When we started to train, coach, and facilitate hospital value analysis teams over three decades ago, the first thing we did (and still do today) was audit their value analysis process for reducing supply chain expenses.
What we found, with few exceptions, was that these VA teams didn’t have a reliable, repeatable, trainable, and auditable system to evaluate/select and/or investigate waste and inefficiency in the products, services, or technologies they were buying.
Every value analysis study we observed was conducted differently, generally at the whim of the project manager. There was no consistency in any of these clients’ value analysis studies. This caused undue time wasting, repeated mistakes, and frustration for the project manager who was assigned the project. In most situations, the project managers didn’t even know where to get started with their projects.
That’s why you need to have a comprehensive system to ensure that your value analysis team members are following the same step-by-step process with each value analysis study that they conduct year-in and year-out. This will enable you to make sure everyone is following the same protocols in identifying and implementing the savings that have been uncovered.
More importantly, your system has to be built to last. Our value analysis system is called “6-Step Value Analysis Funneling” which is a process that hasn’t changed much in 34 years. It has a beginning, middle, and end that is designed to lead a value analysis project manager through all the steps necessary to select the right product, service, or technology, or investigate waste and inefficiency in their hospital’s supply streams. There is no guess work here! If a project manager follows our system, they will hit pay dirt 9 out of 10 times.
As I said, you need a system that is reliable, repeatable, trainable, and auditable. If you don’t have one, you are at a distinct disadvantage because you will always be reinventing the wheel, instead of having a consistent value analysis process that everyone on your team understands, adheres to, and follows on each and every value analysis study they conduct. Don’t continue to wing it. Have a system you can rely on to optimize your value analysis team’s performance.
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