How often do you ask yourself this question: What is my value analysis and utilization (VA & UM) strategy? Is it to save money? Is it to vet new and renewal group purchasing contracts? Is it to approve or deny new purchase requests? Is it to improve cost, quality, and outcomes? Or, is it all of the above aspirational goals? The best way to answer this question is to observe, document, and measure what you are doing now. Here’s a quiz to help you with this mission critical evaluation:
- Did your VA & UM program add more costs in FY 2019, rather than reduce them? Yes 0 points/No 2 points
- Did your VA & UM teams approve more new purchase requests in FY 2019 than they denied? Yes 0 points/No 2 points
- Has your VA & UM program saved 5% to 7% or more in your FY 2019 budget? Yes 2 points/No 0 points
- Do your VA & UM teams spend more than 80% of their time reviewing new or renewal group purchasing contracts? Yes 0 points/No 2 points
- Does 50% or more of your value analysis savings come from utilization misalignments? Yes 2 points/No 0 points
Once you answer these questions and add up your points (10 being a perfect score), the results will then help you understand your value analysis and utilization management strategy. For instance, if your score is 0 your VA & UM strategy isn’t focused on savings and eliminating waste but is focused on process. A better VA & UM strategy would be to focus your VA team’s efforts on improving your cost, quality, and outcomes and reducing your VA activities that don’t meet this strategy. (Like spending 80% of your VA team’s time on vetting your group purchasing new and renewal contracts.) Based on our extensive VA experience, by focusing on the VA & UM strategy, you will greatly improve your value analysis program almost overnight. Isn’t that the result you are looking for in your value analysis program?
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