Value analysis has become a universal best practice in healthcare to the extent that I can’t think of a hospital, system, or IDN that doesn’t have a mature Clinical Value Analysis Program (CVAP) in place. Yet, most value analysis practitioners are still struggling with extremely heavy workload caused by numerous new product requests, GPO contract conversions, backorder substitutions, product recalls, or savings initiative failures. Amazingly, these individuals accomplish these tasks with limited resources and sometimes unreasonable or noncompliant customers. That’s why you might find these four quick ways will make your clinical value analysis job a whole lot easier:
How to Make Your Clinical Value Analysis Job Easier
1. Share VA Workload With Your VA Team Members: Too often, supply chain practitioners will take on all or most of the tasks of their CVAP when they have VA team members that can share this burden. For instance, why can’t you ask one or more of your VA team members to evaluate new product requests, product failures, or savings opportunities? Bear in mind, there is no rule that you need to do all this VA work yourself. Yes, you can delegate some of it!
2. Invest In Custom Value Analysis Workflow Software (VAS): Invest in the best tools to get the job done efficiently and quickly. Our client’s experience with automating their value analysis workflow is that they found that it reduces their paperwork, standardizes their VA process, consolidates and organizes their data, improves their meeting management, and creates visibility for their customers. Best of all, VAS gives them more time to plan, think, and do!
3. Only Review New Product Requests Over $25,000 Spend: Why does every purchase request need to go through your value analysis process? The answer is that our clients have discovered that new purchase requests under $25,000 annually (or some multiple thereof for universal teaching hospitals) can easily be properly vetted by your buyers and don’t need to go through your VA process, thereby, saving hundreds of hours a year for you and your value analysis team’s time. This new policy could reduce your new purchase request evaluations by as much as 40% to 60%.
4. Require 90-Day Timeline For Completion of VA Studies: We have seen value analysis studies (investigations or evaluations of new or existing products, services, or technologies) go on for years with no outcome. By establishing a 90-day timeline rule for the completion of all VA studies (or they will need to be reviewed by your Value Analysis Steering Committee before being assigned again) you can change this paradigm. Why deal with requests, projects, surveys, etc., indefinitely when you can complete them in a reasonable timeframe?
I think we will all agree that value analysis practitioners’ jobs are getting harder, more complicated, and more stressful every day. That’s why VA practitioners need to reinvent their Clinical Value Analysis Programs by sharing their workload with their VA team members, computerizing every task that can be automated, and changing their rules of engagement, because more help isn’t on the way!
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