Pharm Rep making rounds with the nurse?

I do wound care in LTC. Last week I had a pharm rep representing a very popular debriding agent contact me to give a demonstration on the proper application of this med and new guidelines for ordering from pharmacy. I thought it was very nice that she brought some informative brochures and breakfast. This week she contacted me about setting up a time for her to 'make rounds' with me on the patients Im using her product on so that she could demonstrate 'hands on' the proper thickness of application and other uses. Now I dont know about you guys, but I dont feel comfortable with a pharm rep seeing my patients wounds, some of which are in very personal areas. I didnt want to give her a definite answer until I talked it over with my DON. Are Pharm Reps clinical professionals held to the same HIPPA standards? Is it appropriate for them to make rounds on patients that may or may not be able to give thier consent for such a demonstration?
Any input would be appreciated, Thanks!
Many pharm reps are RNs. But that isn't the issue. Someone - most likely you - should get written permission from one or two patients to allow the rep to see the wound. There is no HIPAA violation if the rep doesn't really know the names or diagnoses of these patients and has no interest in telling other people about the patients.If the rep wants to photograph the wounds there needs to be written permission for that, as well. Again, just using the pt's initials should not be a problem.These things are done quite frequently and can be a very big help to you and the patients.Best wishes!

Sounds a little shady…be careful.

inservice nurses, yes. Round on patients, no. PICTURES??? Definitely NOT. Those will be used for marketing

Yes they are held to HIPAA and yes they can demonstrate the new product being carried in pharmacy on patients by performing bedside inservices. BUt i agree check with your DON for your facilities policy.

In ortho surgery, reps from the companies that make the artificial bits and pieces are shoulder to shoulder with the surgeon even giving advice to the doc from time to time.....

When i was in high school, i had an injury that left me with some large wounds needing multiple surgeries. I don't want to get too descriptive as i hate thinking about it. But it was very embaressing for me every time i went into the doctor. It was a very rare case and they were doing a surgery "that has only ever been done once" at this hospital. I was the case that "doctors must see because they won't see it again until they are practicing." only ONCE did they ever ask if i minded if someone else came in.They didn't take into account that it was personal and i didn't like being looked at as a "weird" or "strange" case. I remember going in on halloween and having 8 doctors standing around watching. i guess where im getting with this is, all to often to we forget there is a patient behind these wounds or bizzare cases. We treat the condition and not the person. I honestly believe it would be ok to ask the patient if it is ok to have them with. I would have been much more open to it if someone would have just ASKED. i probably would have replied "only females" but that is my choice. Who knows? Maybe youre patients won't mind, but they have a right to privacy. And you have the right to ask them to leave to protect and advocate for your patients.

Your reps with your contracted vendors would be covered. My question is, even if she is a nurse, is she CWOCN or WCC? What makes her qualified to ook at the wounds?

If the reps are agents for a company that is billing insurance then they would be covered but a confidentiality agreement could be arranged by your facility per policy as well as patient consent. But like noc4senuf said, what are the clinical or medical qualifications of the pharm rep? Not all pharm reps are nurses or medical professionals. Many other pharm reps simply a trained individual with a BS in business administration and marketing (actually now some schools have BSBA degrees with a concentration in pharmaceutical marketing now).Like others stated, administration and facility P&P should be the first inquiry as to whether there is a policy. If there is no P&P corporate compliance and/or risk management approval might be advisable.

When my husband had his life saving surgery a medical products rep was in the room with the surgeon. My husband has no nursing background and did not know this medical rep was in the room while he was "under". The med rep came by to check on my husband during his stay in the hospital. Was this a hippa violation? Probably. However, my husband was thrilled to have this guy come by and talk to him about his procedure so no harm done as far as my husband was concerned. BTW, his procedure involved a newer type stent that this surgeon was starting to utilize. My husband also said he received more information from the rep than the doctor. No harm done. Also no one took his picture so he is not in any marketing literature.

I have seen reps in surgery... they are normally performing a service to the MD about the product the surgeon is going to use. I wouldn't expect the rep to always be there. I have a vendor who is an RN who will come and do in-services at the bedside. (when we call her to) She is not allowed to assist in any way hands on. Her company policy. She has been a God send for me and the staff.If there is a new product that is very unique to use, I don't know if I would have them participate. If you want to show me how much to use, put on a glove and use a sample and show me on the back of the glove how much to use. But sometimes, desperate times with wounds call for desperate measures and if you just can't get it to heal, sometimes their expertise in their product, regardless of any wound certs, may be beneficial. But I wouldn't probably unless they were at least an RN. To me there is a difference between a rep and a marketer.

Quote from noc4senuf What makes her qualified to ook at the wounds?

Whatever happened to watching a video?