OR Manager - February 2019 - 28

Success stories
Transitioning from a paper-based data and operations
management system to one that uses relational database
software has helped improve workflow and achieve cost
savings at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington,
Massachusetts. This article describes the role of the surgical
services value analysis committee in guiding this transition
and offers lessons learned that may help other healthcare
professionals embarking on a similar journey.
OR Manager periodically publishes contributed articles from
nurse leaders or other healthcare providers who want to
share their experiences with our readers.
Do you have something to share? Please contact Elizabeth Wood, Editor, OR Manager, at ewood@accessintel.com; 301-354-1786.
All contributed articles are reviewed by our editorial advisors and, upon acceptance, are edited for style and clarity.
Surgical VAC mines new software for deeper look at products
fter transitioning from a paperbased
data and operations
management system to one
that uses relational database software,
Lahey Hospital and Medical Center
(LHMC) in Burlington, Massachusetts,
saved more than $1 million in product
purchases in 2017. The surgical value
analysis committee (VAC) evaluated
150 product requests and managed
the conversion of three large suites of
products to alternate vendors. Rebates
for meeting product use agreements
made possible through vendor loyalty
contracts amounted to $589,000.
LHMC, a 335-bed acute care hospital,
is part of Lahey Health, a system of
hospitals northeast of Boston with more
than 1,400 local providers in adult and
pediatric primary care spread among
community group practices and five hospitals.
LHMC employs more than 500
physicians, including 125 surgeons,
and more than 1,300 nurses.
The surgical VAC is one of several
value analysis committees at LHMC
that collaborate to optimize cost, quality,
and clinical outcomes. Use of customized
software to support all of the
surgical VAC's functions-notably,
evaluating non-commodity products
and physician preference products and
equipment for the OR-has been highly
successful.
A
The committee is also responsible
for:
* evaluating and managing surgicalrelated
group purchasing organization
(GPO) savings opportunities and
bundled product transitions
www.ormanager.com
* setting up and administering product
trials
* ensuring effective communication
between stakeholders and administrative
decision-makers
* tracking product savings opportunities
and rebates.
Committee members include the
vice chair of the department of surgery
(committee chair), three senior staff
surgeons, the chief nursing officer of
surgical services, the nursing administrative
lead, service lead nurses,
the OR supply chain specialist, the
financial director of surgical services,
a surgical technician, a GPO representative,
and the administrative director
of value analysis.
Room for improvement
Four years ago, the VAC was reorganized
with a newly appointed chief of
surgery. The VAC's goal was to increase
data-driven decision-making and create
workflows that produced consistent and
measurable results.
At the time of the transition, the
basic activities of the VAC-including
minutes, attendance, meeting
proceedings, decisions, and trial outcomes-were
entirely paper based.
Committee members were often unfamiliar
with the products being presented,
and most of the reimbursement
and quality information came
from the provider who was requesting
the product.
There was no consistent way to
compare the requested product's financial
impact with the financial performance
of the existing product. Several
deficiencies were noted:
* multiple unresolved agenda items
* inconsistent recording of attendance
* no premeeting preparation
* lack of product familiarity
* incomplete product information
* lack of stakeholder involvement
* inability to assess multiple related
products for financial impact
* no real-time financial data for decision-making
*
inconsistent product trial preparation
and follow-up
* lost trial results
* no ability to send reminders for trial
completion
* open trials without any data or follow-up.
To
improve this process, we first observed
and recorded existing workflows,
which were not consistently followed.
Previous improvement efforts weren't
sustained under a paper-based system,
and we clearly needed software support
to provide a structured environment for
consistent process performance. We
used the plan-do-study-act healthcare
improvement model to facilitate the
transition.
Turning a vision into a process
We initially used Filemaker's relational
database software (Filemaker Pro 15
version 15.0.2.220 8-20-2016), although
we could have used any commercially
available relational database.
A relational database stores data in tables
that relate to one another through
Continued on page 28
OR Manager | February 2019 27

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OR Manager - February 2019

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