Value Analysis: An Opportune Time for Cost Savings + Quality Care

Outlet: The Journal of Healthcare Contracting

Healthcare organizations across the country continue to face a host of financial headwinds, ranging from a potential economic recession and ongoing supply shortages to global market disruptions and inflation. Fortunately, many hospitals and health systems are responding appropriately by taking steps to enhance their fiscal responsibility and identify opportunities for savings. Oftentimes, health systems struggle to find these opportunities; leaders may think they have run out of options for additional cost savings.

Value analysis can offer a holistic solution for these health systems by identifying the right places to look through evidence-based and qualitative practices. The value analysis process assesses the quality, utilization and overall cost of a product, practice or procedure across categories – ensuring that the organization delivers the highest level of patient care while also driving value for the organization.

Leaders at many healthcare organizations may think they have a robust value analysis program, but oftentimes face a challenge of sustaining it – oftentimes due to a lack of internal leadership support. Clinicians who actively participate in the value analysis process are also balancing their day-to-day responsibilities of ensuring patients are taken care of, and with hospitals navigating staffing shortages, clinicians are pulled in many different directions – making time for activities not directly related to their primary responsibilities a lower priority. Other factors preventing hospitals from sustaining a value analysis program include conversion fatigue and certain activities involved in the process such as products evaluations.

In addition, many hospitals historically did not consider value analysis as an essential part of their operations. However, the pandemic demonstrated to many in the industry the importance of supporting a value analysis program and using it to guide a clinical strategy that produces optimal cost savings.

HealthTrust’s Unique Approach to Value Analysis

HealthTrust is committed to helping healthcare organizations protect their financial resources and prioritize quality patient outcomes. We take a holistic approach to the process by ensuring the right structure and governance to adopt or advance a value analysis program across an organization.

HealthTrust’s approach to value analysis goes beyond supply chain needs and usually starts with a foundational reset. At the onset of the process, we structure a committee leading the value analysis program that involves clinicians, supply chain professionals, executive leadership and representatives from across a health system’s facilities or regions. This ensures everyone is working toward the same goals and that roles and responsibilities are clearly defined. Simultaneously, when setting up value analysis program, HealthTrust completes an assessment of the hospital or health system’s existing program to identify gaps preventing success by answering questions like:

• Does the program have a charter?
• What does the governance look like?
• Does the governance and structure identify an executive sponsor?
• How are decisions made?
• Is there a process for new product introductions and approvals? Is there an appeal process?

From there, we collaborate with systems to develop a work plan to identify opportunities and ultimately implement them. Many times, the value analysis process supports standardization across a health system’s facilities in addition to identifying where waste might exist, which can help achieve significant cost savings. Clinical integration is another core part of what makes HealthTrust’s approach to value analysis unique. If supplies are not being utilized or reviewed by the professionals that are using them, then administrators, supply chain and operational leaders cannot make informed decisions about the relationship between a product and clinical outcomes. To ensure outcomes influence decision making, HealthTrust integrates clinical personnel into the value analysis process and deploys tested methods to make sure they remain engaged, recognizing this can be a barrier for many supply chain teams. We encourage buy-in from clinicians by:

• Ensuring they are involved in decision making.
• Emphasizing that they are contributing to improving their organization as a whole.
• Focusing on the patient experience and quality outcomes that will result in a successful value analysis program.
• Underscoring how the outcomes of the program can improve clinician experience in areas of efficiency, time savings and safety.
• Involving clinicians in product evaluations by allowing them to test and trial products and provide feedback.

When healthcare systems can engage clinicians in choosing and committing to certain suppliers and products, the supply chain process is more clinically integrated, leading to improved quality control, efficiency and cost savings – benefitting clinicians, health systems and, most importantly, patients.

How HealthTrust Can Help

HealthTrust can partner with health systems to help navigate challenges facing the industry by drawing on its deep operational expertise and a robust network of manufacturers, vendors and supply chain advisory boards – helping leaders anticipate shortages or roadblocks and develop strategies for supplies in response. Our familiarity with contracts and supplies also allows us to closely examine contract terms to understand opportunities, such as standardization incentives, for mitigating the impact of inflation and advising when the best time is to make changes in a particular category.

In addition, HealthTrust does not just provide a playbook for implementation during and after the value analysis process. We work with health systems every step of the way while prioritizing our role as good stewards of their resources. We not only help teams make the optimal decisions around products that are cost effective, but also guarantee that systems we work with never compromise on care. HealthTrust consistently supports product quality, and the patient care goals throughout the process.

To learn more about adopting a value analysis program at your facility, reach out to our Advisory Services team at solutions@healthtrustpg.com.