If you have been a healthcare value analysis practitioner for any length of time you know that there isn’t always a resource for evidence for every product, service and technology you are buying. Here are three tips on what you can do when you run into this challenge:
- Delay your buying decision until you have good evidence: There is no reason for your hospital, system or IDN to be the first in your state, region or country to purchase an emerging, recommended or new technology. Case in point would be Theramos blood testing service that turned out to be a fraud. The healthcare organizations who waited for real evidence of Theramos success saved time, money and embarrassment for their organization. You can do the same!
- Survey your peers for their opinions and insights: Ask your vendors for a list of their current customers and survey them about the product, service or technology they have purchased. The only drawback with this approach is that you might not know yet the right questions to ask to elicit the best information to make your decision. But it’s better than no information at all!
- Create your own study to determine the efficacy of the product, service or technology under evaluation: This would be a controlled study in partnership with your vendor to determine if their claims are true and realistic in a hospital setting. Naturally, your vendor would share or absorb all cost of this study with you.
It is easy to talk about evidence if you have one, two or more randomized controlled trials from reputable healthcare organizations to choose from to make a buying decision on a new or emerging product, service or technology. It’s another thing, when you don’t have such quality studies to rely on. That’s when these three tips could be the answer to your buying decision dilemma.
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