In recent years, IAHCSMM’s vendor partners expressed an interest in formal vendor-focused CSSD education, as well as a desire to become more actively engaged with their customers. It was a need perpetuated by ever-evolving instrumentation and equipment technologies, as well as increasing demands and pressures being placed on the CSSD by their hospital customers.

Increasingly, vendors have come to recognize that if they’re unable to marry their products and services with a solid understanding of the department’s responsibilities, requirements and challenges, they cannot adequately fulfill their customer service oath.

Matt Rudolph

For Matt Rudolph, vice president of operation for Spectrum Surgical Instruments Corp., Stow, OH, becoming the first person to earn certification under the CCSVP program would serve as a symbolic gesture to his commitment to customer service. Indeed, with his joint role as Spectrum’s chief customer advocate, Rudolph – who did, in fact, become the first to earn CCSVP certification – is living up to his title.

Having been with Spectrum Surgical for 15 years, more than 14 of which were spent in outside sales, Rudolph had already acquired a wealth of knowledge pertaining to the CSSD profession. Still, he had no doubt there was still much to learn, and it was that acknowledgement that made him eager to tackle the certification process.

"I had a very good grasp on the day-to-day responsibilities in the [CSSD] and I felt like I also had a good grip on many customer challenges," he said. "Still, I felt as though I owed it to our customers and myself to push [that knowledge] even further."

Although the online independent study and online exam is one of the key perks of the CCSVP program because it allows vendors to set their own pace and pick a time for completion that fits their busy schedules, Rudolph managed to power through the course in about a month and earned a high passing score on first attempt. Even so, he acknowledged that crossing the finish line took work.

"I really did commit to it all the way," he said, adding that the book study, online quizzes and hands-on requirements take dedication and focus. The course, modified from the IAHCSMM’s Central Service Technical Manual, 7th Edition, has a 32-hour observational requirement whereby vendors spend 16 hours at two CS departments viewing staff in the decontamination and sterilization environment, and in the process, gaining a better understanding of the technicians’ many responsibilities and challenges.

"When I got started, there were things presented in some chapters that were somewhat new to me, such as certain safety issues, and some [material pertaining to] standards and regulations. The course’s material was relevant and challenging. Even with all my many years of experience, I definitely came away from this course knowing more than I did before."

The course proved so useful, in fact, that Rudolph said he plans to use that material in new-hire training. "It’s just one more educational resource we now have at our disposal."

Spectrum’s entire sales force is close to completing the course, as well, which will go a long way toward promoting excellence in the field and also demonstrating the company’s longstanding commitment to ongoing education, added Rudolph.

"We’ve always been about education," he said, adding that Spectrum holds monthly meetings with sales representatives and requires them to take monthly tests to stay in the know. "It’s important to know more than just the product itself that we’re selling. With surgical instruments, for example, we also need to know how to clean them, sterilize them, test them – and we also need to know the ins and outs of the [CSSD], in general."

Having that knowledge helps vendors present more detailed, meaningful information to their customers — not only in relation to the products being sold, but also in relation to how those products will ultimately impact their department and the hospital customers it serves.