Robert T. Yokl, President/CEO, SVAH Solutions
We all have a goal for our hospital value analysis programs to be the best they can be in the eyes of our senior management and peers. Yet, too often we forget that one of the keys of our value analysis success is training and habituation in the classic value analysis philosophy, principles, and tenets which will make value analysis teams superstars.
Sometimes I hear healthcare value analysis practitioners say that they have developed their own value analysis process, not based on the hard-learned principles and practices of Larry Miles (the Father of Value Analysis) but built based on their own version of value analysis. That’s why I often say that “most healthcare organizations aren’t practicing Miles-Based Value Analysis, but are doing something else, such as, price shopping, comparison shopping, GPO contract conversions, new product evaluations, etc.” Unfortunately, in today’s healthcare marketplace these savings tactics won’t move the needle on our organization’s bottom line!
Why is this important? Healthcare organizations are desperate to save more money on their supply chain expenses, but knowing that price savings are slowly disappearing, where are supply chain professionals going to find their next savings gains? The answer is by performing functional and utilization analysis on all products, services, and technologies you are buying now to root out all waste and inefficiencies in your supply streams. This can only happen if you and your value analysis teams are trained and then habituate the techniques you have learned in your classroom exercises.
Value analysis isn’t a generic name for cost management, it’s a proven multi-step process to understand the precise functional requirements of everything you buy so you can write specs for them. By doing so, you will be creating more clarity, buying only what you absolutely, positively need and eliminating feature-rich products, services, and technologies that are creating no value for your organization, but always add cost. Don’t wait another year to get better than good with your value analysis program; train and habituate now so your new value analysis savings will flow much better next calendar year.
