I would like to enquire whether any of the forum members are aware of a system for the classification of surgical items. Such a classification may allow us to compare prices of surgical items relative to their quality and therapeutic use within a category. This may assist in developing a reference pricing system for surgicals items. It may also assist in negotiating a better price with manufacturers or encourage service providers to choose the most cost-effective surgical items.

I gather that your "classification system" would have nothing to do with regulatory classifications, which can be quite broad, and instead would be a purchasing-oriented, much more finely graduated classification based on specific intended use, size, type, etc.

I would think that such a system would be difficult to use effectively unless the makers of such items determined their classification. One would think that if such classification was being done by makers, they would mark that classification on the product labeling in some manner. I have occasion to see quite a bit of such labeling, and I'm not familiar with any such classification system currently in use.