Ideas That Work: Before New Products Can Enter the OR ...

CHECKS AND BALANCES Manage and monitor reps by implementing a better check-in policy.

Before New Products Can Enter the OR

Don't you just love it when reps bring in new items without asking for permission, only to get an invoice for the gadget after the procedure has been completed? To help prevent this, we require that any new devices must first pass through our Product Value Analysis Committee before they can come into the OR. Before we let a new product in the room, the sales rep has to first request that the product be placed on the PVAC's meeting agenda. At the meeting, the rep needs to present his supplies and include a clinical and financial plan. The committee can then either approve or turn down the product based on this information.

We also make sure to monitor the comings and goings of our vendor reps. When a rep arrives, he uses our credentialing machine to print out a badge with his name, photo, company and the date on it. Then he comes to the front desk and signs the logbook, recording why he is visiting and which doctors he is there to see. In June, we also added the requirement that reps must have scheduled appointments in the OR instead of just dropping by. If this entire process is not followed, the product is not paid for and the sales rep can no longer work in our medical center.

Lani Garris, RN, MAS, BSN, CNOR
Hackensack (N.J.) University Medical Center
[email protected]