SPD and OR Teams Must Create a United Front

An SPD manager can have all the high hopes in the world to set up and establish a great vendor program but without clinical support, they don’t stand a chance.

The surgeon and the rep are already on the same team. So, when reps see or hear clinical teams make comments of frustration or misunderstanding about SPD and their policies, they know they have the advantage. When push comes to shove and that tray needs to be processed late, clinical teams will side with the surgeon (and by association, the rep).

Is this due to a lack of respect? Understanding of the job? Maybe some of both?

Either way, that relationship must be established to gain a united front. SPD teams must take the first step because they have the most to gain.

How? Prove your case to them. Show them you are taking it seriously. Illustrate the impact that vendors are having on your department (and by extension, their cases).

How many trays are coming in late? How late? How many have issues with them? OR teams must be able to feel the impact. Don’t overthink a scalable system in the beginning, just get started. Do it for a month, or even just two weeks. Manually if you must. Anything that can give you a representative sample size of data.

The downstream effects of a united front make it easier for everyone. When the OR has buy-in, they become more deliberate in notifying and communicating with the reps. This provides more lead-time, which can reduce late delivery, and so on.

Even better for SPD, next time there is a policy issue moving forward, it’s no longer a one-sided discussion.