(0263) Vendor Loyalty and Product Usage: A Multidisciplinary Study Among Residents and Attendings

Introduction: The relationship between residents' exposure to medical vendors during training and their product usage as attending physicians is not well-addressed in the current literature. The study investigates the impact of resident exposure to medical vendors on their product usage behavior as future attending physicians.

Methods: This cross-sectional survey study targeted physicians who graduated from residency between 2012-2022 from four specialties at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital: Otolaryngology, Orthopedic Surgery, Dermatology, and Ophthalmology. Program directors were requested to provide contact information for the respective graduates. An online survey was distributed to collect data on the perceived influence of vendors on residents during residency, their resulting loyalty to these vendors, and any demonstrable influence on their medical product usage in their current practice.

The statistical analysis included the Kruskal-Wallis test with Bonferroni p-value correction and the post-hoc testing using Dunn’s test.

Results: Orthopedic Surgery yielded the highest response rate at 53.3%, followed by Otolaryngology at 37.5%. Dermatology and Ophthalmology had lower response rates of 12.1% and 8.4% respectively. Most respondents (68.9%) reported changing preferences post-residency, but 86.7% needed significant reasons for such shifts. Brand loyalty was influenced by the product quality they were exposed to (68.9%), ongoing vendor relationships (77.8%) and customer service (88.9%). Significant findings highlighted brand loyalty's role in product selection (p=0.039), with differences between Otolaryngology (mean=1.4) and Orthopedic Surgery (mean=2.5) [p=0.007], and between Dermatology (mean=1.0) and Orthopedic Surgery (mean=2.5) [p=0.013].

Conclusions: Residency encounters with medical vendors shape attending physicians' product and brand loyalty. Factors including product quality, business relationships, and customer service are paramount. The study underscores the decreasing adaptability in physicians' preferences as their careers progress.