Strategic Value Analysis® in Healthcare
Dramatically Improve Quality While Reducing Supply Costs
Did You Know...?
That Value Analysis Was Developed Back In the 1940's After World War II as a Way to Find Lower Cost but Higher Quality Alternative products and methods. This was Due to the Lack of Material Resources At The End of The War.
Savings Beyond Price -Weekly eNewsletter- March 22, 2007
Robert T. Yokl
President & Chief Value Strategist
Greetings!
Unlock The Secrets Of Changing Minds!
Supply Chain Professions are “change agents” by the nature of their jobs. Every day you are required to persuade, convince, and influence decisions makers to make the right choices on their products, services and technology selections.
Think about the last time you tried to change someone’s mind on an important decision. It wasn’t easy was it? That’s because we don’t change our minds overnight. It happens in gradual stages!
First we need to introduce the new idea. Then we need to give proofs (preferable that others have done it too, then we need to keep reinforcing, reiterating and repeating this new idea in different ways until it takes hold.
This truth reminds me of a Radiologist whom we worked with some time ago who didn’t believe our UTILIZER™ supply utilization software findings that he was utilizing 19% more contrast media (a new idea) for his procedures than his peers. We then conducted a benchmarking study of his surrounding peer hospitals and presented the findings to him which confirmed (proof) our data. In this second meeting the Radiologist started to weaken his position, but didn’t agree to make a change in his practice at this time. We then met with him a third time and showed him studies (reinforce, reiterate and repeat) that his radiologist associations had conducted, which proved again that his practice of using 150cc (standardized usage) of contrast media on each procedure wasn’t the norm in the industry. After this third meeting he finally agreed to change his practices to conform to his peers.
Remember, unlocking the secrets to changing minds isn’t a one-time event, but a process of presenting new ideas and proofs, then reinforcing, reiterating and repeating this new idea until it sticks. This change process takes time and patience, but trust me it works 96% of the time!
Your Partner in Supply Chain Savings,
Robert T. Yokl
President & Chief Value Strategist
P.S. If you are looking for new proofs that can change minds I would suggest a “test drive” of our new UTILIZER™ Utilization Management Software to get those big ideas flowing.
The Top 10 Myths That Are Keeping You From Hitting Home Runs!
“We Persist In Believing What Others Tell Us vs. What Is Possible And Doable”
A myth is a widely held belief, but too often a mistaken belief that can hold back the possible and doable. It is based on tradition (we have always done it that way) without examining its origins or relevancy for today’s marketplace. With this said I have listed below 10 myths that I believe are keeping healthcare organizations from hitting home runs that I would challenge you to examine, reflect on and act upon:
1. Our Clinicians Won’t Change Their Practices
The fact is if you give your clinicians the right tools, training, and processes to save money, they will save a ton of money for your healthcare organization. But, if you think they are going to save it on their own – think again!
2. We Have Saved All The Money We Can
I have never seen a healthcare organization that doesn’t have more savings to be generated, because things change and people change everyday, every week and every year. This flux or churning effect creates, promotes and produces new savings opportunities – forevermore!
3. There Are No New Good Ideas For Saving Money
I see a hundred new ways to save money every day that our clients are discovering. The problem is not a lack of new ideas to save money, but the lack of commitment and focus to do so.
4. I Don’t Have Enough Time To Save Money
If supply chain professionals try to do it all themselves, I would agree. However, if you organize your department heads and managers in teams, then you become a facilitator, coach, consultant and trainer for your teams, you will then have enough time to save money!
5. I Can’t Get My Management’s Commitment To Save Money
This is true in about 2% of the healthcare organizations we work with, so I sympathize with those supply chain professionals who have this challenge. On the other hand, 98% of the healthcare organization’s management can become committed to saving money if you show them how much they are losing by dollarizing your savings opportunities.
6. My Data Isn’t Good Enough To DataMine
We all would like to have clean and pristine data, but this shouldn’t hold you back from making big savings gains. Believe it or not we have clients that don’t even have MMIS systems. Yet, we have identified hundreds of thousands of dollars of new savings by working with their vendors’ data to do so.
7. We Know Everything There Is To Know About Saving Money
I call this attitude “not invented here”! As soon as you believe you know everything about saving money – you lose! No one organization has all of the ideas, resources or time to save all of the money that is possible for them to save. Always looking, listening and observing what others are doing better than you should always be the guiding principle you follow.
8. We Are Unique And Therefore Can’t Be Benchmarked
There are “Doubting Thomases” at every level of any organization who believe that their healthcare organization is unique and therefore can’t be benchmarked for new savings opportunities. This is truly a myth and should be ignored by progressive supply chain professions.
Yes, all healthcare organizations are unique, but that’s what benchmarking is all about, comparing your organization to like organizations with the same unique operating characteristics. Don’t let these “Doubting Thomases” stand in your way of finding new savings opportunities because of their data biases.
9. Our Department Heads And Managers Are Too Busy
Saving money is “everyone’s business” in healthcare organizations today. Since your department heads and managers control their budgets (not you), and control their specifications (not you), they must be an integral part of the savings solution and not part of the problem. Once you convince you management of this salient and indisputable fact they will help you find the time for your department heads and managers to make savings happen.
10. We Don’t Have The Technology To Identify Our Savings
It would be great if we all had the latest and greatest technology to identify our savings opportunities, although the reality is that many of us don’t have the money to do so. The good news is than many times high powered technology just gets in the way of finding savings because it is too complex and cumbersome to be effectively utilized. Sometimes it is much, much better just to use the trouble-free tools you already have on hand (payable reports, inventory reports, vendor reports, etc.) to get the job done.
As you can see, if we persist in believing what others tell us instead of focusing on what is possible and doable, we won’t move closer to our goal of saving more money for our healthcare organization. Now that you know these myths -- go make savings happen!
Where is the utilization savings in healthcare organizations today?
From our detailed client engagements, 77% of all remaining supply savings opportunities reside in Supply Utilization (Waste, Inefficient Use, Over-specification, Under specification, etc.). These savings opportunities account for more than 5% to 8% of your entire supply expense budget as compared with only .5% to 1% savings in price related areas.
Hospitals and health systems have been increasingly reliant on their Peer Benchmarking Reporting which does shed some light on which department of your hospital may have savings opportunities but that is about as far as it goes! Your C-Suite is looking at these reports and turning around and asking you to delve further into these supply categories ASAP! But, where do you go when a benchmark tells you you can save $868,000 in your Surgical Services Suite? Or $578,998 in savings on your Med/Surg Supplies?
It's like trying to find a needle in a Haystack!
It doesn't have to be that way any longer! SVAH has a fast an easy way to find out where all of your Utilization Savings opportunities reside without all the guess work or missed steps. AND, these savings will literally come to you on a regular basis!
To learn more about the UtilizerTM - The Next Generation of Supply Performance Benchmarking Tool or to take a TEST DRIVE of the system call today 1-800-220-4274 or fill out the test drive form below.
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