products. But when
you use them for a
while – I'd say about
50 times – you get
back to your base-
line ability.
As noted, the non-
latex alternatives are
also a little more
expensive, but the
difference has been
decreasing over the
years and is much smaller now than it was 10 years ago.
To make the switch more economical, we negotiated with the 2 sup-
pliers we were using and got an even better deal by paring down to
just one supplier. That was part of our motivation from the beginning,
in fact. By reducing the number of glove suppliers we were using, we
were able to reduce inventory and costs, and make it a win-win situa-
tion.
Always on guard
We made the switch long ago, but we remain vigilant. Once in a while,
people bring in latex gloves from outside. In one instance, a colleague
was doing brachytherapy and handling radioactive beads. He knew he
needed special gloves that were billed as being safer, and they con-
tained latex. I happened to notice and asked about it. I knew it was a
low-risk situation, but I wanted to keep the policy constant, if possi-
ble. Purchasing got involved and sure enough, we were able to find
radiation-safe gloves that were non-latex.
Unfortunately, there are still a handful of products for which we
J U N E 2 0 1 6 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 9 3
• QUICK STUDY There's a learning curve with new gloves, but it doesn't take long to
get back to your baseline ability.
