Airbase vs Procurify for Medspa and Outpatient Clinic Groups

In Procurify, the nurse injector would submit a requisition from a mobile app, selecting the product and quantity from a pre-approved catalog, which routes to a location manager for a fast approval. In Airbase, the more common pattern is a card already issued to the clinic with a spend limit set for consumables, letting the purchase happen immediately and get reviewed afterward. Neither approach stops the injector from calling the distributor directly if the in-system path feels slower than a phone call, which is why the catalog and the card limit both need to be set generously enough for routine restocking.

The order itself is only half the problem. Clinical staff track product usage in a practice management or EMR system, not in whatever tool handled the purchase, so the two records drift apart over time. Neither Airbase nor Procurify reconciles purchased units against clinically logged units; that connection has to be built separately, usually as a monthly count compared against the purchase history each platform can export.

Injectables and certain devices carry higher unit costs and, in some states, additional documentation requirements around who can order and administer them. Set a distinct approval tier for these categories, routed to a clinical director or practice owner rather than a general operations approver, so the sign-off reflects both the cost and the clinical oversight the product requires.

Aesthetic and device distributors often offer better terms to practices that pay reliably on schedule rather than late. BILL or a similar AP automation layer on top of either platform can help you hit those payment windows consistently, which protects the terms and any loyalty pricing your practice has negotiated, something that's easy to lose if invoices sit unpaid because nobody noticed them in an approval queue.

Start with your highest-volume, highest-cost product line, injectables if that's your core business, and build the catalog and approval path around it first. Add device consumables and retail product next. Bring lower-stakes categories, office supplies, front-desk equipment, in last, once the clinical team trusts that the in-system path is genuinely as fast as calling a rep.

Roll out the ordering path in this sequence:

1. Start with your highest-volume, highest-cost product line, injectables if that is your core business, and build the catalog and approval path around it.
2. Route injectables and higher-cost devices to a clinical director or practice owner rather than a general operations approver.
3. Add device consumables and retail product next, keeping retail categories separate from clinical consumables.
4. Bring lower-stakes categories like office supplies and front-desk equipment in last, once clinicians trust the in-system path is as fast as calling a rep.

Ask specifically how each tool handles mobile purchase requests, since your ordering will mostly happen from clinical staff on the floor between appointments, not from someone sitting at a desk. Also confirm how easily you can export purchase history by product and location; when a distributor renegotiates pricing or you're comparing product performance across locations, you'll want that data without rebuilding it from individual invoices.

Skincare and retail lines sold directly to patients need to be tracked separately from clinical consumables, since one is inventory you resell and the other is a cost of delivering a service. Blending the two in your purchasing categories makes it harder to see true margin on the clinical side of the business. Set up distinct categories from the start, even if both flow through the same purchasing tool, so your reporting doesn't require someone to manually split them out later.

A new clinic opening needs a burst of initial equipment and inventory purchases that don't fit a routine restocking limit, and treating that launch period the same as ongoing operations usually means either a bottleneck at the worst possible time or a limit set so high it stays loose long after opening. Build a temporary, elevated purchasing tier for the first month or two of a new location, then step it down to your standard clinic-level limit once the location is operating normally.

Separately, some purchases may need to be tied to a supervising physician's authorization rather than just a purchasing approval, depending on your state and the product involved. This isn't something either platform enforces on its own, so build it into your workflow as a distinct step for the relevant categories, and check with your practice's compliance advisor on which products require it in each state you operate in, since the rules aren't uniform.