Mark West, president of SharedClarity, LLC, is excited about what the future has in store for the new startup company, launched in January 2013. West describes SharedClarity as a joint effort between UnitedHealthcare and four large U.S. health systems: Advocate Health Care, Baylor Scott & White Health, Dignity Health, and McLaren Health Care. The ultimate mission and goal of SharedClarity is to enable better clinical outcomes and affordability through information. According to its website, SharedClarity pursues this goal by:
- Focusing on high-impact medical products that have a significant clinical and financial impact on the patient
- Identifying effective devices by developing studies that advance science-based decisions by clinicians
- Promoting acceptance of new technology that promotes improved patient care
- Offering market-leading supplier contracting
- Improving transparency of medical device performance and costs
Unlike a GPO, SharedClarity’s focus is on improving the quality and affordability of select medical devices industry-wide. The devices the organization has identified and is studying so far are high-tech and high-cost products with a significant clinical impact, such as knee and hip replacements, pacemakers, defibrillators, stents, etc. So rather than competing with national GPOs, SharedClarity’s mission is complementary.
When asked about the highest priorities and greatest challenges facing his organization, West shared three things:
- Filling out SharedClarity’s membership. “We’d like to bring additional health systems into our membership. So we are actively speaking with various organizations throughout the country, seeking organizations that have the culture and strategy that match what we’re trying to accomplish, and hopefully bringing them into the mix. That’s a very high priority for us.”
- Educating the industry on why SharedClarity is new and different. “The industry seems to be pretty quick to try at times to categorize organizations, to kind of put you in a bucket. But we see our model as being completely different; I don’t see us pigeonholed into any bucket. Really, we’re a quality first organization. The reason we exist is because we want to get better clarity on how medical devices perform, and we want to pull unique data and information to help us clinically make better decisions. I’m spending a lot of time trying to educate the industry on why we’re different and new. So that’s a second priority.”
- Using our resources wisely. “As we evaluate the opportunities that are out there for us as a startup, as we expand our operations and grow, it’s always a challenge from a leadership point of view to make sure you’re using your resources wisely. As a startup with limited resources, we have to do more with less; for instance, understanding when the right time is to bring on additional staff, or how fully we need to build out our infrastructure to support our business. There’s no doubt that’s a challenge for us right now.”
West went on to say that while being new and different presents certain challenges in regard to being accurately perceived and understood by the industry, it also has proven to be one of SharedClarity’s greatest strengths:
“We’re new and different, and we fill a big need in the industry—and when I’m talking about a big need, I mean the clinical side and understanding how these products perform. The physicians whom with we work within our membership are really excited about what we’re doing… and there’s just a tremendous amount of new energy. That’s what I think really is our biggest strength. Our model is not a cookie-cutter of something else. It’s totally different. I am really enjoying it, and so is my leadership team; it’s very energizing for our employees and also for our members.”
When asked how he would describe the leadership characteristics of his team, West said, “A couple things really jump out. One is teamwork, and the other is trust. Those are values that have always impacted my life, no matter where I’ve worked. If there is a good foundation of teamwork and trust, then there are good results. I see that in my team.”
If SharedClarity’s stakeholders were to describe the organization in twenty words or less, West hopes they would describe it as, “Filling a significant need, being very innovative, and being the opportunity to be a game-changer in the industry.” He went on to list the three most important results or categories of value that his organization delivers to the stakeholders:
- Improving patient care and outcomes
- Improving product affordability
- Spurring manufacturing innovation
SharedClarity is certainly a new and different model of healthcare organization, and Mark West and his team are eager to take part in bringing change and improvement to the industry.