Hospitals kick sales reps out of the OR

Discussion in 'Medical Equipment/Device Sales - In the News' started by cafead, Sep 9, 2014 at 6:15 PM.

  1. cafead

    cafead Administrator
    Staff Member

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    Kicking off this new forum, I thought there might be some interest in discussing the Mass Device piece linked on today's cafepharma front page news:

    Hospitals kick surgical sales reps out of the OR

    What do you think about this trend? Have you seen evidence of it in your area?
     

  2. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Going rep less is not the idea of the surgeons. They will not like it.

    The hospital administration will not be happy till they upset the doctors enough to get them to strike and walk out on them.

    Also, having one or two persons in the hospital that are the only ones trained in case coverage will be the best thing to happen to us reps!! As soon as these so called two individuals figure they have the hospital they will abuse their power. DUGH

    "Suits is so stupid"
     
  3. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I think this could work on a situational basis. Some items they could eliminate reps and save, others are much more service intensive and require a high level of expertise = value. The ortho people (most, not all) are under the most scrutiny with the bogus cost of those implants/parts and the relative commodity that they are. Yeah, some ortho rep will come on here and call bullsh@t "they need me in there!" No, they don't. but if that makes you sleep at night, whatever.
     
  4. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Nothing I would like better than "never show up" to the OR!!
    Tried it today and the surgeon said "we need him here" after I told the hospital I couldn't make it after the case moved 3 hours ahead of schedule. I can sell without going to the OR. I have even offered my implants at a large discount if I didn't come.

    It's not a reality that surgeons want to experience and the hospitals are not realizing how much free labor they are getting with reps presently. I welcome the rep less model. I can charge just like a plumber, electrician or hvac service person. I think they now make more than sales reps now days anyway!

    Let's get it on people! I hate vendor credentailing too .
     
  5. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I have been selling orthopedic implants for 14 years and have never got a price increase on my implants. In fact the price has gone down 30%-50% on hips, knees and revision implants for both. Orthopedics, cardiac, and oncology are the top 3 money makers for hospitals. Medical devices are only a small fraction of the cost. Medicare reimbursement continues to go up for hospitals as it declines for the surgeons. Hospitals do not lose money on medical devices as they like to claim. As far as reps in the OR....I could care less because most of my surgeons are performing joints in their surgery centers at a fraction of the cost to insurers and patients. Now they are primary joints on healthy patients. That being said the hospital is not happy. Why? They are starting to lose their younger patients with good insurance. The same insurance that they continue to rip off. It's really interesting how hospitals cry "poor" all the time as they triple sometimes quadruple the price of care to patients. However the sales reps are the ones to blame! Medical Device is the cause of the rise in healthcare! Just curious Mr. CEO what is your salary? What do you offer the patients? A hospital CEO is like an NFL coach...doesn't matter how bad you "suck" your in the league and can bounce around from team to team at 500K a year. So who has more value? A guy that has expertise on his product and provides a variety of options that the surgeon sometimes doesn't think about to help him provide the best outcome for his patient? Or a guy that wheels and deals BS to keep the surgeon at his facility to keep the revenue going while he makes as much or more than the surgeon while the poor mother of 2 is working her ass off for $12 an hour 40hr plus weeks in a under staffed sterile processing department because God forbid you pay the people that sterilize anything a living wage and you can't figure out why your infection rate is through the roof! But then again why would the CEO think of that? That's right..it's the reps fault!
     
  6. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    It's really interesting to see the varied reactions to the prospect of swapping sales reps with hospital staff. If anyone is willing to share their perspective (on the record) with MassDevice for a follow-up article, please contact:
    arezu(at)massdevice(.)com
    Thanks!
     
  7. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Hospitals are NOT losing money on medical devices! The numbers show that! What they are not telling anyone is they are not making what they feel is enough! That is why they charge the hell out of private insurance companies and self pay patients. The hospitals are the problem..just ask a variety of different hospitals what they charge a patient for a total knee replacement. Then ask them what they charge for the implants. Now I understand bundled payments from Medicare as wel as private insurures but ask the hospitals to break it down and I will give you the price that they pay for those implants..do this and I will go on he record
     
  8. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    the reason hospitals treat reps/vendors like criminals is bc some behave like them. Some, not all. And that screws the rest of us. the runway to trust is long and hard. but when you get there, you separate yourself from the rif raf. I've been told by my users/buyers that if my stuff was 20% more than the other guy, they would still use it to avoid doing business with them.
     
  9. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    You are delusional if you think being a "good guy" gives you job security. Your customers, your surgeons AND your company will all shit-can your ass in a heartbeat if push comes to shove. Plenty of honest and ethical reps that have had their fortunes change overnight so that a hospital system could save a few bucks.
     
  10. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

  11. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    And, yeah. Welcome the village r***** to the board. Some day you will learn to do more than drop your pants to steal a line or a quick one-year deal. If you can't prove you/your products/programs are worth more than a "a few bucks" you should be shit canned.
     
  12. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest


    Right out of the mouth of babes! You too are delusional. Wait till your competitor comes in and drops their prices in your territory and signs an exclusive contract for a couple of years "Biggun." And it spreads like wildfire in your territory and you get to experience it firsthand. 316 stainless steel is 316 stainless steel no matter which rep is selling it. Titanium implants can be stamped out non stop untill the bed of our SUV is full and a cheap price to boot. Generic plates n screws are headed your way my friend and the hospital or CFO don't care about your dynamic personality just profits.
     
  13. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest


    Being an honest, reliable, knowledgeable and hard working consultant means little when it comes time for downsizing or layoffs. Even relationships with surgeons are not as valuable since many surgeons are starting to be employees of the hospital. When the bean counters decide to cut costs, nothing matters except for their figures.
     
  14. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Maybe for you, but my customers LOVE me. Don't forget, I've been told by my users/buyers that if my stuff was 20% more than the other guy, they would still use it to avoid doing business with them.
     
  15. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I love hearing from all the pro's on here; what happens when the bean counters..., what happens when your competitors drop their price,what happens when layoffs, or when generics ...

    You little bitches need to find another job. You have so many excuses to your own failure. Take control of your business, and run it. If someone else is making the decisions why haven't you talked with them and made them buy from you? Seriously, how many F-ing losers on here are going to whine about being beat and losing their business taken? Wah!
     
  16. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    You are dead on!
     
  17. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Just going to say it and get it out there. I am and most of the successful medical OR servicing sales reps I have met DO NOT have the kind of personality traits, likes and dislikes that hourly hospital staff exhibit.
    In fact, hanging out in a hospital is torture to most of us I know. The idea of making a set amount of money for a set amount of hours is so boring to me. On the other hand, ask a scrub tech Ect about getting paid by "performance only" and they have told me " I can't handle the stress of not knowing what my pay is going to be from one pay period to another."

    Surgeons lean on device sales reps for more than answers in the OR that they already know. It's all the behind the scenes and ancillary services and keeping "the cap on the bottle" in the OR that surgeons have come to rely on. The sales rep sometimes is the only constant for them.
    I welcome leaving the OR!!!! I hate vendor credentialing and putting up with testosterone do driven female materials managers who do not know the difference between allograft vs.zenograft, bone cement vs. Antibiotic bone cement....

    If your asking me, PLEASE KICK ME AND MY PEERS OUT OF THE OR!!!
    Let's start over and re-evaluate the value of a good to excellent medical sales device reps value in the OR? I think about a 90 - 180 days at most any hospital would do the trick.
     
  18. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    You are delusion and have poor grammar.
     
  19. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Sorry! I entered the post from my phone. It didn't seem like poor grammar when I sent it after proofing it. Evidently your post has the same problem.

    Poor grammar! Ha ha ha who cares! It's Cafe Pharma Dork.
     
  20. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    If the hospital staff is so "up to snuff" why do doctors hire independent sales reps to cover and take care of their cases when they own the POD or doctor owned distributorship?