Wellstar Health Engages Physicians to Make Better, Evidence-Based Decisions

Wellstar Health was growing and solidifying its status as one of the largest and most integrated healthcare systems in Georgia. But it was struggling with a lack of product standardization and low physician engagement in supply chain management. That thwarted its ability to make the best, evidence-based decisions about medical products, supplies, and services, and made it nearly impossible to catch duplicate new product requests.

With the relaunch and rebranding of the hospital system’s Clinical Quality Value Analysis (CQVA) program, Wellstar Health hoped to create a hospital system policy to address its challenges while also achieving savings and standardizing supply chain department initiatives. The Wellstar Health CQVA team identified many pain points, leading to a revamp of the new product request process and team alignment strategy.

The team identified key process requirements, among them:

• Physician ease of use for adoption
• Use of technology for streamlined new product process management
• Inclusion of medical chairs in the product decision process
• Ability to provide physicians with clinical data to support evidence-based decisions
• Improved team communication
• Decreased duplicate product requests

The system's lack of a central communication and data repository was a key finding, as was the need to establish the value analysis new product process as a part of physicians’ normal routine. Wellstar Health subsequently launched a search for a new product request and value analysis technology solution, and ultimately selected symplr Spend Management as its chosen partner.

KEY CHALLENGES

1. Disconnected product review process across the IDN
2. A lack of clinical evidence to support decision making
3. Absence of physicians in product decisions
4. Inability to track requests and comprehensively vet product data 
5. Duplicate product requests
6. Absence of product standardization system wide
7. A manual, cumbersome, lengthy, and siloed new product request process
8. Disjointed team communication and stakeholder alignment

SOLUTION

The transition to symplr from Formsite makes it seamless for new product requestors to capture vital input from physicians and get verification from service line medical chairs, who are in charge of all incoming requests. The symplr Spend Management research team provided evidence-based clinical data for Wellstar Health to truly achieve a clinically integrated supply chain whereby decisions use all financial, reimbursement, and contracting information for a comprehensive review.

Wellstar Health continues to advance in its ability to provide high-quality patient care using the latest technology offerings, while maintaining fiscal responsibility.

BENEFITS

Wellstar Health leverages symplr Spend Management to capture medical chairs' input for verification of all new product requests for all 18 of its service lines.