Poster presentation: Large health system offers prototype for transitioning to centralized value analysis committee

Editor's Note

Large healthcare systems considering a centralized Value Analysis Committee (VAC) model potentially have much to learn from a 10-hospital organization operating in the Washington, DC and Maryland region.

MedStar Health System’s still-ongoing transition from multiple, facility-based improvement committees is the subject of one of the first posters to appear at the annual OR Business Management Conference (ORBMC), which is showcasing such displays for the first time this week in Phoenix, Arizona.

Authored by Medstar’s Blas Brown, MBA, and Katrina McGowan, RN, MS, CNL, CCRN, the research illuminates several potential benefits of such a move. Examples include enhanced physician engagement, improved inter-hospital collaboration, increased inter-hospital communication about contract-related matters, and improved capital purchasing leverage (due to the system’s size). 

With the transition still ongoing, these observations are preliminary. Nonetheless, VACs “significantly improve perioperative management of large health systems,” the researchers write. “Recommendations for healthcare systems considering a transition to a centralized committee structure include prioritizing clear communication strategies, stakeholder involvement, and a systematic approach to change management.”