different page of information. For each scheme, you can see the number of products in the scheme and how many of those products you purchase in the Purchased products / Scheme products column. You can also see the rebate you could receive by subscribing to the scheme in the Potential rebate column. Discounts can be of two types: those based on a percentage of the cost and those based on quantity. If there is some potential rebate the value is greater than 0.00 the values in the Purchased products / Scheme products column become a link to a spreadsheet showing how the rebate relates to individual products. Discount Management System (DMS): Guidance Notes (version 1.2) 6
Subscribing to Schemes Subscriber type indicates whether individual trusts, confederations or both can subscribe. Although the scheme may be listed as available, you can only subscribe if your account is linked to the appropriate type. Deciding whether to subscribe to a scheme To see scheme details, in the list of Available schemes (see Viewing Schemes on page 6), click either the Scheme name or the Potential rebate value. The page that opens is divided into four sections. The top section of the Scheme application page gives information about the scheme, including the minimum term of subscription, the discount type, how often a rebate is paid and when the contract ends. The next section of the page indicates the tiers (with their thresholds, rates and any fixed term requirements) that are associated with this scheme. The third section of the Scheme application page shows the products that are associated with this scheme. There may be several pages of products in the example below, there are 48 products, the Page size is set to 100 products and there are 5 pages of product information. Discount Management System (DMS): Guidance Notes (version 1.2) 7
Subscribing to Schemes The final section shows the trusts that you can subscribe to the scheme. To download the scheme details, click Download PDF at the bottom of the page. The PDF shows all the information from the Scheme application page, including the list of products associated with the scheme. Applying to subscribe to a scheme To subscribe to a scheme: 1 Select the scheme from the list of available schemes and scroll to the bottom of the Scheme application page. 2 In the Trusts section at the bottom of the page, select the trust or confederation you want to subscribe. Any organisation already subscribed is not listed. You cannot select any organisation that is not of the appropriate type for the scheme s subscription type. 3 Click Subscribe. The Subscribe trusts page opens, which is divided into four sections. Use the scroll bar to see all the sections. 4 In Contact details, provide the contact details of someone who can be contacted about this subscription. Some information is copied from your account details, which you can change for this subscription if appropriate. You must provide a telephone number. Discount Management System (DMS): Guidance Notes (version 1.2) 8
Subscribing to Schemes The email address provided is used to send a message notifying you either that your subscription has been approved or that it has been declined. 5 In Subscription details, specify how long you want to subscribe for in months. You must subscribe for a minimum period and that is the first number in the list. You can subscribe for longer the options available are based on the rebate frequency. You cannot subscribe after the end date of the contract. For example: If the minimum subscription period is 3 months, the rebate frequency is 2 months and contract expires in 8 months, the options available in the list are: 3, 5 and 7. If the minimum subscription period is 1 month, the rebate frequency is 12 months and contract expires in 18 months, the options available in the list are: 1 and 13. 6 In Tier details, specify the level of commitment you are prepared to make (and therefore the level of rebate you hope to achieve). If you select a tier associated with a fixed term, the term is automatically specified as the Duration of the subscription. 7 In Rebate payment details, specify whether the rebate for this commitment is to be paid to a single requisition point or to be shared among all requisition points. This option to apportion rebates to requisition points is not available when subscribing as a confederation. Discount Management System (DMS): Guidance Notes (version 1.2) 9
Subscribing to Schemes 8 If you selected SingleReqPoint in the previous step, another box in shown for you to specify the requisition point. Start typing its name into the Requisition Point box and select the correct one from the list of matches shown. 9 Click OK. The Terms and conditions are shown. 10 Click Agree. An email message is automatically sent to the email address you specified in step 4. A copy of the scheme application document is attached to the message. You now need to print your scheme application document, sign it and send it to NHS Supply Chain. You can generate a copy of the document if necessary. See Generating the signoff document on page 11 for instructions. Although you are now shown as being subscribed to the scheme (so you cannot subscribe again), your application to subscribe still needs to be approved. Discount Management System (DMS): Guidance Notes (version 1.2) 10
Reviewing Your Subscriptions You can review your subscriptions at any time by selecting Subscription and then Your subscriptions from the blue menu bar. If your account is associated with multiple organisations, each organisation s subscriptions are listed separately. The subscriptions started most recently are at the top of each group. To see details of the scheme, click the Scheme name. The Scheme details page opens showing the same information about the scheme as the Scheme application page (see Deciding whether to subscribe to a scheme on page 7). Click the PDF icon ( ) to the right of the scheme name to export details of the scheme in PDF format. You are given the option of opening or saving the file. If you are subscribed as part of a confederation but your account is not linked to that confederation, the word inferred is shown instead of a link to subscription details to keep details of other confederation members rebates confidential. In the example below, schemes that the trust has subscribed to as a single entity are listed first, followed by those it is subscribed to as a member of a confederation. Generating the signoff document To open the sign-off document, click the subscription code or the PDF icon ( ) in the Subscription column. This document can be viewed, saved to disk or printed. Discount Management System (DMS): Guidance Notes (version 1.2) 11
Reviewing Your Subscriptions When you subscribe to a scheme as an individual trust or on behalf of a confederation (not as a member of a confederation), you must print the appropriate document, sign it and send it to NHS Supply Chain for further processing. Your subscription is not active until it has been approved by NHS Supply Chain and the supplier. Notification of subscriptions approaching their expiry date For individual trust subscriptions, automatic email messages are sent to the email address specified as the contact address for a subscription at set intervals before the subscription expires. The intervals are currently set as: 90 days before expiry 60 days before expiry 30 days before expiry 1 day before expiry Discount Management System (DMS): Guidance Notes (version 1.2) 12
Monitoring Your Rebates To see details of your rebates, select Rebates and then Your rebates from the blue menu bar. A list of your rebates is shown, giving details of the forecasted value and if appropriate that you have requested a rebate, the amount that has been credited and the date it was credited. Coloured indicators show progress towards the target for any subscriptions that are part-way through a rebate period. (red) (orange) (green) Less than 90% of target reached More than 90% but less than 100% of target reached 100% of target reached If the indicator is grey, the rebate is complete. Rebates are grouped by the organisation that has subscribed. Group or confederation subscriptions, individual trust subscriptions and an individual trust s share of a group or confederation subscription are shown separately. If your account is linked to both confederations and individual trusts you may see rebate figures for the confederations (marked as in the example overleaf), the individual trusts (for those schemes they have subscribed to individually) and the trust s portion of the confederation rebate (marked as in the example overleaf). Discount Management System (DMS): Guidance Notes (version 1.2) 13
Monitoring Your Rebates To see details of the orders contributing to the rebate, click the Forecasted rebate value. Open or download a spreadsheet similar to the one shown below. Discount Management System (DMS): Guidance Notes (version 1.2) 14