AHVAP BOD Highlights

Anne Marie Orlando, MBA, RN, RCIS, CVAHP™
Treasurer, Board of Directors (2023)
AHVAP

The first time I was in healthcare, I was 16 volunteered as a candy striper (is this still a thing?) at my local hospital. I looked forward to my shift every week. Whether I was answering phones at the front desk or delivering the newspapers to the patients, I knew that healthcare was my calling.

Fast-forward to 2001, I started an internship as an exercise physiologist in a hospital-based cardiac rehab program. At the end of my internship, I was offered a part-time job as an EKG technologist. That quickly became a full-time job, and I then transferred into the exercise stress room. Within a year, I found myself in the diagnostic Cardiac Cath Lab. At every stage, I was learning more and more and found that the Cath Lab was my first nursing passion. The Cath Lab was fast-paced critical care and within the first year, I sat for my registry and passed. On a side note, I still hold my RCIS (Registered, Cardiovascular Invasive Specialist). Soon after I was credentialed, I enrolled in full-time nursing school while still working full-time. Upon graduation with my RN, I became responsible for the non-invasive cardiology department and then back to the Cath Lab. I worked with a team to develop the lab into a 24/7 interventional Cath Lab, combined with interventional radiology and incorporated vascular procedures. I learned a lot during my time in the Cath Lab not only from a clinical but also a financial perspective: billing codes, reimbursement, capital requests, contracting, and budgeting. In addition, part of my job was representing our interests in the supply management team meeting. Here, I was able to interact with hospital departments outside my specialty. Eventually, the call responsibility did not fit into my life and a dual role opened in Supply Chain. I applied and was hired to be the Supply Chain Director and Clinical Resource Director. There was no more call but a lot more work.

The supply management meeting I led was comprised of a multidisciplinary team; we performed a 360* review of the clinical products used, requested, and all clinical practices within the hospital. It wasn’t called value analysis- I embarrassingly didn’t even know that term existed. Although the word “value” was not found within the formal name of the meeting, we were applying the value analysis process. We developed strong governance and methodologies and our discussions included quality and outcomes data. This new, expanded role in nursing became my second nursing passion. I still didn’t realize it had a formal name: Value Analysis.

In 2015, I transitioned to the GPO level and finally had the words value analysis in my title. I even worked on a set of tools for use by other VA professionals. I was still, however, unaware of an organization dedicated to this profession. My boss mentioned this group called ‘AHVAP,’ and she served on the committee responsible for developing the certification. I filed that nugget away and continued my day-to-day work.

Then, I started at BluePoint. It was 2019 when I attended my first AHVAP conference and I can remember my boss telling me “These are our people.” I was intrigued and didn’t quite understand. So, on a whim, I decided I needed a better understanding and signed up for the certification prep course. I can remember Beth Potter, Sue Miller, and others talking about the pillars. Well, the light finally dawned. I had been doing this thing called Value Analysis for years and had no idea there were so many others like me. Nor did I know that this process had an official name. My fire was lit. When I returned from the conference, I decided my personal goal would be to obtain my certification and serve on the CVAHP committee. In May 2020, I passed my certification and became active in the CVAHP committee. At the annual conference in 2020, I helped teach the prep course virtually and then in 2021 and 2022 I helped teach the pre-conference workshop in person. During this time, I also began to serve as AHVAP’s Treasurer. Throughout my involvement with AHVAP, I’ve had the privilege to help others learn about the pillars and deep dive into the Value Analysis process. This is what drove me to be involved in the former CVAHP committee and in the Board of Directors as the Treasurer. During my years spent as a Supply Chain and Clinical Resource Director, I would have benefited from the knowledge held by AHVAP instead of navigating it on my own. To me, this highlights the importance of mentorship, bringing knowledge to the profession, and highlighting the work we do on the daily. AHVAP is here to help those who are new to the profession and to be a place where more experienced VA professionals can continuously learn, develop and support each other. AHVAP is an amazing organization, and I am so very proud and honored to serve.