Abstract
In health care, a wide variety of professionals use a wide variety of products when providing care to a wide variety of patients. In addition, safety reports support the idea that medical products vary in terms of usability, compatibility, and functionality. All this variability may contribute to purchasers failing to fully understand and define the needs for and risks of these products. Some purchasing decisions in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) utilize well-defined procedures such as investigation by Integrated Product Teams (IPTs), which includes a hands-on evaluation of multiple options prior to crafting a national contract. Ideally, all products would go through rigorous functionality and usability testing under a variety of conditions prior to purchase, but such an approval process does not currently exist. The Purchasing Checklist aids purchasers in investigating patient safety concerns related to usability when planning a purchase when extensive hands-on evaluation is not possible. The checklist includes steps such as assembling a team that includes key representatives, considering the purchase needs and options, performing heuristic evaluation of the product literature and other available information, and documenting trade-offs to identify the best option.