Clinical Product Advisors gather for procurement roundtable at Lorne

HSV’s Clinical Product Advisors (CPAs) have focused on strengthening key stakeholder relationships in recent weeks, taking the opportunity to participate in a procurement roundtable and discuss medical device developments with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).

Building closer ties with the TGA and supplier organisations helps HSV’s clinical product advisors better understand new product trends and technologies and stay up to date with regulatory developments. In turn, this supports our health service customers in delivering excellent patient care. 

The HSV team joined 28 CPAs from Victorian health services in attending the first CPA roundtable to be held at the Association of Healthcare Supply and Procurement Officers (AHSPO) Conference.

The CPA roundtable was organised by Austin Health CPA Danni Baker and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre CPA Amanda Champion. It featured discussions on projects and product trials, as well as demonstrations from suppliers.

“At previous AHSPO conferences, the CPAs often didn’t get enough time with suppliers so hosting an additional day at the conference enabled the group to engage with all suppliers,” says Danni.

“It was also a great opportunity to network and share knowledge among the group, as each CPA shared insights on current projects and products they have trialled,” she says.

HSV Clinical Product Manager Diana Skratulja said the team gained a greater understanding of what’s working for health services in terms of cost saving projects and product trials.

“It’s really helpful for HSV to know what health services are doing. There were also several neural connector suppliers there. It was good for CPAs to have time to engage with the suppliers and see a demonstration of the products,” says Diana.

Neural connectors have been introduced for use with spinal, epidural and nerve block equipment to replace luer connectors, which are being discontinued in 2025. The change was initiated by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) as a safety initiative to avoid wrong route administration of medicines and substances.

Bendigo Health CPA Liz Graco says it was great to have a dedicated event for CPAs at AHSPO.

“It was so much more relaxed as we had the opportunity to spend more time with the suppliers to understand product knowledge and the benefits to the patient.”

Blake Griffiths from St Vincent’s Hospital says the CPA roundtable was the best event he had attended at the conference.

“It felt like a mini-CPA symposium. I hope we can do it again next year.”

HSV’s CPA team also took the opportunity to invite Tracy Duffy, First Assistant Secretary of the TGA’s Medical Devices and Product Quality Division, to HSV’s Melbourne office during her visit to Victoria.

The discussion focused on changes in international medical device standards and what they mean for health services in Australia, as well as trends in local medical device manufacturing and sustainability.

“We were pleased to be able to meet with the TGA as the discussions assist us in understanding more about developments in overseas medical device safety standards so that we are better able to support our health service customers in accessing products that are safe and appropriate to their needs,” says Diana.

“It was also great to learn more about the new TGA campus being established at Docklands, knowing there are local contacts we can engage with and seek support from when it comes to product quality and safety,” she says.