Every healthcare value analysis team needs to select team leaders and team members for their value analysis teams during their start up phase and then as leaders and members leave your teams for various reasons. This decision on who will be on your value analysis teams can make or break your VA team’s performance, since it is people who make the qualitative difference in your value analysis process.
Structure, Process, and Procedures are Important but Not Mission Critical
Although we champion a hierarchical VA administrative structure, functional value analysis process, and carefully crafted policies and procedures, we have found that it is even more important to have the right people with the right competencies on your value analysis teams. Otherwise, you will always be lacking the high-octane fuel your teams require to be truly success in value analysis.
Traditionally, we have observed that value analysis team members are usually selected by their titles (OR director, nursing director, infection control manager, CSR manager, etc.) or their influence in your healthcare organization (e.g., medical director, laboratory manager, anesthesiologist, etc.) or friendships which can be detrimental to the viability of your value analysis program. For instance, at one community hospital we worked with in the Northeast their CFO insisted that his medical records director be selected for their value analysis team. While this request was reasonable, it turned out that this medical records director had little or no analytical skills, so she wasn’t very productive as a value analysis project manager. Therefore, the traditional method we just discussed is an inferior way to select your value analysis team leaders and team members.
Team Selection by Ideal Competencies is Mission Critical
All winning teams are a combination of attitudes, talent, and traits matched with a “can do” attitude; it’s a team that takes responsibility for its actions and pride in its accomplishments. Over the last 30 years, SVAH has documented and observed the ideal competencies and what outstanding value analysis team leaders and team members do more often, in more situations, with better results. To identify the individuals in your healthcare organization who also exhibit these same competencies, we would suggest that you employ a 360–degree feedback mechanism in assessing your VA team leaders and team member candidates’ qualifications prior to membership on your VA team. Have the candidate, his/her direct report, customers, and colleagues rate his/her ideal value analysis competencies (e.g., analytical thinker, organized, reliable, enthusiastic, etc.) on a scale of 1-10 prior to final selection as a VA team leader or team member. The reason for doing so is that you only see one face of this individual, but by having them assessed by numerous individuals with whom they interact, in many different venues, you can truly identify the right candidate to be involved in your value analysis program.
Don’t Leave Your VA Team Leader and Member Selection to Happenstance
In our opinion, the most important decision you can make regarding your value analysis team now and in the future is its membership composition. Don’t leave these mission critical decisions to happenstance. Make sure you have a foolproof system based on what you believe your team leader or member’s ideal competencies should be. Then, test these assumptions with a 360-degree feedback questionnaire sent to numerous individuals (e.g., boss, co-workers, customers, etc.) who interact with your proposed team leaders and members daily. The results of this exercise will become clear to you as soon as your questionnaires are returned to you; individuals with a rating of eight or above in each category should be selected for your teams. Otherwise, you will need to start all over again until you find the ideal candidates, since average candidates are not good enough.