April 13, 2022 – Value Analysis is a critical piece of the greater puzzle of the healthcare supply chain, an evidence-based and data-driven process that equips clinicians with the tools they need to provide better patient care. Those who work in Value Analysis are constantly analyzing and evaluating the efficacy and price point of healthcare products used in hospitals and clinics to treat patients.
At the Mayo Clinic, Terri Nelson, RN, Director of Value Analysis Supply Chain Management, and her team operate the Value Analysis department with a clinical perspective that empowers them to make better and more informed decisions about product evaluations. The end game for her team is to always make sure that the patient is taken care of.
Nelson said, “A clinical background is so important because we have had so many disruptions. Clinicians are already at the end of their rope with dealing with COVID and patients, but now they have to have these disruptions continually? Because we can understand them, we try to bring solutions. That’s why Value Analysis should exist: to take some of that stress off of the clinical staff and help them to make a decision that supports them.”
For Nelson, this background is a critical component to running a successful Value Analysis program. “Nurses are always thinking about, you came in as a patient, you started here. But I know we’re going to do X, Y, and Z. And you might end up in three other locations. So, I have to pre-plan for it. It’s the same thing within the supply chain. If I get a product that’s not functioning well, what are my options to make sure there’s not a disruption of patient care to that?”
Why nurses? Nelson admits that there’s a little bit of bias towards nursing. She said, “Nurses are a jack of all trades. We knew a little bit about everything and how it relates to patient care especially. Mayo has acute care and non-acute care, and you’ll find that there are a fair number of nurses because we are a jack of all trades.” Her team is successful because of that foundation of clinical knowledge, which has helped them to find better, long-lasting solutions for Mayo.
Read more in the latest issue of The Journal of Healthcare Contracting.