Are Your Gloves Really a Great Value?

If you’re choosing gloves based on price alone, you might not be saving as much money as you think. To get an accurate figure on how much you’re paying for a case of gloves, you also need to consider how many of those gloves fail, wasting money, product and staff time.

To get started, locate the average failure rate of the type of gloves you are using:1,2

• Standard vinyl gloves: 41 percent
• Stretch vinyl gloves: 20 percent 
• Latex gloves: 10 percent
• Nitrile gloves: 2 percent 

Next, determine how much you are spending for a case of gloves. Let’s say you currently pay $29 for a case of standard vinyl gloves. As seen above, standard vinyl gloves fail an average of 41 percent of the time. When we multiply $29 x .41, we get $11.89. This is the gloves’ cost in failure, or the extra money that must be spent to replace the gloves that failed. When $29 and $11.89 are added together, we get $40.89, which is the true cost of the case of gloves. Suddenly, the vinyl gloves don’t seem like such a cost-effective option.

Your ProMed territory manager is ready to help you determine if you are using the gloves that best fit your clinical and financial goals. We can also help you apply our exclusive savings strategies to other popular product categories. To get started, contact your ProMed territory manager, give us a call at (800) 648-5190 or visit us online at promedsupply.com.

References

1. Kerr LN, Chaput MP, Cash LD et al. Assessment of the durability of medical examination gloves. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene. 2004;1:607-612.
2. Rego A, Roley L. In –use Barrier Integrity of Gloves: Latex and Nitrile Superior to Vinyl. American Journal of Infection Control. 1999; 27 (5) 405-10.