“Value analysis and supply chain work to benefit your organization and the last thing they want is to have delays and bottlenecks caused by sales reps or poorly filled out new product request forms.”
Let’s face it, dealing with all the different sales reps in all of the categories within a health system’s supply chain is a daunting task. Sometimes this task gets so tedious that it trickles over into feeling like you don’t like sales reps or at least don’t like dealing with what the salespeople represent, which is inevitably more work for you, your supply chain, and your value analysis team. All this is normal, and the sales reps are in the same boat as you are as they have the same constraints and numbers game you are playing with your new product requests and contract conversions. You must deal with the sales reps as you need them in order to do business on an ongoing basis. There must be a happy medium to make this easier for everyone, right?
Here are some simple steps that will give balance and smooth water for you and your supply chain/value analysis teams.
1. Create a Checklist for Your New Product Requests for Sales Reps – Let them know what is required for a new product request at your organization up front. This may seem simple, but most organizations do not do this and the reps end up finding out the new product requirements on the actual new product request workflow form. If they don’t have all the information, then that will cause you more work tracking down missing information, evidence, VAC packs, files, etc. A checklist will ensure that you will get more complete and thorough new product requests submitted on an ongoing basis.
2. Train the Sales Reps in Your Health System’s New Product Request Process – This may seem like a no brainer, but if you think that sales reps just automatically know your VA process or that there is some sort of standard in requirements for NPRs that they just know, think again. What I have found in my over 33 years of working in the healthcare supply chain is that though there are similarities and congruences in supply chain processes, there are always many differences and nuances that every health system has. If your new product request process and requirements are not crystal clear to the sales reps who are assisting your surgeons and clinical staff with the information they need to submit the NPR, you are going to have more bottlenecks. Add the checklist and then train them on your VA workflow process.
3. Hold the Sales Reps to Higher Standards – If you provide a checklist and training as mentioned above, you can then hold your sales reps to a higher standard because you have gone that extra mile and given them guidance on your entire VA process. Believe me, the representatives that do follow your process will benefit and those that don’t will fall further behind in their sales quota if they don’t play by the rules. This is just common professionalism, and if you set the expectation and give them the tools to make it happen then they need to follow through every time.
4. Train Your Department Heads, Managers, and Clinicians Who Fill Out the NPRs or Ask Sales Reps to Fill Them Out for Them – Everyone needs to be on the same page and many times your own internal customers who are requesting the products going through your VA teams do not understand your process like you think they do. As my father, a 50+ year value analysis and supply chain expert used to say, “Value analysis is everyone’s job.” Many internal customers and doctors sometimes feel that VA is working against them or delaying their new product requests and that is not the case, but they must have certain information to process these or there will be delays. Avoid all of this and hold a mandatory training for department heads/managers, surgeons, and OR staff and record this training for future use.
Value analysis and supply chain work to benefit your organization and the last thing they want is to have delays and bottlenecks caused by sales reps or poorly filled out new product request forms. The easiest way to fix this is to lay out your requirements and process to everyone involved upstream and downstream. This will alleviate many of your problems and increase the quality of your reviews faster with less work for all.
Below are some similar articles that you may find interesting.
7 Most Important Things You Need to Know About Healthcare Supply Utilization Management
3 Major Advantages to Developing Your Own Benchmarking Partners