but they can't use the devices in the ORs. Our surgeons have prohibited
the use of smartphones during surgery, including texting or Internet surf-
ing, because they want everyone's full attention to be on the patient in
the room.
Make 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.
Rely 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
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