One of the simplest ways to boost the productivity, accountability and savings for your value analysis program is to have a defined or exacting hospital value analysis process Vs. a freeform (i.e., not conforming to a regular or formal structure) process. Here are the five benefits of doing so:
- Creates a common language for your VA teams: Instead of each of your hospital VA team members inventing their own terms for each phase of your value analysis process all your team members will be speaking the same language. For instance, they should be talking about primary and secondary functions, features and benefits, instead of why I like the product, service or technology. This allows your team members to quickly understand what each member is talking about without the need for a dictionary.
- Avoids the tendency to “Wing it” or improvise with your VA studies: Without a defined repeatable process, hospital value analysis team members tend to improvise (i.e., create their own VA process) with their value analysis studies. This practice wastes time, prolongs and degrades the quality of your value analysis studies and shouldn’t be permitted.
- Permits your VA process/studies to be audited: It is very important for you to able to audit your value analysis studies when you suspect the result wasn’t a quality product. This would be impossible to achieve without a defined VA process, since you have no yardstick to measure against. Only if you have sequential steps in your process can you audit a VA study that has been performed improperly.
- Enables you to measure and then benchmark your VA process: How long does it take to complete your VA studies Vs. your peers? What is the average attendance at your VA meetings Vs. your peers? What is the average savings per team member per year Vs. your peers? Remember, what is measured happens!
- Aids in speeding up your hospital value analysis process: If each of your VA project managers are authorized to decide how long each of their VA studies will take, then you have lost control of you VA process. That’s why you need a defined repeatable VA process with specific timelines for completion or you could take years to complete many of your VA projects.
Having a defined repeatable VA process isn’t a luxury, but a necessity if you are to have a successful value analysis program. Or else, you will be leaving your VA process in the hands of each of your VA project managers. I don’t think this is the way to have a robust, sustainable and a results-oriented value analysis program.
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