“The goal of these best practices is to make you an even better value analysis professional while taking some of the grunt work out of NPRs.”
New product requests (NPRs) are very much part of the value analysis world for VA teams and the VA/Supply Chain professionals who facilitate the teams and processes. The larger your health system is, the more likely it is that you will have more NPR value analysis evaluations. Even though you may feel you have a very mature and active program with clinicians and evidenced-based engagement, you can still improve it. Below are four best practices that we recommend that you may want to incorporate into your VA program to make your job easier, allow you to handle more NPRs with less effort, and be even more efficient with your evaluation results!
Handle More NPRs with Less Effort
1. Make Sure You Are Saving Money in Other Areas so You Can Afford the New Products That Are Going to Cost You More – New products will inevitably cost you more money in the long run, even though they may be justified in your VA team meetings and validated. Even though you think that the reimbursement is covering a good bit of the costs, there is so much more overhead involved nowadays that it dwarfs the one-to-one reimbursement models. We need more than that. Then there is the problem of the sheer number of NPRs that are submitted, and the fact that it is more difficult to save money than to spend money. We need to make sure we are building in offset value analysis, consumption/utilization management, and/or lower cost alternatives that will offset the cost increases. Make sure you are building in at least 20% of your agenda and value analysis time to balance your new product spend to your cost savings to at least net zero (more savings is preferred). Track your net spending/savings together!
2. Start Educating Sales Reps on Your Process – Sales reps are part of the value analysis and supply chain contracting process, and you cannot assume that they know how you do business in your VA teams. It is recommended that organizations create a section on their supply chain website for the reps to be able to download your process outline pdf, view a slide deck of your process, or even watch a video from your VA/supply chain leaders explaining your VA processes and what is expected of them in the form of the VAC pack information they will submit. Don’t assume that if you have some form of VA workflow software that they are going to know what to do. Better sales rep information equals easier, more efficient, and more timely value analysis reviews. Simple!
3. Limit What Makes It onto Your Agenda – I still see value analysis teams today discussing products that in total may add up to $3K or $5K in spending annually. Yes, they may involve new products but going through an all-out value analysis evaluation and evidence research for such small annual expenditures does not make sense. VA teams’ time and focus is very valuable, especially today! We have always recommended that you have an annual spending limit on products that will be discussed in VA team meetings, such as a minimum annual spend of $15K or $20K. All others that do not meet that criteria will be handled through normal budgetary and contracting channels.
4. Create a Proforma Template for Return on Investment for Your End Physicians and Clinicians to Submit with Their NPRs – More and more, the VA teams as well as the C-Suite of health systems want to first see the proforma on the new product request item that is being submitted. Revenues are paramount and they need to be spelled out in detail up front with the NPRs. Most organizations try to create some form of proforma in their online VA workflow forms but there is more to a proforma than just cost per case and CPT codes. It is best that you give them a little pre-work before they even fill out the NPR that will answer all your C-Suite’s questions on the financial viability of this new instrument or system they are requesting.
Taking the Grunt Work Out of NPRs
There are a lot of good things going on in value analysis team meetings throughout the country and the goal of these best practices is to make you an even better value analysis/supply chain professional while taking some of the grunt work out of NPRs. Value analysis is a creative, analytical, and people-oriented process and if you are caught up in chasing all the little annoying things, you can easily lose focus on the important things. You always hear me say that we are just scratching the surface with what we can do with value analysis, and I hope this helps you improve your program even more!
Below are some similar articles that you may find interesting.
Healthcare Supply Chain Management: Expanding Savings Opportunities and Calculated Risks
Four Unexpected Positive Results When You Have a Clinical Supply Utilization Management Program