Frequently asked questions

How SurgNet works

Quick answers to the most common questions. Anything we miss? Email us.

Who is SurgNet for?

Hospitals, surgery centers, and ambulatory surgical centers buying surgical supplies. We aggregate live inventory and pricing from every overstock supplier in the Howard Medical network into one search.

If you're a buyer, materials manager, or supply chain lead in a surgical environment, this is for you.

Do I need an account to place an order?

No. You can search the network and place orders without signing in — checkout takes payment by card.

Accounts unlock the savings dashboard: load your hospital's surgical SKU list and we'll cross-reference it against the network in real time, surfacing where you could be saving against your contract pricing.

How does pricing work?

Vendors send us their inventory feeds with cost. We add a small markup (currently 20%) to cover sourcing, ops, invoicing, and customer support — so the price you see is your final unit cost. No surprises at invoice time.

We never list a SKU we can't sell at a known price. Every listing on the site is ready to order.

What about expiration dates?

All items in the network carry at least 6 months of dating. If anything in your order would ship under six months at the time of fulfillment, we confirm with you before sending.

Need longer dating (e.g., 12+ months for a specific case)? Add it to the order notes and we'll filter accordingly.

What's the lead time?

Most orders ship within 1–3 business days from the supplier. Lead time varies by supplier and product, so reach out to ops if a specific item is time-sensitive.

Out-of-stock items have a Currently Unavailable button — click it, leave your email, and ops will follow up with current lead time and alternative SKUs.

Existing Howard Medical customers — do I pay the same way?

Yes. If your hospital already has terms set up with Howard Medical, sign in to your SurgNet account and your orders will invoice on net-30 like before. No card required.

New accounts pay by card on first orders. Once a relationship is established you can apply for terms directly with Howard Medical.

How do you choose which supplier fulfills my order?

When multiple suppliers in the network have the same SKU, we route to the lowest-priced in-stock listing by default. The SKU detail page shows you every listing for that SKU with its UOM, quantity, expiration window, and price — you can pick a specific one if you have a preference.

How do I get my hospital's pricing loaded for savings tracking?

Email us your most recent contract pricing file (CSV, Excel, whatever you have). We'll load it against your SKU list and your dashboard will start showing per-SKU and total annual savings versus the network. Takes about a day.

Is SurgNet itself free?

Yes — there's no fee to use the platform. Howard Medical is paid by the markup we add on each order.

Still have questions?

Reach the Howard Medical team directly.

mark@howardmedical.com