Too often we tend to nibble around the edges of our supply chain costs with our value analysis teams when we don’t analyze the policies, procedures, and processes employed by our staff and customers in the receiving, storage, delivery, and disposal of the products, services, and technologies that we are purchasing. To prove our point, SVAH once saved close to $100,000 for a client by performing a value stream mapping on their General Request Form. We identified that 13 of their nursing floor printers were spewing out two General Request Forms for every one that was requested. The fact is, saving money with value analysis isn’t just about things, but also about the policies, procedures, and processes that support them. We call this technique – closing the savings loop on your value analysis studies!
Definition: Value Stream Mapping
The formal definition of value stream mapping is the “process of identifying and charting the flows of information, processes, and physical goods, services, and technologies across your entire supply chain from receipt of your goods, services, or technologies to their disposal and everything in between.” More importantly, it is the elimination of all of your excess supply chain costs through an in-depth analysis of how your staff and customers employ their products, services, and technologies before, during, and after you bought them. This can be a real eye opener!
Objectives of Value Stream Mapping
To set the tone for your value stream mapping process it is important to define your objectives as follows:
- Visualize the product, service, and technology information, material, and process workflows throughout your healthcare organization.
- Prioritize supply chain continuous improvement activities organization-wide.
- Provide a common language for analysis of supply chain policies, procedures, and processes.
These and other objectives of your own will give you the direction that is required to expand the scope of your value analysis studies. Don’t forget to write them down!
Benefits of Value Stream Mapping
In addition to saving hundreds of thousands of additional dollars every year for your healthcare organization, value stream mapping can and will:
- Highlight deficiencies in your supply chain systems that need to be changed.
- Identify opportunities for improvement of policies, procedures, and systems.
- Improve your understanding of highly complex processes, procedures, and systems.
- Prioritize continuous improvement projects for your value analysis teams.
Most importantly, in the value-based purchasing world we will be reimbursed in, value stream mapping will surface quality issues that need to be addressed before they affect your healthcare organization’s cost, quality, and outcomes. It’s just that simple!
Closing the Loop on Your Value Analysis Studies
To recap, you should consider value stream mapping as a “preventive maintenance” check on all of your supply chain processes, procedures, and systems every time you evaluate a new or existing product, service, or technology. Then value stream mapping will not only ensure that your value analysis team has not only identified the best value products, services, and technologies for purchase, but have affirmed or reaffirmed the logic behind the policies, procedures, and processes that support them; thereby, closing the loop on your supply chain value analysis studies.