The days of the practice-to-practice salesman are dying, General Surgery News reports.
Here's what you should know.
1. After several physicians and physician organizations expressed concern over sales reps, and the unchecked power they had for the last 20 years, the traditional practice-to-practice sales model is dying.
"Healthcare systems and vendors are finding they can't support the traditional model any longer," Terrence Loftus, MD, said. "It no longer makes sense to send a rep out to talk to physicians individually about a specific product."
2. Many institutions across the U.S. are disallowing the practice. According to a 2015 study by ZS Associates, 53 percent of physicians place access restrictions on reps. It's a 33 percent increase from 2008. The reps are increasingly being prohibited from wandering hospital halls as well.
3. A purchasing model based on value analysis has emerged in hospitals. Instead of physicians having individual reps, hospitals partners with several reps to, often, get better deals on the supplies.
Vice President of Surgery at Dallas-based Baylor Scott and White Health Li Ern Chen, MD, found that "incorporating physicians into the supply chain benefited everyone."
4. For example, Banner Health had more than 40 spine vendors, and after they were analyzed the system they were able to eliminate 26 of them.
Banner Health also implemented a system where it tests the products in a trial for three to six months to get a better idea of its uses and outcomes.
5. Dr. Loftus believes the centralized purchasing model will evolve as the move to value-based care takes hold.
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