Message from AHVAP Executive Director

Setting the Standard: Advancing Healthcare Value Analysis Through Professional Practice Guidelines

Dear AHVAP Members and Partners,

As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve in complexity and urgency, so does the critical need for consistency, accountability, and evidence-based decision-making across all clinical and operational domains. At the heart of this transformation lies healthcare value analysis—a dynamic, multidisciplinary practice that bridges clinical outcomes, financial stewardship, and patient safety. And yet, despite its growing influence on care delivery, supply chain performance, and regulatory alignment, healthcare value analysis remains one of the few core specialties without universally accepted professional standards.

At the Association of Healthcare Value Analysis Professionals (AHVAP), we believe that is about to change. Establishing professional standards for healthcare value analysis is not just an aspirational goal—it is a necessary next step in the formalization and advancement of this vital specialty. Just as nursing, pharmacy, infection prevention, and other clinical professions rely on codified standards to guide scope, practice, and quality, value analysis professionals must also have a clearly defined framework for ethical practice, decision-making, and performance expectations.

Why? Because standards set the foundation for everything that follows: from training and certification to benchmarking, policy development, and interdisciplinary collaboration. They provide a shared language and set of expectations that enable professionals to operate with clarity and purpose in environments that are increasingly reliant on data-driven, value-based strategies.

Standards Support Evidence-Based Practice

One of the most powerful reasons for establishing professional standards is the role they play in reinforcing evidence-based practice. In healthcare, we are accountable not just for what we choose, but how we choose—and that’s where value analysis professionals have become increasingly indispensable. Whether evaluating a new implant, determining formulary alignment, or reviewing utilization patterns for high-cost technologies, our work is central to achieving the Quadruple Aim: improving patient outcomes, reducing costs, enhancing the provider experience, and promoting equity.

Without clearly defined standards, however, value analysis practices can vary significantly from one organization to the next. Some programs are embedded within the clinical infrastructure, while others are driven by supply chain. Some focus narrowly on cost savings, while others emphasize clinical alignment or quality improvement. By creating a unified set of professional standards, we establish best practices that are consistent, defensible, and based on evidence—not assumptions or convenience.

Moreover, standards help ensure that value analysis processes remain free from undue bias or conflict of interest. As healthcare continues to emphasize transparency and accountability, professional standards serve as both a guardrail and a roadmap—offering guidance on ethical considerations, stakeholder engagement, documentation, and outcomes measurement.

Standards Elevate the Profession

Professional standards also elevate the credibility and visibility of the value analysis specialty within the broader healthcare system. For too long, the role of value analysis professionals has been misunderstood as purely transactional or cost-driven. In reality, our work is deeply rooted in systems thinking, clinical knowledge, and operational insight. By defining what excellence in value analysis looks like—through roles, competencies, and measurable outcomes—we assert our role as strategic partners in health system transformation.

At AHVAP, we’ve already begun this journey through the creation of the Value Analysis Conceptual Model™, a framework that outlines the key domains and responsibilities of healthcare value analysis professionals. Building upon that model, we are working with national experts and cross-sector partners to develop formal standards of practice that will provide the foundation for future education, certification, and quality improvement initiatives.

Just as importantly, these standards will serve to mentor the next generation of value analysis professionals. As more healthcare organizations recognize the value of formalizing their value analysis programs, standards will provide a clear roadmap for building and sustaining effective, ethical, and evidence-based teams.

Standards Improve Patient Care

Ultimately, everything we do in value analysis is about improving patient care. Whether we are evaluating a new medical device, ensuring the safety of reprocessed instruments, or guiding implementation of high-value formularies, the outcomes we influence ripple directly into the lives of patients and caregivers.

Professional standards will help ensure that those outcomes are grounded in consistency, fairness, and clinical rigor. They will also enable healthcare systems to better measure the impact of value analysis on patient outcomes, safety events, and operational efficiency—supporting more strategic alignment with hospital boards, regulatory bodies, and accrediting agencies.

In an era where reimbursement is increasingly tied to quality metrics and risk-based contracting, value analysis professionals must be prepared to show that our recommendations are not only cost-effective, but clinically sound and outcome-focused. Standards give us the structure to do that with confidence.

Leading the Future Together

At AHVAP, our mission is clear: to lead, define, and elevate the profession of healthcare value analysis. Setting professional standards is one of the most important ways we can deliver on that mission. It will not only solidify the foundation of our specialty but ensure that value analysis professionals are equipped to lead in the changing healthcare environment.

In the coming months, we will be inviting input from AHVAP members, academic partners, and regulatory stakeholders to inform the development of these standards. We believe the most powerful standards are those built collaboratively—by professionals, for professionals—with the patient at the center of every decision.

Together, we can define what it means to practice healthcare value analysis with excellence, integrity, and purpose. And with that foundation in place, there is no limit to what our profession—and our patients—can achieve.

Regards, 

J. Hudson Garrett Jr., Ph.D., MSN, MPH, MBA, FNP-BC, IP-BC, PLNC, VA-BC, LTC-CIP, CIC, CPPS, CAE, CAIP, CPHQ, CVAHP™, ICE-CCP, CPXP, CMRP, CDIPC, FAOM, FACDONA, FAAPM, FAPIC, FNAP, FACHE, FSHEA, FIDSA, FAHVAP
Executive Director and Executive Vice President
Association of Healthcare Value Analysis Professionals (AVHAP)
Chief Credentialing Officer
AHVAP Certification Center
Certified Association Executive