SpendRule has launched what it describes as healthcare’s first AI-powered contract intelligence platform designed to prevent overpayments in the massive purchased services market. The new system validates service invoices against contract terms before payment, giving health systems greater control over one of their largest and least-managed spend categories.
Purchased services account for nearly half of health systems’ non-labor spending, yet most of that spending remains unmanaged. Industry estimates suggest more than $32 billion in preventable overpayments occur annually due to complex contracts that are rarely reviewed and invoices that are frequently approved without proper validation. The result is limited visibility into vendor performance and cost management processes that are largely reactive.
SpendRule’s platform embeds contract enforcement directly into existing accounts payable workflows. By encoding contract terms into enforceable logic, the system enables real-time validation of invoices against purchase orders, receipts, and contract provisions. Discrepancies are flagged with supporting evidence and addressed before payment, without requiring health systems to replace their ERP or accounts payable systems.
The company is already deployed across several health systems, including OSF HealthCare, Kettering Health, MemorialCare, and MUSC Health. These organizations are using the platform to shift from reactive auditing to proactive prevention, enforcing contract obligations before payment and improving visibility into purchased services spend.
SpendRule is backed by investors including Abundant Venture Partners, MemorialCare Innovation Fund, and Zeal Capital Partners. The company has also benefited from commercial acceleration efforts through health systems partnered in the Abundant Alliance. On the company’s home, it says that $2 million seed funding was raised.
KEY QUOTES
“Most purchased services contracts sit in a filing cabinet – literal or digital – disconnected from the payments they’re supposed to govern. We change that by turning those agreements into code – encoding the actual terms, conditions, and obligations into real-time payment controls. This enables true 4-way matching – Purchase Order, Receipt, Invoice, and Contract Terms – automatically validating invoices against their contract before payment. Discrepancies are flagged with evidence and resolved upstream, without disrupting existing ERP or AP systems.”
Joseph Akintolayo, CTO And Co-Founder, SpendRule
“Supply chain teams have always struggled with a lack of resources dedicated to purchased services – despite their spend levels often exceeding medical/surgical supplies, and with far greater complexity. In my 20+ years in this space, I’ve seen firsthand that simply identifying savings opportunities is the tip of the iceberg. The real challenge is ensuring those savings actually hit the bottom line. By embedding AI-powered contract enforcement directly into the payment process, SpendRule gives health systems an automated, proactive way to eliminate overpayments and meaningfully reduce costs.”
Chris Heckler, CEO And Co-Founder, SpendRule
“We manage thousands of purchased services contracts, many of them hundreds of pages long. Before SpendRule, there was no realistic way to ensure every invoice line matched the contract before payment. Now, that validation happens automatically, giving us confidence in invoice accuracy, stopping the leakage, and freeing our teams from thousands of hours of manual approvals each year.”
Dave Fergus, Chief Supply Chain Officer, OSF HealthCare
