There is an adage that says, “Either you are moving forward, or you are moving backward, there is no in-between.” Where does your Healthcare Value Analysis Program stand, and where do you and your team currently stand in terms of technology and training? I cannot tell you how many times I have come upon professionals who talk about their advanced Value Analysis Program, only to find that they are not doing all they can do because they have not ventured into these more advanced areas. Or even worse, they think they are doing advanced things that are being espoused as next level areas, but they may be just doing those things on a basic level. Most don’t have a gauge as to where they should be with their Value Analysis Program other than the industry norm – and I know you are all better than that.
Get an Experienced VA Professional to Audit Your Program – One thing that many new and even existing healthcare professionals ask us to do is to audit their VA Program to point out areas where they can do better. Most times it is a pleasant experience but there are always areas that organizations can do better in and having this audit performed will highlight next level areas that should be considered moving forward. Reply to this email if you want me to audit your program. I’d be glad to help and I love talking shop on VA!
Learn from the Best with Pride – If you think you have all the best ideas and that everything your organization does is cutting-edge on everything and anything Value Analysis, I would urge you to reconsider. In my 33 years in Value Analysis, one of the best ways I have learned is through seeing all the different iterations of Value Analysis Programs throughout the country. There are major strengths in most programs – why not find these out and see if they will work with your VA Program? I recommend developing a survey to send to your VA colleagues to highlight their best practices so that you can consider them for your VA Program.
Adjourn a VA Research and Development Team a Few Times a Year – VA and Supply Chain are ever changing and to meet the demands of these changes you need to advance your program to meet new challenges. That is why it is good to recruit some key players from your VA Teams to work with you on ideas and strategies to make your VA Program even better. Remember, it’s those team members who are the department heads and managers who sit on your teams on an ongoing basis who can assist you to move forward.
You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know – Ask one of your VA colleagues if you could sit in on a few of their VA Team meetings and in turn you could also allow them to sit in on your VA Team meetings. Why do this? I have found that one of the best benchmarks you can have is to find and then learn from the best of the best in VA. So first you must find the best and then you must observe and find out the inner workings of how they have become the best (in a particular area or modality). If you can do this a few times a year, you will be full of ideas that will make your VA Program sing!
Value Analysis in our Healthcare Supply Chain has developed a working mindset and workflows that are very similar to most health systems throughout the country. This work is important to organizations to reduce costs and improve and/or maintain quality of care. It is all too easy to get caught up inside the VA and Supply Chain box and not explore ways to improve or even transform your VA Program into something more advanced. There is high value in taking a few good steps in the right direction to make your Value Analysis Program the best in class. Go ahead and take those steps today!
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