When I try to explain what Clinical Supply Utilization Management (CSUM) is to those that are new or unfamiliar with this version of a cost management/optimization system, they tend to try to put a square peg in a round hole. What the heck am I saying, right? Well, most try to look at the things they are already doing with their GPO or with a spend management analytics firm and try to put those square pegs into round holes to say they are already performing CSUM or something similar. Remember, you will not gain the results nor the optimization level you want by not performing CSUM as it is intended.
CSUM Allows You to Accurately Put Your Finger on the Pulse of Your Supply Utilization and Much More!
Spend management analytics is just that, looking at spending, but that spend does not take into consideration the patient volumes in any of your hospital’s clinical and even non-clinical areas like cafeteria or waste management. CSUM is all about marrying patient volume centric measures to supply and purchased service data and allowing you to use this data in many ways for optimization. You can then use this in ways that go beyond just year over year spend and find areas that are best practice in your health system, or even nursing units who are your best utilizers of key products, and then model them throughout your entire organization.
CSUM Will Tell You Where You Are Performing Well, Not So Well, and Just Okay
Most health systems don’t know what they don’t know when it comes to patient volume centric measures for everything that they purchase and just assume that because standardization and contract pricing are compliant their job is done. You can be perfectly standardized and have great pricing but if your consumption/utilization levels are higher than normal for your organization or your peers’, your costs will also be much higher. Or, you may have chosen a feature-rich product when the rest of your peers who have already optimized costs have chosen exact functionality in products that are not as feature-rich and thus have optimized costs. There is power in knowing this!
CSUM Allows You to Finely Tune Costs Without Jeopardizing Quality
It is impossible to just take a clinical product category and make a wholesale change to drive costs lower because there is so much clinical functionality that is built into all these products, and therefore you cannot just slice and dice things out. Instead, you need a more scientific data-driven approach that factors in things like how busy a nursing unit is and how efficient or not efficient they are with the products they use every day. There may only be one, two, or three products that are throwing off your utilization levels, so you need systems that will allow you to drill down and find them. We have found that it is not always the top spend items in each category that you think are the reasons for cost overspend. You need systems to pinpoint this exactly so that no time is wasted and no rock is left unturned.
What About My Value Analysis Program?
VA professionals are doing great work, but they need a leg to stand on that is geared towards telling them exactly where they need to aim to target product categories for cost and quality optimization. Using CSUM Software powered with your data doing the benchmarking and utilization reporting in every way possible will give you a 360-degree view of your supply utilization that they could then use to strategically plan your savings strategy. Give VA this powerful reporting and they can lead the charge.
My Advice to You as a Supply Chain and/or Value Analysis Leader – Throw a Blanket Over Everything
The good news about CSUM is that when we work with our hospital and health system clients throughout the country, they allow us to throw a blanket over every supply and purchased service and let the chips fall where they may. They want to know where their opportunities are (and where they aren’t) so they can focus their VA and Supply Chain Program strategically in the right direction to gain the next level of cost optimization beyond contract price. There are still major savings to be achieved when you implement a CSUM Program and keep it going.
Below are some similar articles that you may find interesting.
The Best Root Cause Paths for Value Analysis and Cost Optimization Success
No More Shooting from the Hip – 4 Areas You Need to Plan For in Healthcare Supply Chain
4 Steps to Go Back to Basics and Onward to Big Results with Your Healthcare Value Analysis Program