Reference no: EM133379515

Question: Each year the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery (AAOS) holds its annual meeting in one of the largest convention facilities in the United States. The attendance at these meetings numbers over 15,000 participants and draws physicians from all over the world. For over 20 years, this association meeting has been a major location for suppliers of products that are used in orthopedic surgery to display their wares. Surgeons have been an important member of every medical staff in that not only is orthopedic surgery common at community and tertiary hospitals, but the reimbursements for these procedures are strong. For decades, the orthopedic surgeon has been the gatekeeper and the influencer of the purchaser. After a recent AAOS annual meeting, several members of the marketing and sales group of a major orthopedic device manufacturer gathered to debrief their experience at the meeting. The debrief included the division vice president of marketing, the director of sales representatives who attended the meeting, and the head of hospital sales, along with the director of the hospital group purchasing alliance. They discussed what they had learned in their 4 days at the meeting. The new fiscal year was a few months away and the March