Value Analysis Non-Salary Expense Reduction Supply Chain Management Savings

There Is An Old Saying that is the national anthem of the culture of “no”, “ If You Don’t Want To Do Something, Any Excuse Is Good Enough”

Lou Gerstner, the former CEO of IBM, gets the credit for coining the phase “the culture of “No” which is what he found when he arrived at IBM in the 90s. This culture values criticism, analysis paralysis, multiple decision makers, numerous approval processes and holding on to the status quo above all else. This culture is usually filled with a few powerbrokers who have built fiefdoms that are so dominant in the organization that they can ignore or discount all directives that come their way from any source. Based on my own experience this culture of “no” is rampant in healthcare too!

Some attributes of the culture of “no” organizations are:” if it’s not invented here, it couldn’t be any good”, “if it is going to tread on my territory it isn’t going happen”, “I don’t see it as my job to go beyond my job description” and “I can only juggle two balls at once, so don’t even think about given me a third one to juggle”.

To transform this culture of “no” to a culture of “yes”, healthcare executives and supply chain professionals must realize that even though this culture of “no” is very persistent, it isn’t unchangeable. The most powerful way to do so is to dramatize that the context has changed.

The expression, “change through persuasion” is at the epicenter of making the transformation from a “no” culture to a “yes” culture. This requires shifting the context (or the root causes, circumstances or events that form the culture) from dysfunctional behaviors and substitute them with the desired behaviors.

The following is an example of this shifting of context from dysfunctional behaviors and substituting them with desired behaviors. One of our healthcare system’s clients had all of the attributes of a “no” culture that I just described including one powerbroker who controlled all of this healthcare system’s surgical services purchases for their three hospital system.

Now it was our job to install a supply value analysis system for this healthcare organization and gain the cooperation of this powerbroker who had owned and fiercely protected his surgical services territory for many years. How did we do it using the concept of “change through persuasion” to move the powerbroker from a “no” to a “yes”?

First, he was appointed as one of the champions for this new “money-savings” process that we were installing, and was personally asked by his COO to make this new process a success because the COO was depending on this new initiative to make his budget target this year. He also was appointed administrative representative of the system’s surgical services value teams, which kept his powerbase in tact.

Next, he was trained in our advanced value analysis philosophies, principles and practices for two days along with his surgical services value team. This event started to shift the context on what he believed about supply cost management, since he was always price oriented before this training session, not function or customer oriented.

Lastly, once he saw the successes of his surgical value team in making savings happen – beyond price -- he bought into the “new way of doing things around here” and embraced the new paradigm or context with gusto! Thus, he move from a “no” to “yes” environment without any directives, arm twisting or time wasting power plays.

“Change through persuasion” is a new concept whereby you persuade your management and employees to change their behaviors through presentations, educational sessions, workshops and on-going dialog and coaching showing that your organization’s circumstances have changed and that we all will need to work together in a new way to solve the challenges that we all are facing now.

The theory behind “Change through persuasion” is similar to a political campaign in that you are selling yourself and your ideas to your management and employees to convince them that you are the right person, with the right plan to move your organization to the next level of savings performance.

Your biggest challenge in this campaign will be to avoid backsliding or people falling back to their old dysfunctional behaviors. Your job then to maintain momentum of your campaign is to reinforce good habits with rewards and stamp out bad behavior by confronting the offending party about their behavior. Then get them back on track through coaching them on the behavior you expect of them as a norm.

What If You Could Make The Impossible – Saving $1 Million Dollars On Your Supply Chain Expenses --, Probable (Maybe Even Certain) This Year Too?

On October 27, 2004 the Boston Red Sox became World Champions for the first time in 86 years. And if you look closely at the Red Sox story, you’ll find that it wasn’t done through luck, chance, winging it or some incredible twist of fate.

They became World Champions because they had: (a) proven system for success, and (b) they stuck with their system religiously – through thick and thin, winning streaks and losing streaks, come hell and high water.

What if you decided today to make this year your “World Championship” of savings year? What if you had a “money-saving” system and stuck to it and 2005 quickly became the most rewarding year of your life career wise

Imagine that by the end of this year you’ve gotten a nice raise for your superior performance -- how satisfying would that be?

Sounds good! Well I am here to tell you that it can happen, if you would take the first step and complete our “No Cost – No Obligations” Supply Chain Performance Survey on our website which is www.strategicvalueanalysis.com. We then can quickly get back to you with your results and a plan for you to make those savings $1 million dollar savings start flowing for you in 2005!

How Can I get Better Participation And Consensus From My Value Analysis Committee Members? B.M.

As I said in past articles, with few exceptions, value analysis committees are passive, risk averse, unproductive, foot-dragging and even sometimes actively resistance to change of any kind. So my suggestion to improve your members’ participation would be to move to a Team-Based Project Management Model™ from a value analysis committee model. You can find information on how to form a team-based model by downloading my White Paper on the subject at my website www.strategicvalueanalysis.com/white/strategic.htm.

Consensus is good on any topic, but not a requirement for a healthy value analysis committee or team meeting. I would suggest that if you can’t reach consensus on any topic, that you have your members vote on the topic. The majority wins. You can then move on to other topics without being bogged down with consensus building, which could take months or even years to obtain.

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 it.

Reprocessing of Disposables Isn’t Debatable,It’s Now Becoming A Best Practice…

It still amazes me that most hospitals still aren’t taking full advantage of reprocessing selected disposables product (e.g., oxisensors, DVTs, BP and Tourniquet cuffs, EP catheters, etc.) that will yield them savings of 50% over buying new disposable products in this category.

Move To The Next Level Of Savings Performance "Beyond Price" With the “The Ultimate Value Analysis System”.

If you are ready to move to the next level of savings performance at your healthcare organization, I would strongly suggest that you consider purchasing my new book that is now available at my website http://www.strategicvalueanalysis.com/ultimatevalueanalysis.htm. In this book, I share with you my award winning system (that has saved 296 hospitals and 24 healthcare systems -- just like yours -- $ 337 million). The "The ULTIMATE VALUE ANALYSIS SYSTEM" will show you, step by step how to plan, organize, manage and attain superior savings in less time with greater success!

I am now in my 18th year as a healthcare supply chain and value analysis consultant and trainer (30 years in the healthcare business), and you can see from the gray hairs I have paid my dues. Which means I have learned a great deal about Value Analysis In Healthcare and have developed my quick and easy system that will enable you to avoid all the roadblocks, pitfalls and obstacles that come from developing a program yourself. I have trained hundreds of hospitals and healthcare systems in the practical and easy to use system of Value Analysis that I am offering here today. Now you too have the opportunity to utilize my secrets that leading healthcare organizations have learned from me to move them to the next level of savings performance (beyond price) for your hospital, system or alternate care facility.

Strategic Value Analysis In Healthcare
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	STRATEGIC VALUE ANALYSIS^TM NEWSLETTER

Home Weekly Strategic Value Analysis Newsletter View Archived Strategic Value Analysis Newsletters Fast Target Savings Strategic^TM Value Analysis ValueNet Central^TM Value Analysis Software Training About HCP Client List Articles and White Papers Contact HCP FREE Weekly Email How To Tips Click Here to Access the NO Obligation Free Non-Salary Survey to find out what your savings opportunities are for your organization. Free Web poll for your Web site - freepolls.com		February 15, 2005 by Robert T. Yokl, President How To Eradicate, Eliminate Or At Least Cancel Out The Affects Of The Culture of “No”! *There Is An Old Saying that is the national anthem of the culture of “no”, “ If You Don’t Want To Do Something, Any Excuse Is Good Enough”* Lou Gerstner, the former CEO of IBM, gets the credit for coining the phase “the culture of “No” which is what he found when he arrived at IBM in the 90s. This culture values criticism, analysis paralysis, multiple decision makers, numerous approval processes and holding on to the status quo above all else. This culture is usually filled with a few powerbrokers who have built fiefdoms that are so dominant in the organization that they can ignore or discount all directives that come their way from any source. Based on my own experience this culture of “no” is rampant in healthcare too! *Some attributes of the culture of “no” organizations are:” if it’s not invented here, it couldn’t be any good”,* “if it is going to tread on my territory it isn’t going happen”, “I don’t see it as my job to go beyond my job description” and “I can only juggle two balls at once, so don’t even think about given me a third one to juggle”. To transform this culture of “no” to a culture of “yes”, healthcare executives and supply chain professionals must realize that even though this culture of “no” is very persistent, it isn’t unchangeable. The most powerful way to do so is to dramatize that the context has changed. Moving From A “No” Culture to a “Yes” Culture! The expression, “change through persuasion” is at the epicenter of making the transformation from a “no” culture to a “yes” culture. This requires shifting the context (or the root causes, circumstances or events that form the culture) from dysfunctional behaviors and substitute them with the desired behaviors. The following is an example of this shifting of context from dysfunctional behaviors and substituting them with desired behaviors. One of our healthcare system’s clients had all of the attributes of a “no” culture that I just described including one powerbroker who controlled all of this healthcare system’s surgical services purchases for their three hospital system. Now it was our job to install a supply value analysis system for this healthcare organization and gain the cooperation of this powerbroker who had owned and fiercely protected his surgical services territory for many years. How did we do it using the concept of “change through persuasion” to move the powerbroker from a “no” to a “yes”? First, he was appointed as one of the champions for this new “money-savings” process that we were installing, and was personally asked by his COO to make this new process a success because the COO was depending on this new initiative to make his budget target this year. He also was appointed administrative representative of the system’s surgical services value teams, which kept his powerbase in tact. Next, he was trained in our advanced value analysis philosophies, principles and practices for two days along with his surgical services value team. This event started to shift the context on what he believed about supply cost management, since he was always price oriented before this training session, not function or customer oriented. Lastly, once he saw the successes of his surgical value team in making savings happen – beyond price -- he bought into the “new way of doing things around here” and embraced the new paradigm or context with gusto! Thus, he move from a “no” to “yes” environment without any directives, arm twisting or time wasting power plays. Change Through Persuasion “Change through persuasion” is a new concept whereby you persuade your management and employees to change their behaviors through presentations, educational sessions, workshops and on-going dialog and coaching showing that your organization’s circumstances have changed and that we all will need to work together in a new way to solve the challenges that we all are facing now. The theory behind “Change through persuasion” is similar to a political campaign in that you are selling yourself and your ideas to your management and employees to convince them that you are the right person, with the right plan to move your organization to the next level of savings performance. Your biggest challenge in this campaign will be to avoid backsliding or people falling back to their old dysfunctional behaviors. Your job then to maintain momentum of your campaign is to reinforce good habits with rewards and stamp out bad behavior by confronting the offending party about their behavior. Then get them back on track through coaching them on the behavior you expect of them as a norm. ________________________________________________________ Hell Freezes Over: Red Sox Win World Series What If You Could Make The Impossible – Saving $1 Million Dollars On Your Supply Chain Expenses --, Probable (Maybe Even Certain) This Year Too? How Great Will 2005 Turn Our For You And Your Healthcare Care Organization If You Could Make This Happen? On October 27, 2004 the Boston Red Sox became World Champions for the first time in 86 years. And if you look closely at the Red Sox story, you’ll find that it wasn’t done through luck, chance, winging it or some incredible twist of fate. They became World Champions because they had: (a) proven system for success, and (b) they stuck with their system religiously – through thick and thin, winning streaks and losing streaks, come hell and high water. What if you decided today to make this year your “World Championship” of savings year? What if you had a “money-saving” system and stuck to it and 2005 quickly became the most rewarding year of your life career wise Imagine that by the end of this year you’ve gotten a nice raise for your superior performance -- how satisfying would that be? Sounds good! Well I am here to tell you that it can happen, if you would take the first step and complete our “No Cost – No Obligations” Supply Chain Performance Survey on our website which is www.strategicvalueanalysis.com. We then can quickly get back to you with your results and a plan for you to make those savings $1 million dollar savings start flowing for you in 2005! MAILBOX How Can I get Better Participation And Consensus From My Value Analysis Committee Members? B.M. As I said in past articles, with few exceptions, value analysis committees are passive, risk averse, unproductive, foot-dragging and even sometimes actively resistance to change of any kind. So my suggestion to improve your members’ participation would be to move to a Team-Based Project Management Model™ from a value analysis committee model. You can find information on how to form a team-based model by downloading my White Paper on the subject at my website www.strategicvalueanalysis.com/white/strategic.htm. Consensus is good on any topic, but not a requirement for a healthy value analysis committee or team meeting. I would suggest that if you can’t reach consensus on any topic, that you have your members vote on the topic. The majority wins. You can then move on to other topics without being bogged down with consensus building, which could take months or even years to obtain. Bob Yokl 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 it. Reprocessing of Disposables Isn’t Debatable,It’s Now Becoming A Best Practice… It still amazes me that most hospitals still aren’t taking full advantage of reprocessing selected disposables product (e.g., oxisensors, DVTs, BP and Tourniquet cuffs, EP catheters, etc.) that will yield them savings of 50% over buying new disposable products in this category. Generally, what is holding back these savings is a powerbroker that feels it is inappropriate to reprocess a disposable product, but doesn’t have any facts to back up this opinion. To help you sell these powerbrokers that say it doesn’t make sense to reprocess, you will find the facts at the FDA’s own website at www.fda.gov/cdrh/reuse/index.html. *WARNING: Your Management Is Looking For New Savings Reductions:* DON’T WAIT UNTIL YOU ARE MANDATED TO MAKE “BIG” SAVINGS HAPPEN! Be Proactive! Don’t Wait For A Crisis To Unfold Or Take You By Surprise! Move To The Next Level Of Savings Performance "Beyond Price" With the “The Ultimate Value Analysis System”. If you are ready to move to the next level of savings performance at your healthcare organization, I would strongly suggest that you consider purchasing my new book that is now available at my website http://www.strategicvalueanalysis.com/ultimatevalueanalysis.htm. In this book, I share with you my award winning system (that has saved 296 hospitals and 24 healthcare systems -- just like yours -- $ 337 million). The "The ULTIMATE VALUE ANALYSIS SYSTEM" will show you, step by step how to plan, organize, manage and attain superior savings in less time with greater success! I am now in my 18th year as a healthcare supply chain and value analysis consultant and trainer (30 years in the healthcare business), and you can see from the gray hairs I have paid my dues. Which means I have learned a great deal about Value Analysis In Healthcare and have developed my quick and easy system that will enable you to avoid all the roadblocks, pitfalls and obstacles that come from developing a program yourself. I have trained hundreds of hospitals and healthcare systems in the practical and easy to use system of Value Analysis that I am offering here today. Now you too have the opportunity to utilize my secrets that leading healthcare organizations have learned from me to move them to the next level of savings performance (beyond price) for your hospital, system or alternate care facility. About the Author Robert T. Yokl, President, The HCP Group, Ltd., has over 35 years of experience as a consultant and manager in the field of Supply Value Chain Management and is one of the country's leading healthcare experts in value analysis, value engineering, Non Salary Expense Reduction and materials management. He is the developer and program leader of the award winning Certified Value Analysis Practitioner Training Program™. Mr. Yokl is also the developer of the healthcare industry's leading ValueNetCentral™ Value Analysis Software. Over the past two decades he has trained thousands of healthcare managers in his patented Strategic Value Analysis™ and Team-Based Project Management™ processes and has assisted scores of organizations in developing their own value management programs. He has published six books, videos and audios on supply/value chain management. His latest book being, “ Strategic Value Analysis™: The #1 Smart Strategy for Taking Cost Out of a Healthcare Organizations’ Healthcare Supply Value Chain”. _____________________________________________________________ COPYRIGHT 2004 - THE HCP GROUP, LTD. - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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