How SAMGI gave time back to patient care and sped up month-end close with Ramp
“We transitioned to Ramp without a hitch—our vendors didn't even notice. Plus, we were able to switch to suppliers with better pricing, thanks to Ramp's automated receipts and controlled budgets.”
Corporate Controller, Surgical Affiliates Management Group
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Surgical Affiliates Management Group (SAMGI) runs emergency surgical coverage for hospitals nationwide, which means their back office has zero room for friction. In addition to the over $100k the company has saved with Ramp’s spend controls and cash back since switching, SAMGI’s finance team now reclaims an average of 20.2 hours per month with Ramp’s accounting and AP automations.
Starting with Ramp Cards in a couple of weeks, SAMGI soon consolidated more of its finance ops stack on Ramp in the months that followed. With a direct Sage Intacct integration, advanced accounting rules, and AI-powered coding, the team gets clean, controlled spend data into the books faster, without adding work for employees.
But this story is less about software and more about the people behind the process—especially Kathleen Cole, the Corporate Controller, who needed a system that could keep up with a high-travel executive team, a rapidly growing employee base of hundreds, and a provider-first mission.
When your mission is 24/7 care, you can’t run spend on manual workflows
For Kathleen Cole, SAMGI’s Corporate Controller and longest-tenured corporate employee, the pain was not theoretical. It showed up in the small frictions that compound when the business runs 24/7: missing receipts, unclear policies, and time spent chasing answers instead of supporting the field.
“Over the years, we’ve switched between three different banks, which came with growing pains,” she says.
The corporate card program itself became a blocker. SAMGI’s legacy card system used traditional bank cards with rigid processes that discouraged use. “Many employees avoided the corporate cards because it was easier to use personal credit cards and submit expense reports,” Kathleen explains.
That workaround created more than inconvenience. It created risk. The manual expense management system not only added workload but also increased the risk of fraud and policy exceptions. “Duplicate expense submissions—often unintentional—were a concern,” says Kathleen. “Policies were harder to enforce under a manual system, especially with a growing number of transactions.”
Then the organization grew fast. As headcount climbed by hundreds, so did the administrative drag—and every extra hour spent managing cards pulled attention away from supporting providers and improving patient care.
“Every process we implement needs to support—not hinder—our ability to assist our providers.”
— Kathleen Cole, Corporate Controller
Every card swipe audit-ready before month-end even starts
Kathleen’s priority was simple: make spend easy for employees, while making it harder for exceptions to slip through.
“It has been a game-changer to assign virtual corporate cards directly to individuals who manage specific expenses,” Kathleen explains. With spend controls, SAMGI could enforce budgets and merchant restrictions at the point of purchase, while keeping coding consistent in the background.
Then came the deadline. The previous bank cards were nearing expiration, and a delay would affect vendor payments and day-to-day operations. That’s where Ramp’s virtual cards came in.
“We had just two weeks before most of our previous bank cards expired,” Kathleen recalls. “We not only had to replace cards for employees but also update payment information across multiple vendor platforms.”
What mattered most was making the change without disrupting the teams and vendors supporting hospital coverage.
“We transitioned to Ramp without a hitch—our vendors didn’t even notice. Plus, we were able to switch to suppliers with better pricing, thanks to Ramp’s automated receipts and controlled budgets.”
— Kathleen Cole, Corporate Controller
Once the card program proved it could earn adoption quickly, Kathleen began consolidating more workflows into the same system. Bill Pay was next, along with custom review, approval, and coding steps that matched how the finance team actually operates.
“The success we’ve had with the card program gives us confidence to explore more of Ramp’s offerings. It’s not just about accounting efficiencies—Ramp adds meaningful business controls while improving the end-user experience.”
— Kathleen Cole, Corporate Controller
Faster close, fewer errors, and a seamless experience end-to-end
Since adopting Ramp, SAMGI’s employees have embraced the new system wholeheartedly. “They no longer need to log in or manually code transactions,” Kathleen says. Now employees can simply snap a photo, text a receipt, or forward an email—whichever is most convenient—and Ramp handles the rest. Even SAMGI's COO, who travels frequently and once preferred personal cards over the corporate program, now enthusiastically uses a Ramp for every trip.
For SAMGI’s leadership, the impact of Ramp goes beyond convenience. “The built-in budget controls, automated coding, and merchant-specific tracking reduce the chance of fraud and simplify management,” Kathleen explains. “Ramp even flags potential duplicate receipts, saving us time and preventing errors.”
For teams supporting a 24/7 provider mission, the streamlined review process is a major win for the accounting team. “Now, our Accounting Specialist can rely on Ramp’s green check mark system, which confirms that receipts match transactions,” says Kathleen. “This eliminates the need to manually verify every line item—a huge time saver.”
Those workflow improvements also show up at month-end: the team was able to immediately shave a day off close with cleaner spend data flowing into the books (and less manual reconciliation). In the months that followed, Ramp’s accounting and AP automations helped save an average of 20.2 hours on month-end close.
Ultimately, the efficiencies gained through Ramp allow SAMGI to focus more on what matters most: delivering industry-leading, exceptional patient care.
“With Ramp handling the backend, we can redirect our energy toward supporting our providers and fulfilling our mission.”
— Kathleen Cole, Corporate Controller
