Once the planning, setup and execution steps of implementing a Value Analysis Team (VAT) have been completed (Please read Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; & Part 4 if this is your first look at this Healthcare Purchasing News series) the remaining task is to plan for the future. Validating the success of the new structure and the products sourced provides a baseline for future expansion of the products the VAT sources alongside your global sourcing partner. This validation process will also help you identify the next batch of globally sourced hospital products that the VAT can improve in both quality and cost.
In Part 5, Director of Value analysis, Bethany Gleim, explains:
“Given its value, your hospital global sourcing program is not a one-shot proposition. Your value analysis team should provide regular, ongoing clinical education and communication to support the program and its associated benefits. The team should continue to track program items, quality improvements, newly branded products, new opportunities for patient experience measures and cost savings reporting the results to the Value Analysis Committee who supports the Global Sourcing Program and Senior Leadership. The team should continue to meet with clinical liaisons on any and all possible improvements to currently used products evaluating usage and opportunities for standardization.”
The VAT needs to not only continually evaluate, analyze and innovate alongside the global sourcing partner that helps facilitate direct products, it must continue to engage with other clinical stakeholders who interact with the products, and, for many products, the patients that use them, each day. Effective product impact analysis includes costs, quality and outcomes among the metrics to measure. Continuous tracking tells the value analysis ‘story’ and can help indicate other opportunities to improve quality, outcomes and cost.
From Part 5:
“At a minimum, global sourcing helps the hospital value analysis team accomplish its mission of delivering clinically acceptable products at the lowest possible prices. But its potential is much greater: by optimizing many of the medical products used in the hospital with improvements in quality, utility, price and the patient experience.”
Be sure to check out the previous posts in this series: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; & Part 4
If you are implementing or planning to implement a global sourcing program for your hospital or IDN, let ASP Global help you navigate the value-rich waters of global sourcing by contacting info@aspglobal.com or call (404) 990-4635.
