My name is Ross Rankin. I have been an independent medical manufacturers representative since 1975. My company, Representations, LLC was founded by my father in 1955. We represent manufacturers in the hospital and physician markets in 10 western states. We are one of the oldest and largest independent representative firms in the United States. I am a founding member of the national organization of medical representatives; the Health Industry Representative Association (www.hira.org). I have been a board member and President. My wife and business partner, Lyn Dee Rankin has also been HIRA President. We both hold Certified Professional Manufacturers Representative (CPMR) designations. I have written and spoken throughout my career about industry issues.

In other words, I have "street cred" in the business and a long standing reputation for speaking my mind and continually finding innovative ways of running our business and selling products in an ever changing medical industry environment. My intent for creating this Blog is to expose Vendor Credentialing for what it really is: Systematic access restriction. In addition, even calling the system of sales representative registration "Vendor Credentialing" is a misnomer in what has become a "cash grab" by an ever growing number of misleading, purely profit driven, cost raising, parasitic companies.

In this Blog I will outline the falicies of Vendor Credentialing and expose the system for what it really is. I will propose solutions that will dramatically lower the cost of Sales Representative Registration and lead to a more open and accessible health care industry for vendors. I welcome input from fellow representatives both independent and company employed, as well as hospital personnel, vendor credentialing companies, and interested elected and government representatives.