AORN, AHA, AdvaMed issue release re-entry guidance

Editor's Note:

The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN), American Hospital Association (AHA), and Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) on May 19 released a “Re-entry Guidance for Health Care Facilities and Medical Device Representatives.”

The guidance, which builds on the April 17 joint statement by AORN, AHA, American College of Surgeons, and American Society of Anesthesiologists, adds principles and considerations to support collaboration between healthcare personnel and medical device representatives as organizations determine when and how to safely resume elective surgical procedures.

The guidance recommends:

• that hospitals be the primary provider of personal protective equipment (PPE) to control for potential contamination and to ensure PPE is prioritized to the providers where it is most needed
• against COVID-19 testing of asymptomatic reps, so that testing resources can be prioritized for patients, symptomatic healthcare workers, and those with known or suspected exposures.

The guidance also considers crisis capacity situations and allows company reps to be back-up providers of their own PPE for emergency procedures.