Everyone is trying to get better with their value analysis programs, especially since we are seeing that more CFOs are sitting in on their healthcare organizations’ value analysis meetings. To that end, we have listed below 5 secret techniques to improve your value analysis program that will make your CFOs proud:
1. Establish An Annual Value Analysis Savings Target: There is nothing more motivating than having an annual value analysis savings goal to energize your value analysis teams to work smarter and more effectively, as opposed to hoping that your VA teams save some money over the course of any given year.
2. Create or Refine Your Value Analysis Steering Committee Structure: First off, if you don’t have a value analysis steering committee to guide, monitor, and oversee your VA program, you are missing a key VA success element. Further, if you do have a value analysis steering committee, make sure that that your team leaders, administrative representatives, and key stakeholders are permanent committee members. Lastly, your CEO, CFO, or COO should chair this steering committee for maximum accountability and effectiveness.
3. Organize Your VA Program Around Teams: By definition, teams are multidisciplined workgroups that are assigned specific tasks to be accomplished in a timely manner. On the other hand, committees are groups of people tasked with discussing, coordinating, and formulating policies, procedures, methods, and practices. Therefore, teams are active, while committees are often more passive in their approach to change.
4. Select Your VA Team Members By Their Winning Traits: Based on our observations of hundreds of value analysis teams, the most successful VA teams select their team members by their winning traits (e.g., organized, analytical thinker, reliable, dependable, enthusiastic, takes initiative, computer literate, welcomes challenges and change, looks for growth and recognition, and acts as role model) vs. selecting VA team members because of their title (Director of Nursing, OR Supervisor, Infection Control Nurse, etc.) or because of their responsibility in their healthcare organization.
5. Add An Administrative Representative To Your VA Team’s Membership: If you want to supercharge your value analysis program, add an Administrative Representative (e.g., CFO, COO, or Senior Vice Presidents) to your VA team’s membership to hold your value analysis team accountable, guide them through administrative bottlenecks, and champion the VA program at your healthcare organization.
In our opinion, value analysis teams have a greater growth potential than in prior years if they adopt advanced value analysis techniques like those mentioned above to up their savings and improve their quality gains. But this won’t happen unless value analysis practitioners take a hard look in the mirror and ask themselves this question: Is my value analysis program quantitatively and qualitatively getting better each and every year?
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