The best practice used by many EMS organizations for making major purchasing decisions is basically sound – but pretty inefficient. 

For any given category, you’ll reach out for advice from your local subject matter experts. If it’s a clinically related purchase, those subject matter experts may be your medical director and clinical manager. To do a thorough job, they’ll hopefully look at the most current peer-reviewed literature, trade journal articles, etc. to help advise you on what to consider when selecting that product or service – and back up those suggestions with references. For a communications center related purchase, those subject matter experts will be your comm center manager and IT folks, and so on.

You might also reach out to your colleagues in other EMS organizations for advice and insights.

Then, you might put out a formal RFP or simply invite the various suppliers to make back to back presentations to your team on their products or services. Your team narrows the choices down and then you begin discussions and negotiations towards a final decision and purchase.

But think about how many times this same basic process, or something very similar to it, plays out in different EMS organizations all across the EMS industry. Think about all of the wasted duplication of effort and expense that represents – for both buyers and sellers. What if there was a way for the EMS industry to come together to do most of this process collectively? That’s where EMSPurchasing.com comes in.

Online Resource Center

The site you’re on right now is our Resource Center. It is organized into categories of products and services. It is being built-out category by category, starting with resuscitation. More will be added, to include ePCRs, ambulances and patient movement equipment, CAD, etc.  

Live Online Conferences

Our live online conferences specifically designed to help you make well informed purchasing decisions. 

For each category we develop, we put on a live online conference that explores the technologies and services within that category. After the online conference, recordings of all the video presentations, panel discussions, and the product information from the booths are all moved here to this Resource Center for convenient on-demand access all year long.

Within each our category-based conferences, we break the category down into sections. For example, in our conference for the resuscitation ‘category’, we had ‘sections’ on manual defibrillators and pacers; automated chest compression; ventilation; data analysis and reporting; training; AEDs; telephone CPR and bystander response; physiological monitoring; and blood flow augmentation.

For each of those sections, we provide a State of the Technology presentation, a series of supplier presentations, a panel discussion and then wrap the section up with a live question and answer session.

State of the Technology Presentations

Instead of just asking your local subject matter experts for input, EMSPurchasing.com taps into the expertise of national and international level subject matter experts from science and industry. The ‘State of the Technology’ presentations give advice on what to look for, what to be aware of, what the best practices are, and what’s on the research and innovation horizon. 

Research and Resources

Our subject matter experts work with us to identify the most important research papers, articles and other resources that buyers should consider when evaluating their purchasing decision options. We put all of that information onto a ‘Reseach and Resources’ page for your convenience. The page contains links directly to the research papers, articles and resources.

Supplier Presentations

Next, EMSPurchasing.com invites suppliers for that section to put together succinct top quality presentations on their products and services.  We show those presentations back-to-back so you can better evaluate and compare between suppliers.

Panel Discussions

Then, we bring back the subject matter experts and suppliers along with some real world EMS decision-makers, decision-influencers, and tip-of-the-spear end users for panel discussions on each section. The EMS users and subjects matter experts explain what they’d like to see from the suppliers – and the suppliers have a chance to explain how to avoid common mistakes and how users can get more value from their technology and service investments.

Networking Lounge

After you’ve watched the conference sessions for a given section, you’ll be ready to start thinking through your options by talking with some colleagues. During the breaks of our live online conferences, we provide a highly interactive ‘Lounge’ where attendees can casually meet each other in small group video chats at our ‘tables.’  Meet new people. Compare notes and perspectives. Share ideas. Many of the faculty from the presentations and panel discussions will be mingling there too – along with many of the supplier reps. It’s a fun and productive way spend some time between section presentations.

Booths

You can also visit the supplier’s booths during the breaks. Each booth will have additional information on their products and services – some may even have additional videos. And all of the booths will have their own tables – just like the ones in the Lounge. Here you can video chat directly with sales representatives, get your questions answered, get more in-depth demos presentations via screen sharing, and download brochures. If you’re ready, you can even discuss pricing, terms and place an order.

Receptions and Speed Networking

At the end of certain conference days, we will keep the Lounge and Booths open so you can mingle with other attendees, faculty, and suppliers. But we will also offer a very unique experience.

Toward end of the Receptions, you’ll be encouraged to opt-in for speed networking!! You’ll be randomly connected for a 5 minute one on one video chat to meet another attendee. We suggest that you each spend two minutes to introduce yourself – where you work and what you do there – and then briefly describe a particular project or problem that you’re  working on. For the remaining minute, you can exchange contact information; or make plans to continue your conversation later on in the Lounge; or plan to chat after the conference. At the end of the 5 minute session, you’ll automatically be assigned another attendee to meet and the process continues until the end of the speed networking session. It’s a wonderful way to meet new colleagues!!

About Our Brand

EMSPurchasing.com and EMSQuality Academy.com are divisions of the The Center for Systems Improvement (CSI).