Strategic Value Analysis In Healthcare
STRATEGIC VALUE ANALYSIS TM NEWSLETTER
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Strategic Value Analysis In Healthcare |
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STRATEGIC VALUE ANALYSIS TM NEWSLETTER |
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February 27, 2004
“A Mission Critical Position If You Are Serious About Reducing Your Non-Salary Cost”
The position of Value Analysis Coordinator (VAC) is in my opinion a mission critical position at any healthcare organization if you are serious about reducing and containing its non-salary expenses over the long term. This position fills the role of a coordinator, facilitator, communicator, evaluator, coach, trainer and resource to your healthcare organization’s value management steering committee, value team leaders and team members. This position is the glue that will hold your value analysis program together. Without this position, key elements of your value analysis program will be overlooked, neglected, ignored, forgotten or eliminate. This is because no one with the responsibility to manage the maintenance functions of your value analysis program that are necessary to sustain and maintain a viable value program. To begin your understanding of the requirements of a VAC, I have listed below frequently asked questions about this important position that I’m asked by our clients.
Why Do We Need a Value Analysis Coordinator? Value analysis is a disciplined and highly organized approach to cost and quality management and therefore looks to the long term for results. One of the critical success factors for a successful value analysis program is the appointment of a value analysis coordinator to manage the day-to-day activities of an organization’s value analysis program. Without such an individual coordinating your value analysis program, Value Teams will fall back to their old habits and quickly loose their focus, vision and your value analysis program will slowly desegregate and finally die.
How Does Value Analysis Coordinator Fit Into Your Value Analysis Program Structure? The VAC is the “linchpin” that holds your value analysis program together. The VAC does this by coordinating team activities, facilitating change, communicating to management and staff the Value Teams’ successes (through observations, questionnaires and reports), and failures. The VAC also trains (or supervises facilitators’ training of) new members in the philosophies, practices and techniques of value analysis, and is the chief resource for team leaders and team members as they conduct their meetings and studies.
What Is Management’s Expectations for this Position? Your healthcare organization management has made a major commitment of time, money and resources to your value analysis program to manage and control their non-salary expenses. It is therefore their expectation that the VAC be the organizational resident expert on value analysis and be the focal point for all value team activities. In addition, the VAC provides the value team leaders and members with the necessary support to insure a successful program. Your management expects the VAC to keep them fully informed by regular oral and written reports on the progress of the organization’s value analysis program.
How Much Time Commitment is Required for this Position? The VAC can be a full or part time position depending on the scope of the organization’s value analysis program. Generally, it requires that the VAC attend each value team meeting and a monthly value analysis steering committee meeting. In addition the VAC provides the value analysis steering committee with a written report on the program’s progress at their monthly meeting. Between meetings it is the responsibility of the VAC to assist the team leaders and members as needed with the challenges of managing their teams, such as, training new members, and answering software and technical questions about the program. In a small hospital many of the duties outlined herein can be delegated to your value team facilitator or material manager, but the responsibility to insure that these duties are accomplished still rests with the VAC.
How Much Training Is Required for this Position? A fully trained and functioning VAC requires 40 hours of specialized training in advanced value analysis strategies, tactics and techniques as well as a minimum of three months of on-the-job training to become proficient as a VAC. In addition to value analysis training, your VAC will need to have extensive training as a facilitator, coach and trainer so he or she can continue to motivate their value team leaders and team members so they can reach their peak performance.
Why Not Go It Alone? Most healthcare organizations are “going it alone” and are not introducing the position of value analysis coordinator at their healthcare organization, with the result that: (i) their value analysis program has huge peaks and valleys in performance, (i) no continuity when team leaders or team members retire or resign their positions and (iii) key elements of their value analysis program are overlooked, neglected, ignored, forgotten or eliminated because no one has the responsibility to manage the maintenance functions of their value analysis program. Don’t make this same mistake! The position of value analysis coordinator fills many roles and has shared responsibility with your hospital’s management team for the success of your value analysis program. If you agree that someone needs to be responsible for the coordination, facilitation, communication, evaluation, coaching, training and to provide the necessary resources for your value team(s) success then you need to look at this position of VAC as mission critical if you are serious about reducing your non-salary cost.
About the Author
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COPYRIGHT 2003 - THE HCP GROUP, LTD. - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED |
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by
Robert T. Yokl, President