Who Should Be Your Value Analysis Team Leaders?
Individuals need to be selected for their expertise and leadership qualities. We are seeing more and more healthcare organizations that are selecting their department heads…
Articles by Robert Yokl
Functional Matrix Can Make Your VA Job Much Easier
You need to know what your customer is looking for in new products. We might not realize it, but value analysis has a 70-year history…
The New End Game!
Life cycle cost is the forgotten goal of all our cost and quality challenges. Every day we hear about all the latest and greatest new…
How to Become Best-of-the-Best in Everything You Do
Understanding your healthcare organization and that of your competitors How do you know if your people, products, and processes are world class or just so-so? How…
Meeting the Challenges of Reform Through a Stronger Value Analysis-Supply Chain Partnership
By Michael B. Neely, Senior Vice President, Optimé Supply Chain Healthcare reform has placed providers of care under intense pressure to reduce costs and improve…
Paradigm Shift – Integrating Utilization Into Our Value Analysis Programs
I know what you are thinking, “Paradigm shift – really?” The 90’s are calling, Bob, and we want our progressive change phrase back. But all…
None of Us Are As Smart As All of Us
James Russell, RN-BC, Value Analysis Facilitator VCU Health System, Richmond, VA One of the best things about being a Value Analysis Facilitator is the ability…
Utilization Is Not a New Concept but How We View and Attack It Is!
The other day I was browsing through my copy of the Charles Housley (Bellwether League Honoree 2008) edited book Product Standardization and Evaluation which was…
Supply Utilization Myths, Misunderstandings, and Mistakes
Why utilization savings are still illusive for most healthcare organizations Although the term utilization management seems to be understood by some supply chain managers and…
Utilization = Practice Change
James Russell, RN-BC, Value Analysis Facilitator VCU Health System, Richmond, VA What do we mean when we talk about Value Analysis projects that focus on utilization?…
#1 Ingredient to Improve Your Value Analysis Teams
Michael E. Porter and Thomas H. Lee, in a recent Harvard Review article, put it this way, “Teams improve and excel by tracking progress over…
How Often Should Your Value Analysis Teams Meet?
The healthcare industry norm for the frequency of value analysis team meetings seems to be once a month. However, this meeting schedule can cause communication…
Value Analysis Leadership Interview
Barbara Strain, Director, Supply Chain Analytics University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA Barbara Strain is a graduate of California State University and one of…