SAN FRANCISCO – Contrary to popular belief, Health 2.0 isn’t just for patients. Entrepreneurs are leveraging its tools and services to drive administrative efficiency for hospitals.

“This is where the promise of Health 2.0 is,” said Brian Klepper, an industry analyst and moderator of a panel on hospital solutions during the Health 2.0 Conference in October.

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center incubated Prodigo Solutions, which developed a platform that connects a hospital’s contracting and management systems to the supply-chain marketplace. The platform combines a Google-like search with an Amazon-like user interface to provide a one-to-one connection and quick access to a contracted list of items, said Ted Dagnal, UPMC’s director of operations.

Prodigo Solutions deploys its platform via a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. By automating the supply-chain process, Prodigo’s customers, which include UPMC and the Ohio State Medical Center, have seen a reduction in average purchase order costs from approximately $11 to $3.45, Dagnal said.

Hospitals are only collecting a portion of the payments they should be receiving, said Lincoln Fish, vice president of product management and marketing for San Diego-based Benchmark Revenue Management. BRM’s portal enables hospital staff to track, trend and identify areas where hospitals are losing money or where money should be coming in. Most hospitals today don’t have that kind of visibility into their data, he said.

BRM works with 42 hospitals. While these facilities typically see a 2 percent-to-5 percent net revenue increase – the equivalent of about $5 million – after 12 months, one client added $20 million to the bottom line, Fish said.

Hospitals expend a lot of resources filling nurse shifts. Connecticut-based YourNurseIsOn.com is a Web-based service that automatically fills open shifts by evaluating who is qualified and available and then contacting the nurses through a preferred communication channel. The service eliminates the need for costly agencies and time-consuming e-mail blasts, said CEO Matthew Browning.

The SaaS model has reduced the number of telephone hours worked by nurse supervisors from eight hours to less than 40 minutes, he said. The company is working with three large retirement communities and is in the demo phase with one large hospital.