3. Reps are a resource
A safety scalpel vendor's rep may be able to
do much more than just supply you with
products for your trials. Find out if you can
enlist them to help in education and evalua-
tion efforts, even beyond a promotional
introduction to their blade's highlights. "An
attentive rep will work with you as a team,"
says Ms. Law, who points out that it's in their
interest to do so if they want your business.
ESSI's preferred safety scalpel rep logged
plenty of time on site during the trial. "She
observed surgeries first before we changed
over," says Administrator Joyce Kozacik, RN, CASC, who coordinated
the switch with Ms. Law. "Then she made suggestions on how the sur-
geons could use the safety scalpels better, like going in at a slightly
different angle, and offered them all the different product options
available."
"The rep spent every day, for weeks on end, with them until they'd
identified which blade the doctor wanted," says Ms. Law. "The size,
the width, the bevel. So much goes into the selection of an appropri-
ate blade. This seemed well-received by the physicians."
A resourceful rep might even be able to parlay a sharps conversion
into a net gain for your supply budget. ESSI's rep put together proce-
dure packs containing ophthalmic safety scalpels and disposable can-
nulas for less than what the center's non-safety blades cost.
"Economics was a great selling point to win surgeons over," says Ms.
Kozacik. "The rep created customized packs for each physician,
which made pulling cases a lot easier."
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z HANDS ON A role in the
choice can help surgeons to
accept safety scalpels.
