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Collaborating to manage vendor interactions and protect quality of care in the OR
Author(s) -
Gutman Mary E.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of healthcare risk management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.221
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 2040-0861
pISSN - 1074-4797
DOI - 10.1002/jhrm.5600250306
Subject(s) - vendor , safer , business , quality (philosophy) , health care , patient safety , operations management , quality management , medical emergency , nursing , risk analysis (engineering) , medicine , marketing , computer science , computer security , engineering , philosophy , epistemology , service (business) , economics , economic growth
A culture that provides for safe patient environments demands that health care risk managers address all barriers to safe care, sometimes in extraordinary ways. For example, the operating room is one environment that has gained attention with policies on performing “time outs” before beginning a case and strong emphasis on correct site, correct patient and correct procedure surgery. However, a common hospital practice that has been generally accepted is to invite, allow and encourage sales representatives, or vendors, into the operating room to help surgeons use new equipment or devices. This article will describe how risk managers — partnering with their facility's sourcing and materials management departments — were able to influence a network‐wide shift in vendor interactions in the operating room to create safer places for patient care.