Innovators at Steward Health Care collaborate with HealthTrust
Over the past year, leaders at Steward Health Care have worked tirelessly to improve the hospital system’s value analysis program. Thanks to their efforts, the healthcare system, comprising 40 hospitals across the U.S., South America and Malta, now has a robust, thriving program built on strong communication, data-driven decision-making and consistent physician involvement.
In a recent Candid Conversations podcast, Cheryl Anderson, DNP, MBA, RN, BSN, System Director of Value Analysis at Steward Health Care, and Erin Arnold, MSN, RN, CNOR, Clinical Resource Director for HealthTrust, shared their secrets to success.
Involving clinicians & prioritizing patients
Since Arnold and Anderson began in early 2020, they have been committed to making sure communication is front and center between the corporate and site value analysis teams. This consists of creating and sharing conversion and contract product launch packages to outline value analysis initiatives and sending out a monthly newsletter with updates on current projects. Perhaps most important in these efforts is how they involve executive leadership, physicians, surgeons and chief nursing officers to help drive change.
To have a more clinically integrated supply chain, Steward Health’s Value Analysis Team created a Physician Champion List, which designates a Physician Champion for each service line. They are also in the process of creating an Orthopedic Advisory Committee, which would allow the Value Analysis Team to tackle more advanced product categories like trauma, spine and total joints.
“Including more clinicians on our Value Analysis Team has been very important because they’re the end users,” Arnold adds. “We continually seek feedback on how we can make [the process] better for them at the site.”
The Steward Health Value Analysis Team reviews medical literature and data with the patient top of mind. “We want to make sure we’re providing our patients the best outcomes at the lowest possible cost,” Arnold explains. “That’s what drives us, because the patient is at the center of what we do.”
Expert input
Before implementing a new product or rolling out a new initiative, Anderson and Arnold both leverage HealthTrust’s resources. Anderson is part of HealthTrust’s Nursing Advisory Board, and Arnold participates in the Surgical Advisory Board to offer feedback on product contract categories. They work closely with HealthTrust account management resources when implementing new products.
“HealthTrust is a group purchasing organization with a vast portfolio of resources and staff who are committed to making its hospital members better,” Arnold explains.
Anderson agrees, adding that the Value Analysis Team at Steward Health has been able to pursue complicated projects, such as bone cement, hernia mesh and hemostasis agents, because of this partnership with HealthTrust. “We have been able to achieve so much more than we could have without HealthTrust,” she says.
Listen to the full Candid Conversations podcast, Expanding a Value Analysis Program.
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