I often hear Value Analysis and Supply Chain professionals talk about how “mature” their VA/Supply Chain programs are. This is great to know but I am a firm believer that VA and Supply Chain are still just scratching the surface as to what they can truly do for their organizations. Many are just a few steps away from where they need to be, and others think they are close but don’t know what the next steps to take are in their VA and Supply Chain journey. Lastly, there are those that just follow what everyone else is doing and that is okay as well, but they are always going to be a bit behind.
I have been very lucky to see the best of the best and the worst of the worst in our industry over my 32 years in healthcare. To take you and your program forward you will need a vision for your goals and objectives to perfect your VA and Supply Chain program in 2025 and beyond.
Mindset is Key in This Strategic Improvement Process
The worst thing you could do is to have a mindset that your VA/Supply Chain program is the greatest thing since sliced bread. You only know what you really know. For instance, a VA program that is 100% focused on new product requests, recalls, and contract conversions is not a completely futuristic program. This may be all that your senior leadership is expecting from you and your teams but there is so much more you can do. Thinking you’re already the best is not going to get you anywhere except in a big rut.
You Have to Look Realistically in the Mirror
The best way to make your Value Analysis and Supply Chain programs better in 2025 and beyond is to first take a step back and take a hard look in the mirror. You will need to be honest about your evaluations and where you need to improve, even if you don’t think you can be better. There are lots of ways to find this out like a survey to your senior leadership or to bring in a trusted peer to look at your program without any bias. The bottom line is that this honest look in the mirror should highlight your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis) for the future of your value analysis program.
Avoid the Clinical Integration Paradox
This is a catch phrase that has been created in the past five years which can make it seem as though adding more physicians and nurses to your VA/Supply Chain programs will miraculously start creating next-level results. Let’s face it, nobody has made any decisions or changes without consulting the nurses, doctors, and even line department heads/managers in the past nor can we in the future. You must have some sort of strategy and/or plan for adding more doctors or nurses to your value analysis teams. What will the added clinical capability do in your VA team meetings?
Stop Ignoring Your Most Valuable Assets
The majority of value analysis teams have little or no training in value analysis strategies and methods let alone training in advanced methods of VA. Why is this? There is a focus on training the Value Analysis Managers/Directors through AHVAP/AHRMM but we fail to realize that they are only just a cog in the value analysis machine that needs to be kept at optimal operating efficiency. How can you expect new and better results from your value analysis teams if you are not giving them the next-level strategies, methods, and tools to make things happen? Don’t just invite new team members to meetings and hope they pick it up along the way. Instead, develop, borrow, or buy a training system you can use to put everyone on the same page while bringing advanced results to your organization.
Go on a Benchmarking Journey
Find out who the best of the best is in our value analysis world and then ask them what they did to get there. Sounds simple, right? It’s a little more complex when it comes to Value Analysis programs as you must truly delve further into what elements you and your benchmarking partners do well and don’t do well. Don’t just take your benchmarking peers’ words for it, make them prove that they are doing these great and advanced things, and they should make you prove it as well. Use key performance indicators that make sense, like savings per hospital or health system, number of new product requests per month and per year, number of recalls handled per year, etc. Remember, benchmarking is not just comparing one health system’s VA program to another, it is finding the best practice VA programs that you can emulate.
Strategic Planning Covers All Your Bases Now and in the Future
Most VA and Supply Chain professionals wait for their C-Suite to drop a bomb on them that they are shifting into cost management mode, increasing their physician involvement, or committing to new levels of organization quality/outcomes. Whatever it is, it puts you on your back foot per say and you have to figure out how to make these new goals and objectives happen in an already complex VA world. Why not just proactively plan on incorporating new modalities into your Value Analysis program whether you are going to implement them today, next month, or next year. It is sort of like contingency planning for disasters except you are planning for your future when you get the go ahead on the next modality, training, or tool you want to implement. Senior leadership like plans and visions for the future and it will help you sell your next steps in your program versus just being told what to do next.
It is Better to Look to the Future Now Versus Someone Dictating It to You Later
There are a lot of advanced strategies, tools, training, and methods that are there for you to incorporate into your health system’s Value Analysis program, but you need to start planning for your future to make these happen. Winging it is just that, and it never seems to bode well for those that like to shoot from the hip on what the next major steps will be for their Value Analysis program. It is better to look to the future now and have full control over where you are taking your program than to just sit back and allow your C-Suite to dictate your next steps. Control your own destiny and start thinking about your VA program’s future!
| About Robert W. Yokl, President of SVAH Solutions |
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| Robert is the President of SVAH Solutions which provides value analysis, clinical supply utilization, and savings validation tools to help healthcare organizations gain the next level of savings beyond price and standardization. https://www.SVAH-Solutions.com https://www.SavingsValidation.com |
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