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Re: "Shopping for a GPO" (July, page 59). I found the article by Beverly Kirchner, RN, BSN, CNOR, CASC, very informative, accurate and well organized. However, the sidebar "Advice from a GPO User" on page 62 perpetuates the common misconception that GPOs and wholesalers are one and the same. They are not.
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For The Record |
At the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses annual meeting, HoverTech International displayed the HoverJack Air Patient Lift (left), designed to lift a patient from the floor to bed or stretcher level in a supine position, and the HoverMatt Lateral Transfer System (right), designed to reduce staff injuries incurred from lateral transfer and repositioning tasks. In "What I Saw at AORN" (June, page 60), we reported on the HoverChair, which is not yet on the market. InstruMed's SmartPump Tourniquet System (below) was incorrectly referenced as a blood pressure reader in "What I Saw at AORN" (June, page 60). The device is a tourniquet inflation system that the company says offers rapid cuff inflation speed and monitoring, enhanced battery performance, easy-to-use cuff controls and an optional tourniquet-report printer. |
The author attributed specific roles of a wholesaler to a GPO. For example, a GPO is not responsible for getting a center supplies in an emergency, creating delivery schedules or accepting orders over the Internet. And it shouldn't make a difference if the GPO is local. These are all issues important for the medical supply wholesaler that you choose once you've decided on a GPO.
As an executive with a company working in this industry, we find it a challenge to educate administrators about GPOs and wholesalers with regard to their roles and responsibilities in the supply chain. I only write this because our account representatives and customer service people have this conversation every day with administrators who don't understand how the relationship between GPOs and medical supply wholesalers works.
As the industry's most influential source of information, it is your responsibility to publish accurate information. In this case, you further confused the issue rather than educate your readers.
Paul A. Nealon
President/Founder
The ASC Network, Inc.
Woodinville, Wash.
writeMail("[email protected]")
Surgeon Replies to Those Offended by June Cover
I have read the responses to the posed cover picture in which I am performing liposculpture on a model patient. I would not try to impose my opinions of decency upon those who found the picture distasteful. Liposculpture, as opposed to liposuction, requires viewing contiguous cosmetic units in order to sculpt them to a harmonious whole. This cannot be accomplished if a drape sheet only exposes the unit being suctioned. I can no more imagine Leonardo da Vinci sculpting with a drape thrown over a form than I can conceive how one can sculpt a human body while it is covered. Aside from finding the human shape quite beautiful, it is my opinion that a picture of a naked human body offends the sensibilities less than a picture of a necrotic ulcer on someone's anatomy, which is not an uncommon sight in many medical journals.
Edward Lack, MD
Center for Liposculpture and Cosmetic Laser Surgery
Chicago
writeMail("[email protected]")
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