Greetings!
We would all
like to think our supply value analysis committees or teams
are very creative, imaginative and resourceful, but are they
really? Or, are they just recycling old ideas that
have worked before for you. Is this what breakthrough
innovation is all about. I don’t
think so!
In my lead
article this week I will talk about “To Innovate, You
Must Collaborate With Your Department Heads and Managers in
a New and Eclectic way!”, if
you are to supercharge your committees or value teams
with new and exciting outside the box ideas.
The term
“Eclectic” In my vocabulary means diversity, not
uniformity in the design and structure of your supply value
analysis committees and teams. In this article I will show
your some new ideas on how to ramp up your savings by
looking for extreme diversity in your committee or
team member selection at all times.
Remember,
you have everything to win (save) and nothing to lose (spend)
with our Award Winning Strategic Value Analysis® System
as your weapon of choice in your battle to manage and control
your supply chain expenses.
|
To Innovate, You Must Collaborate
With Your Department Heads and Managers In a New
Eclectic Way! |
If you
haven’t heard about a company called IDEO in the
business news lately then you may have been missing out
on breakthrough ideas on the future of
innovation that you need to know about. IDEO are
they people that conceived the ideas for Proctor and
Gamble’s new Swifter Carpet Flick, LIFEPORT’s Kidney
transport system and Intel’s new notebook computer.
My own
philosophy, after establishing and guiding value teams
for 27 years (and IDEO’s too), is that innovation isn’t
about an individual creative process (with the
exception of creative artist who work alone), but
instead in most creative endeavors innovative advances
are only made by employing an eclectic approach
to generate new ideas.
|
Multi-Disciplined Value Teams Are Out, While
Eclectic Value Teams Are Coming in |
For over 20
years now we have been taught that the only way to
make change (and savings) happen and to generate new ideas
for our health care organization is with multi-disciplined
teams. Meaning, that if we have all of the stakeholders in
the same room who share the same challenges our outcomes
will be much better, than ignoring them. This is what I call
a homogenous group of like thinking people who share
the same culture, thoughts and approach to solving problems.
Now,
let me teach you a much better way that has
revolutionized our client’s idea generation and
collaboration process!
A much
better way for you to make lasting change and save money is
to form eclectic value teams or heterogeneous groups
of department heads and managers who aren’t stakeholders in
the problem or challenge being investigated who therefore
see the world differently then the people who work
with the problem or challenge day-in-and-day-out. Thereby
opening up a whole new vista of creative ideas to be
discussed without ranker, mistrust, and territoriality or
disbelieve to achieve the desired results you are looking
for your supply chain savings.
|
Extreme Diversity Brings About
Exciting New Ideas |
IDEO
employs psychologist, anthropologist, and sociologist on
their eclectic teams to supercharge their
client’s work teams so they can gain a new perspective
on the problems or challenges that are encountering. You
can do the same thing to supercharge your own
value teams, especially since your hospital already has
a diverse group of disciplines (e.g., psychiatrists,
epidemiologist, pathologist, engineers, dieticians,
etc.) to draw from that your hospital employs too. By
added these extremely diverse disciplines to your value
team membership you will change the creative dynamics
of your team for the better. It just like making a
salad, the more dissimilar the ingredients that you use
in making your salad, the better the salad will look and
taste.
MAILBOX
My hospital
president tells me that our hospital is 1.5% (or $1,343,056)
over our regional benchmarks (provided by our GPO) for
supply expenses and he
wants me to do something about it pronto. I have a few ideas
of where to look but how do I get an
overall picture of my supply reductions? Where do you
suggest I start? J.D.
First of all, benchmarks are like taking your
temperature with a thermometer in any point in time. They
can tell you that your temperature is 104 degrees
(and you are in critical condition), but it doesn’t tell you
why. Only by having a series of diagnostic tests
(white and red count, urinalysis, and x-rays, etc.)
performed, can you find the root cause (diagnosed)
of this high temperature and then treated.
It’s the same with benchmarks!
Benchmarks can only tell you that you have a problem, but
won’t tell you why. You need diagnostic tests (price/cost
gap analysis, utilization reviews, and value analysis) to
discover the cause of your problem. Then and only then can
savings targets be established for cost reductions.
If you would like some help to find all of
your supply expense opportunities, we do have a tool which
we call a Supply
Chain Performance Assessment. It will provide you with
the reviews you are looking for to reduce your supply
expenses to an acceptable level.
Good
luck,
Bob
Yokl, Sr.
Chief Value Strategist
Strategic Value Analysis In
Healthcare
800-220-4274
bobpres@strategicvalueanalysis.com
P.S. If anyone
else has a burning question that you would like me to answer, please
call or e-mail me and I would be delighted to answer.
There Is Still “Gold In them Thar Hills”
Value Analysis Technology Connection
How Do We Save Money On High Dollar
Technology Purchases with Value Analysis? Example: Purchase of MMIS Software
Let’s Start with The Budget and Purchase Processes. Today and for many years to come the first line of
defense in healthcare organizations to control their spending is the
Budget Process. This is a vital process that allows organizations to
evaluate their purchase of technologies from the highest level of the
organization to the requesting department. In most cases the
organization has already submitted Request for Quotation to Ballpark the
price of the technology for the budget process. This is necessary and
recommended.
Who now takes control of this purchase decision in a healthcare
organization once budget approval has been granted? Most likely the
Director of Materials/Purchasing (he/she knows the most about such a
system right?) and the CFO/VP of Finance for the final sign off, prior to
purchase. In most cases budget approval is only the first step in the
purchase and will re-institute the bid process from all of the MMIS
Software Vendors that sent proposals for the Request for Quotation Process
for budget projections. Next:
-
You will Meet With
All of The Software Vendors
-
Have Demonstrations
of All of Their Software with the Latest Bells and Whistles
-
You Will Have Key
Department Heads Sit In On The Demonstrations to See How They Like
the Software Products
-
You Will Receive
Formal Proposals
-
You Will Identify
What You Like and What You Don’t Like About Each Vendors
products
-
You Will Identify
The Key Features That You and Your Users Feel Will Benefit Your
Organization
-
You Will Ask The
Vendor To Sharpen His Pencil Once You Have Chosen His Company
(Give Me Your Best Price)
-
You Will Make A
Final Recommendation to Your CFO and Senior Management on Why You Want
The Vendor you Chosen and the Contract Is Awarded and Implementation is
Started.
What’s Wrong
With This Process?
Just because you have approval and theoretical best price on $750,000 of
new Materials Management Information System Software (and numerous other
software products too) from your Finance Committee, it doesn’t mean that
you are getting this best VALUE for your converted dollars.
LET’S LOOK TO
VALUE ANALYSIS FIRST BEFORE YOU START THE BIDDING PROCESS
-
Before requesting a
RFP, establish A Value Analysis Team of customers, stakeholders and
experts to evaluate your current situation and develop performance
specification for your new MMIS system based on your functional
requirements. I.E.
-
Identify key
Issues/challenges that are problematic with your current
software/hardware configuration
-
Compare your
organization’s challenges to similar organizations that are current
utilizing same or similar MMIS Technology and/or have recently upgraded
-
Determine the
functions (primary, secondary and aesthetic) that are ABSOLUTELY require
for your MMIS
-
Develop performance
specifications based on your functional requirements
-
Prepare bidders list
for only qualified vendors that can meet or exceed your performance
specifications
-
Prepare your
performance specifications in the form of a RFP and submit to qualified
MMIS vendors
-
When bids are
returned from MMIS vendors rate vendors (1-10) on how well they met your
functional requirements and the associated cost to meet them (this might
require software demo’s and site visits to vendors customers to properly
rate and weigh these factors)
-
Select MMIS with
highest rating and lowest overall total cost that met your required
functions.
-
Lastly, negotiate
with this bidder to reduce their cost even further on the functions that
you have identified through your VA process that are not need or
required for the optimal performance of your new MMIS.
Through this
VA Process you will find that you will save up to 25% off you
theoretical best price because you predetermined what’s important to you
and what’s not. As opposed to letting your MMIS vendors overwhelm you
with feature rich options that you will NEVER, NEVER USE or even
understand.
Do not under estimate
the simple yet powerful Value Analysis Process. If you employ the process
correctly, you will lower your acquisition cost, improve your quality and
more importantly give your customers and yourself exactly what you need
and want!!
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