“Functional
Analysis Is The Best Tool We Can Employ To Change Our Clinician’s
Opinions, Beliefs and Convictions”
(PART 3 OF 3)
In addition to
rigorously and endlessly questioning our clinician’s
opinions, beliefs and convictions in order to understand their points
of reference, and thus move them from a NO to YES in any product,
service or technology evaluation (see part 1 and 2 of this series), we
also have one more powerful tool in our arsenal called FUNCTIONAL
ANALYSIS.
Function
is the purpose for which a product, service or technology is designed or
exists. Functional analysis, therefore, is the study of the uses
and the costs of functions to determine the appropriate mix of functions
(primary, secondary and aesthetic) required by our clinicians to perform
a task, job or service. The operative word here is REQUIRED; since our
clinicians don’t need everything they are now buying to perform
their stated functions. Or we may be able to substitute an element of a
product, service or technology (or provide an alternative) at a lower
cost to meet their same functional requirements.
Since functional
analysis is a collaborative effort in partnership with your customer
groups this change management technique isn’t threatening to
them, but actually has been found to be educational, interesting and
empowering for them.
FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS Will Lead To More Yes’s
A number of years
ago I was consulting with a 500-bed university teaching hospital in the
northeast that was purchasing patient slippers at a cost of $3.99 each
(yes -- $3.99 each) representing $100,000 in purchases annually.
Believe it or not this was a clinician driven and very sensitive
purchase for the hospital, since it involved patient safety.
However, when a functional analysis was conducted by the hospital’s
value team to determine the slippers primary function (or reason
for being) -- in the customer’s eyes – the primary function was found to
be to PREVENT FALLS. Further, the customers couldn’t identify any
secondary or aesthetic functions that were absolutely positively
required for this slipper. With this functional specification in hand
the value team was able to find a lower cost alternative to meet the
function of prevent falls at a cost of $1.22 each or a saving of
$68,67l.68 for the hospital.
This sizable
savings on mundane slippers would have been IMPOSSIBLE by the hospital
prior to the introduction of the FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE to their
clinicians, because of their opinion, belief or conviction that
no change was possible because the safety of their patients was
at risk. However, their “Points of Reference” were changed once
the clinicians saw for themselves (accepted as self-evident) that the
$1.22 slipper met their functional requirement (prevent falls) exactly.
Clinicians Will Change Their Opinions, Beliefs and Convictions If You
Can Change Their Points Of Reference.
Over the last
three weeks, I’ve attempted through this series of articles to convince
you that you can, “move your clinicians from a NO to YES in any
product, service or technology evaluation”, if you change their
POINTS OF REFERENCE by (i) understanding where they acquired them, (ii)
asking disturbing, mind changing questions and (iii) by utilizing the
tool of functional analysis to determine your customer groups’ exact
functional specifications, then meeting them exactly.
These empowering
strategies, tactics and techniques are at opposite poles from many of
stratagems that I hear being employed at our nation’s hospitals by
supply chain managers to move their clinicians from NO’s to YES’s. Most
of these tactics, such as, DEMANDING that their clinicians
standardize and consolidate their purchases under one manufacturer
or vendor are really PUSHING and PULLING clinicians in the WRONG
direction – but forward.
The only way to
have more YES’s than NO’s on your product, service and technology
evaluations (and sustain those changes over a lifetime) is for you to
become a psychologist and anthropologist so you can truly
understand your clinician’s opinions, beliefs and convictions, then
change their points of reference with evidence-based arguments
that will lead you to negotiate favorable outcomes for you and your
clinicians.
by
Robert T. Yokl, President