Healthcare workers are continuously working hard to take care of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic safely. While the pandemic brought many challenges, the most significant challenge for healthcare facilities has been the scarcity of face masks and PPE Equipment. The healthcare workers require a quality, safe, and reliable supply of face masks and PPE gear to operate safely during this challenging time. Unfortunately, many gray market unauthorized third-party suppliers are taking advantage of this shortage.
The gray market suppliers hoard personal protective equipment (PPE), masks, gowns, and other scarce supplies and supply counterfeit products at a considerable markup. Buying such products may put the healthcare workers’ and patients’ safety at risk. Also, associating with a gray market supplier may reflect poorly on your brand or organization name. Therefore, it is essential to buy medical equipment such as masks, gowns, gloves, and other PPE gear from a reliable supplier. Elite Medical Accessories is a reliable provider of quality, FDA-registered, legitimate PPE and other medical equipment supplies to fulfill medical institutions’ demand and counter scam challenges.
Following are a few tips to help you choose a reliable supplier and protect against scammers:
When buying PPE such as surgical masks, face shields, gloves, gowns, caps, and shoe coverings, make sure to check that the product is FDA registered and adheres to CDC guidelines. The supplier must provide evidence of FDA registration to supply medical equipment in the United States legally. Except for industrial N95 masks, which CDC has recently and temporarily permitted for emergency use in healthcare, all other PPE products must be FDA registered.
If you have a scarcity of PPE supplies and need to buy products from third-party or suppliers outside of your usual supply chain, make sure to determine the supplier’s legitimacy before buying. If a third-party supplier offers you a deal that is too good to be true, the chances are that it probably is suspicious. The suppliers offering products with no legitimate source are most likely trafficking suspicious products or counterfeit products from questionable sources. It is best to buy products from an existing reliable marketplace with an integrated supply chain of trusted wholesalers or trusted e-Commerce platforms.
The gray market suppliers may be supplying counterfeit, stolen, or adulterated products that may put your healthcare workers, patients, and brand name at risk. Therefore, healthcare facilities need to engage with legal and risk management departments to be better equipped to differentiate between a legal and an illegal supplier.
Gray market suppliers may also offer very convincing and sophisticated replicas of original products. It might make it difficult to determine the products’ legitimacy. Therefore, it is recommended to develop a policy for screening the suppliers on various aspects to determine legitimacy. Ensure the authenticity of the origin of the products if you are doubtful about a supplier’s legitimacy.
If you have encountered any suspicious suppliers, make sure to keep records of such suppliers or organizations to protect against any future scams from similar suppliers. Make sure to check your records before buying medical equipment from a new supplier to check the vendor is not black-listed before making a purchase. Make sure to report any suspicious suppliers that may be providing counterfeit or stolen products to appropriate local, state, or federal law authorities.
Elite Medical Accessories is a leading medical supply distribution company with over 20 years of experience sourcing and distributing high-quality PPE and other medical supplies. We provide medical accessories to hospitals, nursing homes, and healthcare specialists across the USA. We have an extensive range of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), disinfectants, and other medical accessories that adhere to the CDC guidelines.
Contact our team for the most reliable supply of masks, disinfectants, and PPE gear.