Nashville Public Radio outlined five key trends for device company sales representatives in the orthopedic operating room.
Here are the five trends:
1. Former Stryker sales rep and current Ortho Sales Partners member Chris Stewart saidsales representatives must obtain permission to observe surgeries. While they can't touch the patient or sterile instruments, he said, they can use a laser pointer to indicate tools or parts on the surgical tray to make the procedures as efficient as possible.
2. Washington, D.C.-based Georgetown University's Adriane Fugh-Berman said she feels sales representatives should be banned from the operating room. Based on her research and experience studying medical device sales, she is concerned about sales reps who are directed to tout the newest devices, which are often the most expensive, despite more evidence proving the effectiveness of older versions.
3. As hospitals and health systems become more cost-conscious, providers are analyzing all costs in the operating room and have become skeptical of whether the extra cost is worth the new device. Doug Jones, a former DePuy rep that now works with HealthTrust in Nashville, Tenn., said hospitals are aiming to "rightsize" the role of reps. Sales reps could make 10 percent to 25 percent commission on pedicle screws and rods, according to HealthTrust research.
4. HCA's TriStar Centennial in Nashville, Tenn., among others, have banned selling devices in the OR and only allow reps to "support" cases. HealthTrust's Brent Ford said hospital administrators are realizing the sales reps are making "too much money" on the cases and feels "that's why they want them out."
In some cases, hospitals are purchasing equipment from smaller firms that don't require sales reps but offer devices similar to the ones offered by larger companies.
5. Orthopedic surgeons may rely upon sales reps to make sure their instrument trays are organized and set up correctly. The reps deliver those trays to the hospital in time for sterilization before cases. According to the report, hospitals that no longer have reps in the OR hired additional staff to help with the orthopedic cases.