EXPERT IN THE ROOM Vendors often know how to use their devices better than surgeons do.

Do you view your vendor reps as colleagues or as quota-chasing intruders? Here are 6 tips to foster positive, productive relationships with reps.

1Track their whereabouts. Vendor tracking software (osmag.net/3GxrQF) makes it easy to manage vendor credentials and keep tabs on their comings and goings. When a rep enters our facility, he logs into the tracking system at a kiosk located near the staff entrance. The program prints a paper identification badge, so everyone in the facility knows the reps are conducting legitimate business. Vendors who work with high-volume surgeons are often in the ORs 5 days a week. We provide those familiar faces with standard plastic ID badges.

Some facilities require vendors to wear red bouffant surgical caps to make them stand out in the OR. If your vendors balk at wearing those bright, clown-hair-like caps like ours did, assign them specific colored scrubs. Our reps must don gray scrubs — the same color worn by members of our supply chain team — that they purchase from our health system. Besides setting vendors apart from perioperative staff and surgeons, the scrubs, unlike the red bouffants, also make vendors feel like professional members of our team.

2Conduct annual competencies. All vendors should undergo annual tests about your policies and procedures and other requirements your facility puts in place before they can enter your ORs. Have they had their flu shots? Do they understand sterile technique and how to properly wear PPEs? Did they sign off on accepted ways to interact with surgeons and bring new products into the OR? Vendors can use our vendor tracking system to complete annual competencies at their convenience. If they don't remain current with your core competencies, the tracking system won't print them an identification badge when they attempt to sign in. It's an easy and convenient way to ensure only approved vendors have access to your clinical areas.

3Set clear expectations. Vendors must follow the same rules of the OR that govern the behavior of every member of the surgical team, including donning proper attire such as eye protection and shoe covers. We let our reps carry smartphones in the pockets of their scrubs, but they can't use the devices in the ORs. Our surgeons have prohibited the use of smartphones during surgery, including texting or Internet surfing, because they want everyone's full attention to be on the patient in the room.

4Make reps accountable. Some vendors bring in instrument trays that might contain 60 items for complex cases. We require that they provide a hard copy list of the tray's contents, take a picture on their cell phone of the complete set and review the contents with the sterile processing manager to make sure all items are accounted for before the tray enters our facility. After we've used and sterilized the set, the rep is responsible for putting the tray back together. It's a system of checks and balances that makes vendors accountable for their instrument sets and eliminates the possibility of their claiming we owe thousands of dollars for instruments that were allegedly lost in our facility.

5Rely on their expertise. Embrace vendors and treat them like the helpful surgical professionals they are. They often know how to use their devices better than surgeons do and bring a needed level of expertise to involved surgeries. Once you understand and appreciate the value vendors bring to the OR, they'll reciprocate by providing value-added services that help your facility in ways you might not have considered. For example, you can ask vendors to bring in extra sets of instruments to help your team through a busy day without having to push the central sterile department to the limits of their capabilities.

The work reps do might also help streamline your staff. We have a rep who works with a surgeon who's here only 2 days a month. He brings 43 sets of instruments in on a Thursday, so we have Friday and Monday to process them in time for the surgeon to use on the following Tuesday and Wednesday. Organizing and ensuring the instruments are on hand and ready to use is a huge responsibility and a chore that needs to get done one way or another. If you don't partner with vendors, you may have to hire more staff members to help carry the load. Based on our case volume and implant requirements, we'd have to hire 6 FTEs to cover the work and support our vendors provide on a daily basis.

6Keep reps informed. E-mail and text vendors to tell them when their cases are scheduled to begin and any changes that might impact when they should arrive at — and what they should bring to — your facility. During a joint replacement revision, for example, the surgeon tries to match the original implant used, but the joint's condition might require a last-minute switch to another company's hardware. It takes a great deal of teamwork between OR coordinators and vendors to have the needed instrumentation and implants on hand in case they're needed. The more you keep vendors in the loop, the more willing they'll be to help out during complex cases. Remember that vendors want to be successful in their jobs by satisfying your surgeons. The more your team and vendors talk about each other's needs, the greater the chance of positive outcomes. OSM