TechNation - August 2017

1technation.com

Vol. 8

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL / HTM PROFESSIONAL

AUGUST 2017

OVE RCOM ING BUD GE T CONSTRAINTS How to Manage HTM Funds

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29 News and Notes

Industry Updates

46 Roundtable

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85 TechNation Contests

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TECHNATION: ADVANCING BIOMEDICAL / HTM PROFESSIONALS

46

HE ROUNDTABLE: T STERLIZERS Maintaining and repairing sterilizers can be the responsibility of the HTM department and that can be challenging if the department does not have a specialist or experienced professional on staff. TechNation sought expert tips on what it takes to maintain these devices.

54

HOW TO MANAGE COST OF SERVICE AND OVERCOME BUDGET CONSTRAINTS The belt tightening at health care facilities throughout the United States has impacted HTM departments in various ways and include the need to maintain older equipment, cutting compensation for training, reduced opportunities to attend conferences and fewer budgeted FTEs. Next month’s Feature article: WANTED: Qualified Biomeds

Next month’s Roundtable article: Anesthesia

TechNation (Vol. 8, Issue #8) August 2017 is published monthly by MD Publishing, 18 Eastbrook Bend, Peachtree City, GA 30269-1530. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to TechNation at 18 Eastbrook Bend, Peachtree City, GA 30269-1530.

TechNation magazine is dedicated to providing medical equipment service professionals with comprehensive, reliable, information concerning medical equipment, parts, service and supplies. It is published monthly by MD Publishing, Inc. Subscriptions are available free of charge to qualified individuals within the United States. Publisher reserves the right to determine qualification for a free subscriptions. Every precaution is taken to ensure accuracy of content; however, the information, opinions, and statements expressed in the articles and advertisements herein are those of the writer and/or advertiser, and not necessarily those of the publisher.

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

AUGUST 2017

TECHNATION

9

CONTENTS

INSIDE

PUBLISHER

John M. Krieg

VICE PRESIDENT

Kristin Leavoy

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Jayme McKelvey Lisa Gosser

ART DEPARTMENT

Jonathan Riley Jessica Laurain Kara Pelley

EDITOR

John Wallace

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS

Roger Bowles K. Richard Douglas John Noblitt Todd Rogers Manny Roman David Scott Cindy Stephens Steven Yelton Alan Moretti Jeff Kabachinski

WEB DEPARTMENT

Cindy Galindo Kathryn Keur

ACCOUNTING

Kim Callahan

CIRCULATION

Lisa Cover Laura Mullen Jena Mattison

WEBINARS

Linda Hasluem

EDITORIAL BOARD

Eddie Acosta, Business Development Manager, Colin Construction Company Manny Roman, Business Operation Manager, AMSP Robert Preston, CBET, A+, 2014 Salim Kai, MSPSL, CBET, Clinical Safety Engineer University of Michigan Health System James R. Fedele, Director, Biomedical Engineering Izabella Gieras, MS, MBA, CCE, Director of Clinical Technology, Huntington Memorial Hospital Inhel Rekik, Biomedical Engineer, MS, Clinical Engineer

Departments P.12 SPOTLIGHT p.12 Professional of the Month: Anthony Hickerty, BMET II p.16 Company Showcase: Tech Knowledge Associates p.18 Department of the Month: Adept Health

Clinical Equipment Management Program p.22 Biomed Adventures: Fischer Fishing Adventure p.24 Company Showcase: Soma Technology P.29 p.29

p.34 p.36

INDUSTRY UPDATES News and Notes: Updates from the HTM Industry AAMI Update ECRI Institute Update

P.38 p.38 p.40 p.43 p.44

THE BENCH Shop Talk Biomed 101 Tools of the Trade Webinar Wednesday

P.63 p.63 p.64

p.66 p.68 p.71 p.72 p.75 p.77

EXPERT ADVICE Career Center Ultrasound Tech Expert Sponsored by Conquest Imaging Beyond Certification Tech Tips The Future Tech Knowledge Thought Leader Roman Review

P.81 BREAKROOM p.81 Did You Know? p.83 The Vault p.85 Biomed Cart Contest p.86 What’s on Your Bench

Sponsored by MedWrench p.93 Alphabetical Index p.88 Service Index

MD Publishing / TechNation Magazine 18 Eastbrook Bend, Peachtree City, GA 30269 800.906.3373 • Fax: 770.632.9090 Email: info@mdpublishing.com www.mdpublishing.com

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TECHNATION

AUGUST 2017

Proud supporters of

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Jim Rickner Global Training Director Conquest Imaging

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Helping others advance their professional and personal goals, and love what they do, while helping patients 24/7 is what makes my work a calling, not a job.

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SPOTLIGHT

PROFESSIONAL OF THE MONTH Anthony Hickerty, BMET II

BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

O

utside of Grand Rapids, Michigan, near the shoreline of Lake Michigan, sits the city of Holland, Michigan. Holland is a picturesque town known for its fields of springtime tulips, parks and proximity to the water. It is nestled along the shores of Lake Michigan and Lake Macatawa. The city got its name from the many Dutch immigrants who settled there beginning in the mid-1800s. The health care needs of the residents is provided, in part, by Holland Hospital.

Holland Hospital has recently celebrated its centennial, having opened its doors in 1917. The independent, not-for-profit hospital serves the 250,000 residents of Ottawa and Allegan counties on the west side of Michigan. The hospital is a Truven’s Top 100 Hospital and, for the past three years, has been recognized as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals by Healthgrades.

Anthony Hickerty works for Aramark as a BMET II at Holland Hospital. Hickerty’s interest in both mechanical and electrical work attracted him to the field.

“My first interest actually came from my electronic technician background. I was working for a hospital in the warehouse while looking for a tech job. The manager of biomed asked if I would be interested in repairing a few small items like wheelchairs and stretchers after hours volunteering. My mechanical side loved this and over time I was able to see the electronic equipment being repaired and that was when I knew I wanted to become a biomed engineer,” Hickerty says.

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“In the beginning it was all volunteer work, after working eight hours a day in the warehouse – all hands-on, service manuals and supervision from the manager. During this time, I left the warehouse full-time job to work part time in the biomed department as the equipment distribution person and also went to school part time,” Hickerty says.

He says that the position put him ahead of the curve because he was able to see the equipment and watch the techs work on it as well as see the inner workings of a biomed department.

“After three years of part-time schooling, I graduated from Muskegon Community College with an associate degree in biomedical engineering. Now, I work for Aramark as a BMET II at Holland Hospital,” he adds.

Hickerty says that when you work on a small biomed team, knowing as much as you can helps.

“Surgery and CS are my main focus along with networking and any PC related issues. We have four techs and one ISE here, so knowing all the equipment is almost a requirement,” Hickerty says.

CHALLENGES, PASTIMES AND A GREAT JOB In the special projects and challenges categories, Hickerty has had some experience with both. Whether device integration or constructing a useful tool for clinicians, he says it’s all good.

“The most fun project I have created was using a quadplex video device to put four screens onto a large TV so that the nurses and doctors would be able to view patients in four separate locations as opposed to placing four screens at each location along with all the cables and wires needed for this,” Hickerty says.

“The most demanding project was definitely Cerner integration. Learning all the components of Cerner and how each device is integrated into the system was a task,” he says. “Learning all the programs behind Cerner and how each one integrates with each other. Getting each connectivity engine, or CE for short, programmed and added to Cerner.”

He adds that programming each Global Unique Identifier Device (GUID) to each medical device, along with making sure data was flowing to each device, to the backbone, and then to the program that the nurses and doctors use, is also a challenge.

“Overall this project was huge, but in the end it was all worth it as it saves the staff so much time and energy,” Hickerty says.

Away from work, Hickerty enjoys forging using a homemade forge. He normally works with aluminum and has dice molds. To save space, he creates aluminum bars from all of his scrap metal.

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

SPOTLIGHT

He recently became a dad and now has a family of three. He says he has been “married for five years this September to my best friend. Just had a baby boy in April; being a new father is a wonderful experience.”

The old adage that says if you love your job, you will never work a day in your life, applies to Hickerty. That appreciation extends to those he has the opportunity to work with also.

“I love what I do and this ‘job’ never really feels like a job. I work on different pieces of equipment every day and new challenges are around almost every corner, but that is what makes this job fun,” he says. “The team I work with is also top notch; they never hesitate to help if needed and are always eager to learn. I could not ask for a better team.”

The patients at Holland Hospital can rest assured that they have a devoted biomed team behind the scenes and one new dad who is grateful to help.

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

FAVORITE BOOK: The one I am reading to my son.

FAVORITE MOVIE: I have two. “Avengers Civil War” and “Princess Bride” because who doesn’t love a romantic, comedy, action flick?

FAVORITE FOOD:

Pork soup dumplings from Joe Shanghai in New York, New York

HIDDEN TALENT: I can do a backflip from a standing position. (TechNation has video proof to backup this claim. You can see it at www.1technation.com)

FAVORITE PART OF BEING A BIOMED: Different problems to solve each and everyday

WHAT’S ON MY BENCH Diet Pepsi as I do not drink coffee, ESU 2400; cannot live without this, my whiteboard where all the ideas go.

AUGUST 2017

TECHNATION

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SPOTLIGHT

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

COMPANY SHOWCASE T

ech Knowledge Associates (TKA) was formed in 2012 when St. Joseph Health System (Southern California, Northern California and Texas) decided to spin the Clinical Engineering program out into a commercial enterprise called The Innovation Institute. Since its beginnings, TKA has achieved success by positioning itself to provide highly cost-effective CE/HTM services for members of The Innovation Institute and others.

TechNation recently interviewed TKA President George Hampton to find out more about the company.

business. We have had several people work through our program, and some have even moved into management.

Q:

Q:

Hampton: Our model is to provide a strong local presence and to integrate into the culture of our clients. We work to build a strong ethical relationship with our clients at very reasonable prices. Our goal is to honor our Catholic heritage by working to lower our client’s CE/HTM expenses through aggressive pricing and strong teams.

Hampton: Our core competencies include: • Full Spectrum Services: We cover the maintenance of everything from electronic thermometers to radiation therapy units. We provide our clients with flat billing on all of these items and take all the catastrophic risk.

• Cultural Integration: We seek to build a relationship with our clients where our technicians are seen as co-workers and family within the clinical environment. We believe our services are a partnership and we desire to contribute to the public identity our clients work so hard to create.

• Technical Expertise: We believe in a high level of factory and alternative training for our technicians. Our philosophy is on-site experts with factory support is the best scenario for maximizing uptime and containing cost.

• Price Point: TKA prices our services to compete with proficient internal

What are some advantages that your company has over the competition?

Q:

What are some challenges that your company faced last year?

How were you able to overcome them?

Hampton: We have suffered from difficulties finding technicians in the Northern California market. The cost of living is very high and there is a lot of competition for employees. We have created an apprenticeship program that has allowed us to attract people who might not have all the education to be a full-fledged technician. We train them, direct their education and work to groom them to learn our way of doing

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Can you explain your company’s core competencies and unique selling points?

CE programs. We apply cost-to-value benchmarking to monitor our costs and target performance that rivals internal programs, unlike our competitors who compete with manufacturer price points and other expensive outsourced programs.

Q:

What product or service that your company offers are you most excited about right now?

Hampton: We are very excited about our comprehensive technology assessment services that we are able to provide for our clients. We are able to analyze multiple factors, from equipment lifespan to patient volumes to be able to provide a road map for replacement and rightsizing their inventory. The report delivers a 5-year recommended replacement and redeployment schedule that can be calibrated for their actual capital

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

SPOTLIGHT

“We work to build a strong ethical relationship with our clients at very reasonable prices. Our goal is to honor our Catholic heritage by working to lower our client’s CE/HTM expenses through aggressive pricing and strong teams.”

budget. We are also excited about our ever-growing parts procurement program. We are experiencing significant savings with this program while increasing efficiency for our technical staff.

Q:

What is on the horizon for your company? How will it evolve in the coming years?

Hampton: We will likely move into rental fleet control. Most of our clients have expressed transferring to this kind of inventory for better control and savings. Additionally, we will be much more involved in mitigating medical device security risks.

Q:

Please tell me about your employees.

Hampton: We have a great team and we also have a very challenging business model that demands that our team performs at very high levels. Our account directors must understand the business of cost savings in the CE/HTM industry. I am very proud of how they have embraced this area of development.

Our leadership team works tirelessly to develop new product lines and fine-tune our current services. We are a family and that makes a potentially stressful environment a great place to work.

Q:

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

What is your company’s mission statement?

Hampton: “Revolutionize delivery of clinical technology services through noble partnerships that empower our staff to be the best in the industry.”

Q:

Is there anything else you want readers to know about your company?

Hampton: We are a young company that is flexible and creative. Our connection to The Innovation Institute and its other entities gives us the ability to add value in the total health care services spectrum for our clients.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION about Tech Knowledge Associates, visit www.ii-techknow.com.

AUGUST 2017

TECHNATION

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SPOTLIGHT

DEPARTMENT PROFILE Adept Health Clinical Equipment Management Program

BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

C

harlotte, North Carolina is a bustling city of 810,000 people in the southern Piedmont region of the state. The metro population is more than two million. Its residents are attracted by its central location and an affordable cost of living. It is home to the NASCAR Hall of Fame and Charlotte Douglas International Airport, one of the largest in the nation.

Novant Health is a major provider of health care to the people of Charlotte, as well as throughout North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia.

The health system includes 15 medical centers and 1,514 physicians.

Novant’s Presbyterian Medical Center main campus in Charlotte is part of the Southern Piedmont Region of the health system. The medical center has 622 beds. The other area facilities that are part of Novant Health include 147-bed Novant Matthews Medical Center, 91-bed Novant Huntersville Medical Center, 72-bed Novant Charlotte Orthopedic Hospital, 5-bed Novant Brunswick Medical Center and 227-bed Novant Rowan Medical Center. There are also 110 physician practices sites.

The Clinical Equipment Management Program (CEMP) that provides management of the health system’s 30,000-plus pieces of medical equipment includes a director, two managers, 12 imaging engineers and 23 biomedical technicians. The program operates under the health system’s shared services operations known as Adept Health.

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Adept Health Clinical Equipment Management Program includes the biomed and radiology engineers at Novant Presbyterian Medical Center.

Leadership in the department includes Director Paul F. Strachan, Mark Ramsey, imaging manager, and Jeff Hogan, biomed manager. Ramsey is a 19-year veteran of the department.

Hogan has been with the department for 11 years.

The department attempts to keep most work in-house and contracts roughly 10 percent to vendors or third-party companies. They keep some often outsourced services in-house and provide services to outside entities.

“We also have an internal lab for flex/ridge scope repair, instrument sharpening, and corporate biomed bench techs that service the highvolume equipment: EG infusion pumps, SCDS, tocodynamometers (tocos), located at the Novant Logistics Center in Kannapolis, North Carolina. We also provide service and support to imaging centers not attached to the facilities, and provide clinical equipment shared services/consulting to facilities outside of Novant,” Strachan says.

The department’s CMMS receives work order requests through text messages, pagers and laptops. Requests that go to team members must be

accepted. If not, the request is escalated through back-ups first, and then to management, to ascertain that customers are satisfied.

The team also has a close working relationship with IT, including during construction projects.

“Developing relationships with key members in the multiple silos of IT is essential and needed in order to best service our customers,” Strachan says. “We have two Biomed Medical Device Integration team members that act as the liaison between the patient care equipment and the EMR-Epic (IT). They are responsible for the set-up (hardware) and troubleshooting of communication issues going to the middleware-Capsule.”

INTERNAL INVOLVEMENT AND OUTREACH The CEMP team members are active participants in every phase of equipment management and procurement. They have also brought their experience and training to projects outside of their facilities.

“We are always at the table for inclusion of the planning and logistics for all new and existing construction projects. We are currently working on the Novant Charlotte Orthopedic

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

SPOTLIGHT

Chris Parker is seen servicing a flash sterilizer.

Hospital remodel/ additions and the new Novant Hospital in Mint Hill, North Carolina,” Strachan says.

“Patient monitoring and its network can be complex in its understanding and we’ve recently been involved with nursing to help them build the business plan for updating the patient monitors at all the Novant facilities. This includes the need to improve and update the devices that provide secondary alarm messaging to output devices the staff carry. They rely on us to help them understand what is needed to help them with their business case,” he says.

“Every year we are included in the decision process in determining what imaging equipment needs to be replaced and the priority order for this. We are also currently involved in providing data and our input on replacing all the aging anesthesia machines as a mass buy,” Strachan adds.

The team has even been involved with the support of the medical equipment for a more atypical patient.

“We have taken on and supported the Carolina Raptor Center which provides health care and rehabilitative service to injured birds of prey with the goal of returning them to the wild, while educating the public,” Strachan says. “[We] have been able to provide equipment and service on the medical devices.”

Another way the department members give of their talents is to help underserved populations.

“We encourage our team members to get involved and help serve others. [We are] currently working with an ortho group that helps provide surgeries in Guatemala. Past involvement with Operation Smile missions as well,” Strachan says.

The CEMP team also helps out at a local community college through the shared experience of team members.

“Currently we sit on the advisory board for the biomed program at Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC).

[We] help to provide direction for developing the educational program and internships. Our biomeds will often speak with

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Biomed Enrique Uribe reviews the operations of an incubator with the assistance of a student intern.

the students, giving them a facility tour, and talking about their responsibilities and their view on the biomed field as a career,” Strachan says.

“I believe our biomeds are great ambassadors for this. Students really seem to appreciate the out-of-classroom experience. We believe this is a great motivator in helping students achieve their goal,” he adds.

COST SAVINGS In the problem-solving department, the team has employed resourceful thinking to save their employer a lot of money.

“One recent issue that comes to mind was our involvement in the telemetry monitoring unit (TMU) at the main campus that monitors patients at five Novant facilities. The department needed to reorganize their workforce to meet up with the demand and equipment availability. Based on their understanding they were prepared to order additional monitors not knowing that they could redistribute the monitors in such a way to prevent the ordering of additional monitors to the tune of $500,000,” Strachan says.

“You could say they were ecstatic when the biomed department was able to guide them through the process that met their needs and saved them dollars,” he adds.

The department is also an active participant with the North Carolina Biomedical Association (NCBA), attending the annual symposium and classes.

As great ambassadors of Novant Health, and the HTM community at large, the Adept Health Clinical Equipment Management Program team puts a positive face on medical equipment management.

AUGUST 2017

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SPOTLIGHT

BIOMED ADVENTURES Fischer Fishing Expeditions

BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

T

he great outdoors beckons. For many people, the call to adventure and discovery is irresistible. Sometimes, the more exciting the adventure, the better. Aaron Fischer, a clinical engineering specialist with Saint Elizabeth Healthcare in Northern Kentucky, knows that feeling.

Having made fishing trips to both Alaska and Canada, Fischer knows a thing or two about adventure. Although he most likes spending time with his two young daughters, there are those times that making a trek into the wilderness is in the cards.

“As early as I can remember I enjoyed the outdoors. I would go fishing with my father at a very early age. There are farm ponds and streams all over where I grew up that we would fish in,” Fischer says.

While those local waterways served their purpose, the family did not restrict their fishing to same-day jaunts. Trips to more distant fishing destinations have been, at least in part, a family tradition.

“My father and uncles have been going fishing in Canada every other year for the past 15 years. This past August I was able to join them,” Fischer says. “The Alaska trip was my uncle’s idea. He just retired and wanted to plan a trip. All my uncles and father went on the trip along with all but one cousin – 16 of us total.”

WILDERNESS FISHING Heading north of the border proved to be an enjoyable experience once the fishing began.

“The trip to Canada was great; getting

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Aaron Fischer, a clinical engineering specialist with Saint Elizabeth Healthcare in Kentucky, is seen with family members during a fishing trip to Alaska.

there wasn’t that fun. We flew from Cincinnati, Ohio to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Then we drove about eight hours to outside Winnipeg, Manitoba. We stayed in a cabin that night and flew out on a float plane the next morning. It was a two-hour flight on the float plane to a remote part of Manitoba,” Fischer says.

“We were one of two cabins on the entire lake that was about seven-miles long. The accommodations on the lake were better than expected. We had limited solar power and plumbing. The weather all week was perfect mid-70s and sunny most days. The fishing the first two days was a little slow, but once we found some spots, it picked up. We fished for Northern Pike and Walleye.

My best catch of the trip was a 40-inch Northern Pike. My uncle managed to land a 46-inch Northern,” Fischer adds.

FISHING IN THE LAST FRONTIER If Canada wasn’t enough of an adventure, heading for the vast expanses of Alaska was. There aren’t many better

examples of a “fishing story” after this kind of trip as Fischer learned.

“The Alaska trip was a once in a lifetime trip. Getting the entire family there on the same trip was unbelievable on its own,” Fischer says.

“We went at the end of September, which is about the end of the fishing season, so we had to prepare by packing plenty of warm and waterproof clothes.

Luckily, we only needed it in the morning. We had some rain but it was quite a bit warmer than usual for that time of the year. We didn’t visit much in Alaska, we flew into Anchorage and spent a day there before heading to the outpost,” he says.

Fischer says that the next morning, the group flew about 150 miles southwest to Iliamna Lake and took boats down the Kvichak River to an outpost, which is called the Alaska Sportsman Lodge.

“This was not a roughing-it type trip,” he admits. “We had guides that went out with us each day, chefs

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SPOTLIGHT

prepared meals, generators for power, Wi-Fi, and beer on tap. Each day started with a hot breakfast, then we got ready and met at the dock around 7 a.m. where we split up in groups of four for the day,” Fischer adds.

“Each group went to a different location for the day; most consisted of flying out on float planes. We would fish until about 4 p.m. and fly back in time to take a shower and have a meal; followed by drinks around the fireplace. We fished the Kvichak river, which was loaded with large rainbow trout. I landed a 27-inch [trout],” he explains.

Fischer says that another very interesting locale they visited was Brooks Falls in the Katmai National Park.

“We had to get there by float plane,” he says. “As soon as we landed, there were three brown bear on the shore.

The guides paid no attention to them and told us to jump out and they wouldn’t bother us. We were a little hesitant, but got out anyways, and sure enough they looked up but went on their way. They had a ranger station there where we had to go through bear school before going in the park. We fished and hiked up stream all day.”

He says that the group did encounter a couple dozen brown bear in the process, getting within 50 feet or so.

“Fishing here was difficult; the water moved quick and we didn’t have much skill yet,” Fischer says.

“Another location was what they called ‘the coast.’ It provided the best sights while flying. We flew over glaciers and mountains. This spot was the easiest fishing. It was a slow moving stream filled with silver salmon,” he adds. “It was grassland surrounded by ice-capped mountains.”

“The last spot we fished, they called ‘the narrows.’ It was an area where one lake fed into another via a narrow stream maybe a half-mile long. We caught mostly Arctic Char here, which had a neat orange coloring on them, and Dolly Varden [trout],” Fischer says.

Some of these fishing trips have

Aaron Fischer says they flew to a fishing spot in Alaska that provided amazing views.

Aaron Fischer holds a sockeye salmon he caught.

introduced new techniques and methods of fishing to Fischer.

“Most of my fishing experience has been fishing in local farm ponds off the bank. When I went to Alaska it was my first experience with fly fishing which took some time to get used to, but I enjoyed learning the techniques. Even though I didn’t get very good at it,” he says. “I have also been deep sea fishing in Florida as a kid. The most memorable part of the trip was seeing the multiple sharks that were caught.

They were smaller, maybe 3 feet, but it was a neat experience.”

STILL A BIOMED FIRST When not casting a line, Fischer can be found on the job at St. Elizabeth Healthcare. The health care system operates facilities throughout Northern Kentucky.

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Aaron Fischer and the group encountered a couple dozen brown bear on their fishing adventures.

“I work in the clinical engineering department for St. Elizabeth Healthcare located in Northern Kentucky,” Fischer says. “We consist of six hospitals and dozens of offsite locations. My title is clinical engineering specialist. I primarily work on imaging equipment; my main focus being ultrasound, CT and general X-ray, but I have been starting to work on MRI as well. I have been in biomed since 2004 when I started my first co-op and [have] been with St. Elizabeth since 2009.”

Fischer also makes use of the mobile version of the MedWrench platform; in particular for finding solutions and offering help to others in the forums.

With a name like Fischer, there could be no other pastime for this adventurous biomed.

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SPOTLIGHT

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

COMPANY SHOWCASE C

EO and President Peter Leonidas started Soma Technology, Inc. in 1992. The company refurbishes products for health care facilities located in more than 50 countries.

TechNation Magazine recently learned more about Soma Technology from Sales Director Ashish Dhammam, Sales Director Ria Asnani and Marketing Coordinator Alyssa Adler.

Q:

What are some advantages your company has over the competition?

SOMA TECHNOLOGY: Our strong engineering team and commitment to excellent service is our greatest advantage. We offer our customers a one-stop shopping experience. Our product categories include heart-lung machines, heater/coolers, IABPs, C-Arms, portable X-rays, DR plates, mini C-Arms, NICU equipment, obstetrical equipment, operating room equipment, anesthesia machines, surgical tables, electrosurgical units, infusion pumps, ventilators, ultrasounds and much more. A complete offering can be viewed on our website at www.somatechnology.com and www. equipomedicocentral.com.

Also, Soma Technology is an approved vendor for all major GPOs, IDNs and distribution networks in the U.S.

Q:

What are some challenges the company faced last year?

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SOMA TECHNOLOGY: Soma Technology prides itself on predicting proper demand and stocking this inventory.

With the Affordable Care Act, we have seen health care facilities consolidate and become part of larger corporations; decisions previously made by physicians are being made at the corporate level.

We were able to convince these corporations of our ability to provide products for large-scale purchases.

Q:

What are your company’s core competencies and unique selling points?

SOMA TECHNOLOGY: We offer products at a fraction of the cost of OEMs, lifetime phone technical support and carry a comprehensive inventory of OEM parts and new replacement accessories. By refurbishing products, Soma Technology is devoted to a green standard, where we reduce, reuse, and recycle our equipment, contributing to a healthier planet.

Q:

What product or service are you most excited about?

SOMA TECHNOLOGY: As one of the few companies to offer bladder scanner calibration, we are able to eliminate the need for our customers to rely on OEMs or outside companies for service and calibration. We offer comprehensive service and calibration on infusion pumps, defibrillators, C-Arms, contrast injectors, and more.

Q:

What is on the horizon for Soma Technology?

SOMA TECHNOLOGY: Our team is working on a number of new surgery centers. In order to better facilitate repairs and service, we are adding service centers around the country. Our private label offering, AXIA Surgical, is starting to become an established brand name for new monitors, imaging tables and surgical lights.

Q:

Can you share with us how you “saved the day” for a customer?

SOMA TECHNOLOGY: Biomeds are often surprised by our ability to supply parts and accessories that are difficult to acquire. Most hospitals utilize our rent-to-own option thus saving money and time; enabling easier capital spending decisions. Through these savings, medical facilities are able to invest in other revenue streams.

Q:

Can you tell me more about your company’s facility?

SOMA TECHNOLOGY: We have a state-of-the-art facility with ISO certification. We designed the facility around workflow from inventory, to technical refurbishment, to cosmetics and logistics. Our technical staff is OEM trained and we invest in their education, test equipment and tools. We encourage customers to visit our facility and showroom to plan their upcoming OR.

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SPOTLIGHT

Peter, Maria and Mario are our longest serving employees.

Biomedical engineer Sachin, works on a C-Arm

New sales hires, Steve and Ryan in product training

“ Our priority is improving patient care by helping facilities purchase brand name medical equipment without compromising quality or service.”

Q:

Have there been any recent changes?

SOMA TECHNOLOGY: Last year, our private label Axia Surgical added DR plate and video laryngoscope solutions to our many offerings – with more products yet to come. We are proud that all Axia Surgical products are manufactured and assembled in the United States.

Q:

Who makes Soma Technology a success?

SOMA TECHNOLOGY: Soma Technology has a very large, diverse workforce. We are an equal-opportunity employer offering full benefits to our employees.

The skill sets of our employees include technical, sales, marketing, purchasing, management and, of course, engineering.

A large percentage of our employees have

a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from reputed universities.

Q:

What is Soma Technology’s mission statement?

SOMA TECHNOLOGY: Soma Technology’s main mission is to provide high-quality new and refurbished medical equipment to health care facilities worldwide at affordable prices.

Our priority is improving patient care by helping facilities purchase brand name medical equipment without compromising quality or service.

Q:

Is there anything else you want readers to know?

SOMA TECHNOLOGY: Soma Technology has exciting plans for the future. We have redesigned our Parts and

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Accessories’ webpage; somamedicalparts.com. This redesign provides customers with an individualized e-commerce experience with parts and accessories offered at a fraction of the cost compared to OEMs. To better serve our Spanish-speaking customers, we launched the website; equipomedicalcentral.com. Soma Technology takes pride in delivering on our promises to customers.

We are very active on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, YouTube and Instagram as “Soma Technology.” We are celebrating our 25th year, and look forward to continued excellence!

FOR MORE INFORMATION, please visit www.somatechnology.com and equipomedicocentral.com

AUGUST 2017

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

STAFF REPORTS

NEWS AND NOTES Updates from the HTM Industry TECHNATION TOUR HEADS TO CABMET, NCBA

TECHNICAL PROSPECTS ACHIEVES ISO, ADDS TO TEAM

The next stop of the second annual TechNation Tour is set for the 2017 CABMET Symposium, August 10-11. The 15th annual symposium will be at Children’s Hospital Colorado (13123 East 16th Avenue, Aurora, CO 80045). Find out more about CABMET at www.cabmet.org.

The TechNation Tour also has a scheduled stop at the 39th annual North Carolina Biomedical Association (NCBA) Symposium, August 23-25.

For more information about the symposium visit www.ncbiomedassoc.com/Symposium.aspx.

The TechNation Tour stop at NCBA will be from 7:30-9:30 p.m. at Dugans Pub on Wednesday, August 23. The stop includes a unique networking environment with complimentary food and beverage. Admission is free for magazine subscribers and advertisers.

Also, a limited number of TechNation Tour T-shirts will be given away. Drink tickets will be distributed at the TechNation booth.

The TechNation Tour is a series of free networking events scheduled for HTM professionals throughout 2017.

MD Publishing Vice President Kristin Leavoy said the TechNation Tour is a way for the magazine to continue its support of the HTM/ Clinical Engineering industry in the same way that its biannual MD Expo is a go-to resource for networking and training.

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Technical Prospects has received ISO 9001:2015 certification for the disassembly, repair, refurbishment, quality assurance, technical support, and technical training of medical imaging of products.

The company also recently added former Siemens field service engineer Chris Watson to its team. Watson brings over 10 years of Siemens expertise to Technical Prospects and will serve CHRIS WATSON as a dedicated resource to provide technical support for preventative maintenance, repair guidance, equipment calibration, part installation and error troubleshooting on all of Siemens imaging modalities. Developing new training courses will also be a focus given Watson’s current knowledge of Siemens medical imaging equipment.

During his tenure with Siemens, Watson worked as a field service engineer repairing Siemens medical imaging equipment in some of the country’s largest hospitals. Having field experience, he understands the importance of repairing equipment quickly and the challenges engineers face in the field.

Technical Prospects offers free technical support on Siemens medical imaging modalities, no parts purchase necessary, backed by a team of engineers with over 100 years of imaging experience. The company offers other free technical resources, including videos and blogs available on its website. Technical Prospects is also known for its thorough training programs at its state-of-the-art training facility.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, visit www.technicalprospects.com.

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

STAFF REPORTS

GE HEALTHCARE OFFERS GOLDSEAL REFURBISHED PARTS, ASSET-TRACKING SOLUTION

Demand for quality used parts has increased as hospitals and health care systems have become more sophisticated about medical equipment maintenance and management. Now more than 10,000 types of refurbished parts for GE diagnostic imaging equipment are available as GoldSeal parts from GE Healthcare. Hospital in-house service departments can find GoldSeal parts alongside new GE parts online at ServiceShop.gehealthcare.com, or obtain by phone (800-558-2040) or through a GE Concierge Parts Agent.

GoldSeal parts are designed to deliver on quality, compatibility and value.

Every GoldSeal part goes through an extensive validation in an ISO 13485 certified process to ensure quality and performance. GE uses proprietary testing methods designed by GE engineers to validate GoldSeal parts, including MR coils and X-ray tubes.

GoldSeal parts meet original specifications and are compatible with the GE system revision they were designed for.

GE Healthcare is developing a large inventory of GoldSeal parts, which now includes more than 10,000 GoldSeal part numbers covering GE CT, MR, nuclear medicine, PET, ultrasound, vascular, and radiography. Many are available to ship same or next day.

GoldSeal parts are a reliable option for pre-owned parts at an attractive price, and may help extend the lifecycle of aging systems in need of hard-to-find parts.

“Hospital service departments are looking for a trusted source of quality, affordable parts that are quick and easy

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to find and obtain. We are excited to introduce GoldSeal parts at AAMI 2017 and expand our support to in-house teams in this way,” said Joe Shrawder, president and CEO of GE Healthcare Global Services.

GE Healthcare also recently unveiled Encompass, a solution designed to help hospitals manage mobile asset inventory, reduce total cost of ownership and achieve better capital allocation. It enables health care providers to find critical mobile assets in real-time with accuracy and ease so they can spend less time searching for equipment and more time focused on providing quality patient care.

Encompass is poised to achieve new levels of RTLS adoption by helping a facility enable better patient care, operational efficiency and financial performance with a simple, fast, flexible and cost-efficient solution. Built upon open standards and commercial Bluetooth Low Energy wireless technology that leverages a hospital’s existing Wi-Fi network, this approach eliminates the classic objections to proprietary hard-wired locating systems.

It can be installed in a matter of days instead of months, and without opening ceilings or drilling into walls to run cable. The capital and installation cost is up to 60 percent lower than for cabled RTLS. There is no requirement for separate, dedicated on-site application and database servers for the hospital to maintain and no dedicated software to update. Furthermore, the applications can be provided as a subscription service.

The system readily scales to

accommodate growth and can be easily reconfigured if hospital layouts are redesigned or repurposed. As a cloudbased application, the location system is accessible to any authorized staff member and from any computer or mobile device with Internet access.

“Finally, there is an asset tracking solution that isn’t so problematic to implement,” said Rob Reilly, Vice President and General Manager, U.S. & Canada Services, GE Healthcare. “Also, the opportunity for ROI is quicker. We believe this means that nursing and HTM departments who have been asking for real-time asset tracking capabilities are going to start getting approvals from decision-makers.”

Encompass combines the experience of GE Healthcare in medical devices and hospital operations management with the expertise of its technology partner, Zebra Technologies, a market leader in enterprise mobile computing solutions.

GE Healthcare’s asset performance management (APM) solutions use data and analytics to help improve the reliability and availability of a hospital’s assets, minimize total cost of ownership, and reduce operational risks. GE Healthcare’s APM vision is to give health care providers a holistic, unified view of their GE and non-GE assets by seamlessly integrating with their existing data stores. Encompass fits into the APM ecosystem of predicting, maintaining, locating and analyzing the asset fleet and related operational activities so that the right decisions can be made at the right time.

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

EQ2 LLC ANNOUNCES NEW VERSION OF HEMS CMMS EQ2 LLC has released Version 7 of its HEMS Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) that addresses emerging needs in the hospital biomedical/clinical engineering, facilities/ support services, and imaging departments.

With the new modules, updates to existing modules as well as to the core product and dashboards, an updated name was needed.

So, the new CMMS release will now be known as “HEMS II” which was on display at the AAMI 2017 Conference and Expo.

HEMS II provides enhancements to make the interface more intuitive and address timely needs, including Alternative Equipment Maintenance; Fluke Ansur; Electronic Protected Health Information; network topology and diagnosis; and device and equipment labeling.

All of the HEMS II features are priced modularly and to scale so a configuration can be made to match a hospital’s needs and budget, regardless of size. HEMS II is also available through license on the user’s server or as a SaaS (cloud) product.

MEDICAL EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE MARKET GROWING According to a new market research report “Medical Equipment Maintenance Market by Device (Imaging (MRI, CT, PET, SPECT, X-ray, Ultrasound, C Arm), Endoscopy, ECG, EMG, Defibrillator, Dental, Ventilator), Service Provider (OEM, ISO, In house), End User (Public, Private) - Global Forecast to 2022”, published by MarketsandMarkets, the medical equipment maintenance market is expected to reach $24.83 billion by 2022 from $15.30 billion in 2017, at a CAGR of 10.2 percent during the forecast period.

In 2017, the OEM segment is expected to dominate this market, primarily due to their service quality, wide geographic presence, strong technical expertise, and easy access to spare parts.

Also in 2017, private-sector organizations are expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The increasing number of publicprivate partnerships is expected to boost the demand for medical equipment maintenance services.

PROBEHUNTER ANNOUNCES UK PARTNER The ProbeHunter team, the Scandinavian developed system for quality assurance of ultrasound probes, has announced that Imaging First Ltd based in Manchester, UK is representing ProbeHunter in England and Ireland.

Imaging First will offer ultrasound probe testing services as an accredited provider that will suit both NHS services and independent operators.

Imaging First is positioned to offer an end-to-end specialist service dedicated

to “all things ultrasound.” This includes system sales, distribution, repairs, QA, servicing and consultancy putting patient care first.

“In our continuing growth for patient safety, the ProbeHunter Network is expanding and soon additional new distributors for other countries will be announced. The ProbeHunter product line is a leading global provider of ultrasound probe testing systems. A Quality Assurance

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

system like ProbeHunter, testing ultrasound probes in daily use, will increase quality of care, save hospitals cost and increase patient safety,” states BBS Medical AB CEO & founder of ProbeHunter Björn Segall.

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STAFF REPORTS

RICHARDSON ELECTRONICS SELLS PACS DISPLAY BUSINESS Richardson Electronics Ltd. has announced the sale of its picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) display business, including the Image Systems brand, to Double Black Imaging.

The Image Systems brand of diagnostic and clinical imaging displays has been recognized as adisplay brand for over 25 years. The Image Systems product portfolio includes 2MP, 3MP, 5MP and 6MP color and grayscale displays. Included in the sale is Image Systems proprietary calibration software, known as CFS, which is designed to simplify the conformance and calibration of all Image Systems diagnostic and clinical use displays. This ensures DICOM compliance and proper calibration throughout their life cycle.

Double Black Imaging is a provider of PACS displays for the diagnostic and clinical display market. Double Black Imaging was launched in July of 2002.

The company is privately held by the Lloyd family in Colorado and Minnesota. “Double Black Imaging shares many of the same values as Richardson Electronics including our objective to help lower health care costs. We believe the combination of these two PACS display businesses creates a stronger competitive environment and will be good for our diagnostic display customers. At the same time, this sale allows Richardson Healthcare to focus on its key initiative to expand our line of CT and MRI tubes and high value replacement parts for the diagnostic imaging market,� said Edward J. Richardson, chairman and CEO of Richardson Electronics Ltd.

UNFORS RAYSAFE INTRODUCES THE RAYSAFE PRO-SLIT PHANTOM The RaySafe Pro-Slit Phantom is a slit camera for accurate measurement of the focal spot size according to IEC 60336:2005. Its design enables repeatable and accurate measurements and the possibility to measure the size of any focal spot with one tool.

Use the RaySafe Pro-Stand (not included) to enable easy and repeatable measurement setup. The RaySafe Pro-Stand is an adjustable stand that is designed to make focal spot measuring procedures easy to perform, as well as ensuring accurate results. The Pro-Stand can be used with the slit camera, RaySafe pinholes, and can also be used for manual HVL measurements. The Pro-Stand comes in a basic version which includes adjustable height from 350 mm to over 600 mm (wide range of magnification) and adjustable horizontal positioning. The full version additionally offers, tilt functionality of 10 degrees, positioning tool for easy setup and a heavy-duty rugged case for safe transportation.

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

BY AAMI

AAMI UPDATE

Updated Guide Focuses on Making the Most of Your CMMS

M

ost healthcare technology management (HTM) professionals are tasked with documenting their work in a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS); however, optimizing the use of this tool can be a challenge.

“In our consulting work, we see too many HTM programs fall into the ‘garbage in, garbage out’ trap,” said Matthew Baretich, president of Baretich Engineering Inc. Too often, he added, the CMMS becomes a timeconsuming repository of “arbitrary data entry rather than as a source of useful, actionable information. When properly configured, a competent CMMS becomes a valued tool.”

To achieve this goal, Baretich, along with co-author Ted Cohen, have extensively updated AAMI’s CMMS guide, the first revision to this resource in 14 years.

“A lot has changed since the second edition,” Baretich said.

“Many of the basic principles were still relevant, but HTM practice and CMMS capabilities had evolved substantially. It was time for a new edition.”

Some of these new capabilities, according to Cohen, an HTM consultant and part-time project clinical engineer at UC-Davis Health in California, include dashboards, interfaces with configuration management databases and other systems, modules to manage alternative equipment maintenance plans, and data analytics packages.

The third edition of “Computerized Maintenance Management Systems for Healthcare Technology Management” outlines the basic principles of CMMS design and operation, as well as identifies how to effectively use the system to generate meaningful data.

“The CMMS needs to do a good job of making data entry easy, yet comprehensive enough to recall the ‘story’ of what happened on a particular repair,” Cohen said. “The CMMS also needs to be flexible/configurable so it meets the needs of different institutions, yet still performs error checking to help stop erroneous and incomplete data from being entered.”

A new section of the book tackles essential CMMS “how tos”: how to use the system for standards compliance, financial management, and equipment planning; how to maintain data integrity so the CMMS provides useful information; and how to select and implement a CMMS product.

“If they are not currently using their CMMS to its full potential, hopefully this book will help them improve their

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current CMMS use by improving data integrity and helping them capture more data,” Cohen said.

“Computerized Maintenance Management Systems for Healthcare Technology Management, 3rd Edition” is available through the AAMI Store, www.aami.org/store. The cost is $89 for AAMI members and $129 for non-members.

NEW PODCAST FOCUSES ON CYBERSECURITY With cybersecurity attacks on the rise in health care and a growing appreciation for the threats posed to patients, AAMI podcast host Terry Baker sat down with cybersecurity expert Axel Wirth at the AAMI 2017 Conference & Expo in Austin, Texas.

According to Wirth, who is a distinguished technical architect for Symantec Corporation and a member of the BI&T Editorial Board, patch management is more important than ever – yet it remains a challenge for most hospitals.

“I don’t think there’s any other industry that has such a diversity of different devices from different manufacturers run in an environment where the pieces are so dependent on each other. That makes it difficult to, for example, take one device down, patch it, and reboot it without affecting other devices,” Wirth said.

During the podcast, Wirth shared his tips for patch management and his “defense in depth” framework that he believes all health care facilities should adopt. This AAMI podcast, along with more than a dozen others, is available at www.aami.org/newsviews/podcasts.

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

BY ECRI INSTITUTE

ECRI UPDATE

Pepper, the Emotional Robot: Do You Have a Spot for Artificial Intelligence on Your 2017 Payroll?

A

t the 2017 South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas, a panel discussion entitled “The Sound of Robots” was held to “highlight how the voice of robots could influence the interaction between human and robots.” This panel, part of the con ference’s “Intelligent Future” track, discussed how voice influences interaction between humans and robots. Does the way a robot sounds portray its personality? Should your robot have its own personality selected by you? If humans are mean to robots, should the robots respond in kind? Should they always be listening to our conversations – particularly intimate ones?

As humanoid robots are introduced into health care facilities, these are all important considerations for health care leaders. In fact, ECRI Institute highlighted “Pepper the Emotional Robot” in its 2017 C-Suite Technologies to Watch monograph.

Pepper is touted as the world’s first humanoid robot which interprets human body language, reads emotions, and responds accordingly. In 2016, two Belgian hospitals introduced Pepper in their reception areas to support reception staff by meeting and greeting visitors, answer questions in any of 19 languages, collect information, and escort people as needed to physician offices or other areas. The robot body is about four feet tall, has a head filled with sensors, eyes with colored lights, a tablet device integrated into the chest area, and arms that can move in 17 directions. The light color of the eyes changes according to the perceived mood of the surrounding people. Pepper has a combination of 2-D and 3-D cameras to help it process images with shape-recognition software to identify objects, faces, and emotional states.

With all this embedded technology, Pepper can recognize faces, speak, hear someone speaking, move autonomously, and engage in conversation.

Pepper is just one example of artificial intelligence and robots gaining a foothold in patient care. While it is an off-the-shelf robot, its programming

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had to be developed extensively for its range of tasks. With the baby boomer generation living longer independently, or living longer in their own homes with chronic diseases, there is a growing need for assistive technologies like Pepper.

Intelligent robots integrated with Smart Home sensors may be a necessary link in the continuum of care; they can be used to assist the older adult – and their caregivers – with tasks related to independent living and cognitive assistance. However, how these are deployed and subsequently supported create an entire new set of challenges for health care providers.

First, these robots probably need a dependable internet service as well as integration with other monitoring/ sensing technologies. If we think that wireless coverage in a hospital basement or elevators is a challenge, wait until dealing with the challenges of outdated routers in people’s residences. It’s one thing when a social worker visits a home to look for tripping risks such as area rugs; it’s another skill set entirely to wire a residence with a monitoring system that uses cameras and speakers and then conducting home Internet bandwidth assessments. How many clinical engineering or information technology departments have the extra personnel to take on this task? Or, is this something that the local visiting nursing association will handle?

Second, many of these robots are

likely to use the cloud to send and store information. This creates security issues from both a patient privacy perspective and a protected health information (PHI) perspective. As developments in point-of-care technology and medical devices for home use are made, these robots may evolve into more than just companions and actually “provide” care for a patient with a chronic or rehabilitative condition. Many of us are already hesitant when it comes to a friend placing technology in our home setting; the acceptance of a robot may depend on its “humanity” as much as its security designs.

In a hospital setting these issues may be a bit easier to handle, and the management of the fleet of humanoid robots may be overseen by Clinical Engineering, IT Application Support, Environmental Services – or an entirely new service function. In the acute care setting, humanoid robots might develop to support other tasks like patient watching or routine vital signs monitoring. However, this may not be the case too much longer. A recent New York Times Magazine article (February 26, 2017) on the new working class in America suggested that “The most important frontier for robots is not the work they take from humans but the work they do with humans.” The article explored how new software and operating instructions could enable robots to do many of the tasks required

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

We Obsess Over Diagnostic Imaging.

Every.

Quality Tiny. replacem ent parts and Detail. on-d emand service

—

Photo credit to Getty Images

THIS ARTICLE IS EXCERPTED from ECRI Institute’s 2017 Top 10 Hospital C-Suite Watch List. To download the full report, visit www. ecri.org/2017watchlist. For more information on ECRI Institute’s evidence-based health technology assessment or consulting services, contact communications@ecri.org, or call (610) 825-6000, ext. 5889.

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of waiters, maids and hospital workers. On another robot related front, there are collaborative robots, which are focused on specific tasks instead of an entire job’s skill sets, which are poised to be implemented soon. These ultra-focused robots will do specific repetitive tasks like take a temperature or a blood pressure reading.

Whether humanoid or task-specific robots gain staff acceptance, let alone patient acceptance, has yet to be determined. Pro-active hospital leaders should be assessing where robots may play a role in care settings. Does it make sense to have a fleet of robots as greeters at each and every access point to the hospital? Which department will be responsible for operational management of these robots, and what skill set will personnel in this department need to do so? Can a collaborative robot be developed to decontaminate surgical instruments, thus eliminating a personnel hazard exposure risk? Currently, chemistry and hematology lines in the clinical laboratory are largely automated, but can robots somehow be used there? What will be the next collaborative task that is undertaken? And most importantly, will the robots look like Rosie from the “Jetsons” or will it be a more menacing and pervasive presence like HAL 9000 from Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”?

ECRI’s Applied Solutions Group can provide customized consulting services to health care organizations interested in incorporating Pepper and other health care technologies into their suite of services. Learn more at www.ecri.org/ appliedsolutions.

224-244-3726

partssales@sharedimaging.com www.sharedimaging.com

AUGUST 2017

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THE BENCH

STAFF REPORTS

SHOPTALK

Conversations from the TechNation Listserv Q:

Just wondering if anyone out there has changed a back-up battery on a Respironics BIPAP Vision. Evidently this unit was end of life last year. They have the batteries available for purchase, but was told by Tech Support that I need a “cable connector” to be able to reset the hours on the unit. He said once you take the battery off the MC board, it sends the hours up to an astronomical level. This issue started with the vent alarm going off and putting an error code of 102 on the machine. I guess I am just wondering if anyone has experienced this issue and knows what the cable connector is? I’d like to see if I could find it online and try to stretch this unit out a little further. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

A:

Actually, and don’t tell anyone, I have done it plugged in so I wouldn’t have that problem. It can be done. Use a pad of paper as your support and insulator. Just be careful. It’s been a while and I really can’t tell you anymore. I just remember doing it several times. Works fine.

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A:

You can just change the battery and not worry about the hours it has no effect on the operations of the unit. Also, you can have the cable but if you don’t have the software in your computer to run diagnostics you can’t change the hours anyway.

A:

There are two cables for connection based on the serial number of your Vision. If the serial number is less than 106000 then you need part number 582161, if the serial number is greater than 106000 you need part number 1004823 (most likely). It has been a long time since I have had to deal with these units, but as I recall it required a hyperterminal connection.

Q:

Has anyone found a good “no touch” thermometer? We have used Veratemp but they have stopped making them. We have tried Welch Allyn’s product but were not impressed. What are other hospitals using with success?

A:

They use the Exergen Corporation TAT 5000 at our hospital. I

haven’t heard any nurses complain about them, and I only have had one fail, and it was under warranty. We have 37 in our inventory.

A:

We use the Exergen units as well.

The only real issue that we have had has been one of incorrect user technique. When used properly, however, they are quite accurate and reliable.

A:

We also have the Exergen TAT5000 temporal/forehead thermometers attached to all of our Corometrics fetal monitors (8). And they work well. But, through the years, they get dropped/cases crack and they get replaced, as Exergen has a lifetime replacement warranty on them. Also, since I finally purchased the associated calibrator a year or so ago, I have replaced 5-6 of them as they had fallen out of calibration.

THE SHOP TALK article is compiled from TechNation’s ListServ and MedWrench.com. Go to www.1TechNation.com/Listserv or www.MedWrench.com/?community.threads to find out how you can join and be part of the discussion.

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AUGUST 2017

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THE BENCH

STAFF REPORTS

BIOMED 101

T

echNation Editor John Wallace recently interviewed Rob Reilly, Vice President and General Manager, U.S. & Canada Services, GE Healthcare, regarding the unveiling of the company’s asset tracking solution Encompass. The following is an exclusive Q&A with Reilly.

Q:

What makes this asset tracking solution different from the RTLS solutions already available on the market?

Reilly: Real-time location systems (RTLS) have helped hospitals significantly improve management of mobile clinical assets, right-size inventories, and save up to millions of dollars in capital and maintenance costs. However, traditional RTLS required large capital expenditures and long deployment programs before the hospitals could realize the benefits.

GE Healthcare’s Encompass, which is built upon open standards and commercial Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Wi-Fi technologies, eliminates the classic objections to proprietary hardwired locating systems. Through the marriage of BLE with the existing hospital Wi-Fi infrastructure, it can be installed in a matter of days instead of months and with no need to open ceilings or drill into walls to run cable. As a cloud-based application, the location system is accessible to any authorized staff member and from any computer or mobile clinical asset with Internet access.

The capital and installation cost is up to 60 percent lower than for cabled RTLS. There is no on-site server for the hospital

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to maintain and no dedicated software to update. The system readily scales to accommodate growth and can be easily reconfigured if hospital layouts are redesigned or repurposed.

Q:

What do you say to those who may have cybersecurity concerns or questions regarding Encompass?

Reilly: We would start by listening to what their concerns are so we can address them specifically. With that said, the solution does not store patient, staff or examination data. It only stores location data, such as a device’s MAC address and location in latitude and longitude format.

Q:

How exactly does Encompass work to help track assets?

Reilly: This RTLS technology provides proximity-based device location data using the same basic geo-referencing as smartphone navigation apps. It is built on a system of battery-powered BLE beacons and mobile and fixed receivers.

The receivers transmit location data via Wi-Fi to the cloud by way of a site gateway installed on a server provided by the hospital. [See graphic]

Q:

What unique technology and/or features does Encompass use to provide accurate tracking?

Reilly: BLE and Wi-Fi help enhance RTLS consistency and reliability: the signals pass through walls and, with multi-path propagation, function in the presence of staff members or other obstructions, such as equipment carts. At the same time, the short-range and very low transmit power of the Bluetooth

ROB REILLY VP and General Manager, GE Healthcare

beacons limits impact on the hospital’s radio-frequency environment and reduces the risk of interference with other wireless communications and medical equipment.

The Bluetooth asset tags are inexpensive, and their operation has been optimized for health care RTLS with batteries that can last two to five years.

Q:

What are the benefits of a RTLS deployment for asset tracking?

Reilly: A cost-effective RTLS deployment may offer long-term benefits in patient care, operation efficiency and financial performance. Patient care may improve when one considers that mobile clinical assets may be delivered when patients need them, and care quality can be maximized. Operation efficiency may improve when staff members easily and quickly locate equipment, and biomedical staff can locate equipment to perform timely and compliant planned maintenance. And financial performance may improve when mobile clinical assets inventory is right-sized, and capital,

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maintenance and labor costs are reduced.

Loss, theft and rental of mobile clinical assets like IV pumps and telemetry boxes may also be minimized.

Q:

Can you tell our readers more about the GE Healthcare partnership with Zebra Technologies?

Reilly: The new RTLS combines the experience of GE Healthcare in hospital management and RTLS with the expertise of Zebra Technologies in Enterprise Asset Intelligence and wireless communication. We started with existing Zebra hardware and modified the designs to meet the unique needs of a hospital environment. Building upon the redesigned hardware, GE Healthcare created the location intelligence engine and the applications that help produce an end-to-end RTLS that delivers solutions for asset management in the healthcare space. This solution is distributed solely through GE Healthcare. Zebra will continue to provide the hardware needed for the current solutions and work with

Anesthesia • Beds/Stretchers • Cardiology • Endoscopy • Exam Room • Extremity Pum Feeding Pump • General Medicine • IV Pump • Laboratory • Lymphedema Pump • Mi laneous • Monitor • Nutrition Pump • OB/GYN • Ophthalmology • OR/Surgery • Out the • Pediatric Respiratory • Supplies • Therapy • Ultrasound • Vascular • Gas Regulator • A thesia • Beds/Stretchers • Cardiology • Endoscopy • Exam Room • Extremity Pump • Fe Pump • General Medicine • IV Pump • Laboratory • Lymphedema Pump • Miscellaneo Monitor • Nutrition Pump • OB/GYN • Ophthalmology • OR/Surgery • Out the Door • Ped Our equipment Respiratory • Supplies • Therapy • Ultrasound • Vascular • Gas Regulator • Anesthesia • Stretchers • Cardiology • Endoscopy • Exam Room Extremity Pump • Feeding Pump • is tested and •serviced eral Medicine • IV Pump • Laboratory • Lymphedema Pump in-house so that we• Miscellaneous • Monitor • tion Pump • OB/GYN • Ophthalmology • OR/Surgery • Out the Door • Pediatric Respirat can guarantee its Supplies • Therapy • Ultrasound • Vascular • Gas Regulator • Anesthesia • Beds/Stretch integrity.

Cardiology • Endoscopy • Exam Room • Extremity Pump • Feeding Pump • General Med • IV Pump • Laboratory • Lymphedema Pump • Miscellaneous • Monitor • Nutrition Pum hardware to• Ophthalmology • OR/Surgery • Out the Door • Pediatric Respiratory • Suppl OB/GYN

GE Healthcare on new Therapy • Ultrasound • Vascular • Gas Regulator • Anesthesia • Beds/Stretchers • Cardiology • Endoscopy • Exam Room • Extremity Pump • Feeding Pump provide additional solutions.

Q:

Does Encompass work with GE and non-GE devices?

Reilly: The power of our platform is that it is built on open standards, and allows integration with third party applications. This will enable health care providers to potentially extend the benefit of the location data beyond asset tracking, such as to: bed or capacity management, transport system, wayfinding, nurse call system, hospital system wide analytics, contagion control, room readiness system, scheduling system, and patient tracking.

The open-standards approach to RTLS also lets hospitals leverage their investment in Wi-Fi networks instead of building new single-purpose infrastructures. Once the system is installed, staff members can access it on a desktop or laptop computer and on Apple or Android laptops, tablets or smartphones.

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TOOLS OF THE TRADE

Healthmark Magic Touch Magnifier

H

ealthmark has announced the addition of the Magic Touch Magnifier to it Optical Inspection line.

Designed for detailed inspection, the 3.75 x 3.75 x 1.8 inch Magic Touch has a magnification of 3x and weighs 0.45 pounds. Equipped with three LED lights, the Magic Touch magnifier is a touch-activated unit that features an on/off switch for uninterrupted lighting and twist-action focus that allows the user to zoom-in for greater detail. The magnifier includes two CR2016 batteries, a zip case and a microfiber lens cloth to help protect the glass lens from dust, debris and scratching.

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AUGUST 2017

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THE BENCH

STAFF REPORT

Webinar

Wednesday

WEBINAR WEDNESDAY Series Continues to Provide Helpful Insights

T

he TechNation Webinar Wednesday Series continues to draws crowds and inform HTM professionals around the world.

The Nuvolo-sponsored webinar “HTM Reinvented: The Formula for How Hospitals Succeed with Nuvolo’s Clinical Asset Management Platform” continued the popular TechNation Webinar Wednesday Series. Participation in the live presentation was eligible for 1 CE credit from the ACI. Andrew Sweet, director of solution consulting at Nuvolo, discussed how innovative clinical and biomedical engineering teams are upgrading their legacy CMMS to Nuvolo’s Clinical Asset Management Platform. Sweet says

In-depth auditing and compliance tracking of all assets and work orders to generate the proof for Joint Commission and DNV audits was also explained.

He explored how to make more informed decisions regarding clinical equipment by leveraging real-time reporting and analytics and how to adapt to process and workflow changes with click-to-configure architecture.

About 200 people attended the live webinar, which is now available online at 1TechNation.com. Attendees shared their thoughts about the presentation in post-webinar surveys.

“I liked this webinar, because it made more clear for me that the organizing process is essential in order to develop a good business,” Mircea N. wrote.

“This was my first seminar and I

“This was my first webinar. Looking at the archive, I have missed a lot of good info. Unless something comes up, I plan on attending every Wednesday’s session” that this upgrade allows them to deliver premier patient care, despite challenges such as increased audit requirements and budget constraints.

Attendees learned how to provide technicians and managers with an easy-to-use and personalized user experience and enable users to complete a service request in a few clicks. Sweet also discussed how to manage work orders on any mobile device.

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– Greg H.

found it useful in introducing me to new CMMS technology,” Issac B. said.

“It was nice to watch the presenter use the system being described in real time. It really helped give me the ‘flavor’ of what it is like to use that application,” George S. shared.

The recent webinar “Introduction to Ocean Professional” by Rob Morrison, senior applications and product specialist at RTI Inc. was a hit with

HTM professionals. Participation in the presentation was eligible for 1 CE credit from the ACI. The webinar, which was sponsored

by RTI Inc., included an introduction to RTI’s Ocean Professional software. The software is part of RTI’s complete X-ray QA solution. Morrison also discussed the efficiency and time-saving benefits of Ocean. He demonstrated by examining features such as customizable templates, robust analysis and reporting capabilities – all made possible by Ocean’s unique database structure.

Morrison is an expert on the subject.

He has over 30 years experience working in sales, service, training and support for non-invasive X-ray QA devices, specifically with RTI products.

Webinar attendees praised the session in online surveys.

“I can always depend on TechNation to introduce devices and procedures to help us perform at our best,” Thomas J. wrote in his post-webinar survey.

“Glad to take this webinar, it helps me understand the importance of software solutions applied to equipment and user needs,” Alain M. said.

“This webinar was very informational. We have been using this software and I knew we were not using it to it’s full potential. It was very exciting to learn all that the software can do,” Rikki W. shared.

“This was my first webinar. Looking at the archive, I have missed a lot of good info. Unless something comes up, I plan on attending every Wednesday’s session,” Greg H. said.

The series is a popular among many

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TO FIND OUT MORE about the series, including recordings of previous webinars and a calendar of upcoming webinars, visit 1TechNation.com/webinars.

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“Webinar Wednesdays very well may be the most important and informative day of the week for our HTM department – step aside ‘MeetingMondays,’ ” Jeff W said.

“The Webinar Wednesday is a refreshing oasis in a profession that has extremely limited training resources,” Lawrence F. shared.

“The Webinar Wednesday series is an excellent avenue to demonstrate current innovative ideas and provide support to the HTM community. It allows for individuals like myself to improve skills and share information with their peers. The series also allows retired members to stay abreast of changing technologies,” Paul S. said.

“Webinar Wednesday is an outstanding resource for continuing education for our team! The presentations offer valuable solutions and informative perspectives in our career field. Thank you TechNation for your collaboration,” Sal C. wrote.

“The Webinar Wednesday series are always entertaining and pertinent to my job functions,” Barry G. added.

Click, click, click and another hour of training in the bag. Thank you Webinar Wednesday!!

- Janet P.

The Wednesday Webinar series is a fantastic educational resource. Many thanks to all who donate time and educational materials to the industry.

-David M

The Webinar Wednesday learning series is a great thing. Give it a try, even old dogs can learn new tricks!

- Mark W.

The Webinar Wednesday Series is THE AWESOMESAUCE on my pancakes!

- Jewel N.

VIEW UPCOMING WEBINARS AND REGISTER AT www.1technation.com/webinars

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AUGUST 2017

TECHNATION

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ROUNDTABLE

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ROUNDTABLE

ROUNDTABLE Sterilizers

S

terilizers play an important role in health care, especially when it comes to how shorter patient stays and fewer readmissions benefit a health care facility’s bottom line. Maintaining and repairing these devices is often the responsibility of the in-house HTM department and that can be challenging if the department does not have a specialist or experienced professional on staff. TechNation reached out to a variety of individuals to get their input on what it takes to maintain sterilizers as well as additional insights for these devices.

Participants in this roundtable article on sterilizers are STERIS Corp. Scienece and Technical Director Richard Bancroft, Replacement Parts Industries (RPI) Product Development Engineer Neil Blagman, ProHealth Care Biomedical Engineering Supervisor Dan Blaisdell and Advanced Sterilization Products (ASP) Director of Global Strategic Marketing Brian Thompson.

Q: What are the latest advances in sterilizers?

Richard Bancroft, STERIS Corp.

Bancroft: Sterilizers have been used for over 100 years for the sterilization of medical devices; steam has been used as the historical method of choice due to its efficiency in killing microorganisms. Steam sterilizers have changed very little in basic concept for many years, however technological advances have been implemented to ensure that air is removed adequately from loads and replaced with steam to ensure correct sterilization of complex loads and medical devices. These advances include such techniques as Steam Flush Pressure Pulse (SFPP) to remove air from loads without relying upon a vacuum system. The advent of modern sterilizer control systems gives more reliability to sterilization cycles, and allows integration with sterile processing workflow management software, such as STERIS CS-iQ. Increasingly, however, advances in medical devices have meant that some of these devices are manufactured using materials or construction configurations that are not compatible with steam sterilization, hence the need for low temperature sterilization methods. Increasingly, vapor-phase hydrogen peroxide is used for the sterilization of these devices.

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Blagman: The addition of closed door drying, vacuum pumps and pulsed steam to tabletop sterilizers brings their abilities much closer to the most advanced bulk sterilizers. In addition the increasing use and sophistication of on-board computing power in tabletop sterilizers gives the service technician the ability to more thoroughly diagnose cycle failures and error conditions on site. In the world of highlevel disinfectors the expanding use of exotic chemical treatments such as concentrated hydrogen peroxide, plasma degradation and ozone have mirrored the development of more complex surgical instruments with finer lumen and more complex hinges and moving surfaces.

Blaisdell: The latest advances in sterilizers include improvements in the electronic controls, operating software and the increased use of sensors to monitor sterilizer operation. Hydrogen peroxide sterilization is slowly eliminating the need for ethylene oxide sterilizers. Hydrogen peroxide sterilizer advancements allow for heavier loads and lower cycle times.

Thompson: Earlier this year, ASP launched the lowtemperature sterilization systems the STERRAD 100NX and STERRAD NX with ALLClear Technology. The systems were designed specifically to address the challenges faced by Central Sterile Services Departments (CSSDs), and to help them deliver instruments to operating rooms faster and more efficiently. When paired with ASP Access, a smart information sharing technology, the systems automatically communicate with hospital networks and instrument tracking systems to enhance compliance and reduce the need for manual record keeping. The systems are easy to operate, which helps simplify staff training and minimizes the potential for human error. Finally, the systems were developed to automatically identify and fix issues that can

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ROUNDTABLE

cause cycle cancellations, resulting in fewer workload disruptions and greater efficiency for the CSSD staff.

Q: How have those changes impacted health care delivery in the United States?

Bancroft: The SFPP cycle offers many benefits, including time and cost savings. Since there is no vacuum drawn during conditioning there is no requirement to run a Bowie-Dick test if only SFPP cycles are employed. Because SFPP conditions loads above atmospheric pressure, air cannot be reintroduced into the chamber through leaks in the sterilizer plumbing. Sterile processing workflow management software allows for real-time information available hospital-wide, and reduces paper by managing documentation and record keeping electronically, including capture of biological and chemical indicator results. Low temperature sterilization using vapor-phase hydrogen peroxide can significantly reduce reprocessing times for devices that are compatible with these processes.

Neil Blagman, RPI Blagman: As specialized medical instruments have become more complex the materials used in their construction have become more delicate and less heat resistant preventing the use of any steam sterilization techniques.

This change in construction techniques and materials is driving manufacturers to develop new equipment to disinfect these thermally sensitive devices. These new disinfecting modalities are in turn driving even the smallest facilities to purchase new equipment in order to allow their clinicians the ability to deliver cutting-edge treatments and therapies.

It seems, therefore, that many facilities are diverting more of their new equipment budget into the central processing department in order to keep up with the demand for new disinfection equipment.

Blaisdell: The sterilization becomes much more efficient. We can run larger and heavier loads, and run them more often.

This allows us to turnover a greater volume of instruments/ loads and also do it quicker. This allows other efficiencies to occur, such as not having to purchase additional sets of instruments and allowing more cases to be scheduled in the OR. The addition of rapid readout biological incubators, and running a biological in every load has also tremendously reduced the need for calling back instruments/loads when a problem does occur with a sterilizer.

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Thompson: ASP systems are designed to help avoid catastrophic events due to healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Any issues or delays during the sterilization process can cause disruption to operating room schedules and put patients in danger of HAIs. This new technology helps solve problems causing delays, and helps ensure doctors and patients can get critical instruments when they need them. New innovations enhance compliance, reduce the potential for human error, and detect and resolve issues that may cause cycle cancellations, all of which provide additional assurance that instruments are sterilized properly and efficiently.

Q: How do new advances and features impact sterilizer maintenance?

Bancroft: SFPP cycles can eliminate sterilizer downtime associated with leaks and saves the time and cost of reprocessing if a positive Bowie-Dick has been obtained while using pre-vacuum cycles. Sterile processing workflow management software allows viewing and printing of equipment status reports, including equipment monitoring results and daily maintenance notifications. The functionality and uptime of sterilizers and other CSSD equipment can be tracked with real-time visual dashboards that provide proactive management for CSSD equipment, including reminders for preventative maintenance and daily service tasks.

Blagman: As tabletop sterilizers and disinfectors become more and more complex, the service tools and diagnostics become more specialized and more complex. The addition of specialized extender cards, test fixtures and data boxes give the service technician a much more detailed view of the run conditions. Unfortunately, these advanced service tools are not always available to the average technician in the field.

When they are available from the manufacturer, they can be relatively expensive.

Blaisdell: The additional sensors and programming can lead to more frequent problems, although this has not been the case in our facility. The more sophisticated programming can be a great aid in troubleshooting and resolving problems.

However, doing a PM is more time consuming and costly due to the increased number of components and items that need to be serviced.

Thompson: Common challenges with the existing STERRAD systems include misaligned cassettes. A new hardware cassette delivery system is designed to reduce this challenge.

Additional new hardware includes an improved hydrogen peroxide monitor, designed to increase the reliability of the

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system. In addition, ASP backs STERRAD systems with ALLClear Technology with a one-year full service warranty.

The company provides professional installation and validation, in-servicing programs at the time of installation, advanced user training and on-site services support.

Q: How can a facility with a limited budget meet its sterilizer needs?

Bancroft: There will always be constraints on budgets, however patient safety is one area that cannot be compromised.

Hospitals should consider what their requirements are for sterilization of medical devices; these requirements will then dictate the number and type of processes that need to be provided. Additionally, consideration should be given to the type and frequency of monitoring that is required. Finally, maintenance should be addressed. A well specified preventive maintenance plan will minimize breakdowns and associated costs and ensure that sterilizers and other equipment are working at optimum efficiency.

Blagman: As tabletop sterilizers have grown in size and sophistication they have become a major cost saving for smaller facilities and clinics. Using standard AC line voltages and power cords allow the facility to position the sterilizer anywhere they find most convenient. The fact that tabletop sterilizers use self-contained steam generation removes the need for external steam generators or boilers along with the costs of installing steam supply lines within the building. The use of self-contained reservoirs and collection bottles reduce the need for floor drains and feed water plumbing.

Dan Blaisdell, ProHealth Care Blaisdell: Do your research and select a reputable vendor and appropriate model. If you are going to put them on a service contract, understand their service delivery capabilities. Understand the risk of purchasing reconditioned units. They may be cheaper in the short run but can cost you more in the long run.

Thompson: Customers can contact their ASP representative to discuss any current promotions that may help fit their budget. They offer technologies that help facilities reduce workflow interruptions, enhance compliance to hospital policies and instructions for use, and reduce the risk of operator error.

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Q: What are the most important things to look for when deciding whether to go with an original equipment manufacturer or a reputable third-party sterilizer provider?

Bancroft: With the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), the hospital will not only have the guarantee that the personnel working on the equipment have received adequate training, but also that all parts used have been verified and validated together with the equipment. In either case, evidence should be sought that any maintenance or repair is conducted by certified technicians with approved components. In addition, OEMs often use specialist tools to optimize service times, thus reducing sterilizer downtime; a third-party provider typically cannot offer this.

Blagman: For many smaller clinics and medical facilities the sterilizer is an indispensable device. Even if the facility has a spare sterilizer or an opportunity to have their sterilization needs temporarily met off-site the delays in getting sterile instruments processed can lead to case backlogs. When considering service options the local third-party service company may be able to be on site quicker than the original equipment manufacturer which could save the facility downtime. Also, since the original equipment manufacturer may not have local representation the third-party service may save the facility an expensive travel charge.

Blaisdell: Verify that equipment from third-party vendors have all the proper updates and parts. If you decide to switch back to OEM service on a third-party unit, they may not work on the unit until it is put back to exact factory configuration/specs. This can be very costly to do.

Q: What else do you think TechNation readers need to know about purchasing and servicing sterilizers?

Bancroft: Steam sterilizers are designed and built to last for a very long time. But, as with every machine, it is only as good as its maintenance. Preventive maintenance should be scheduled, and occasionally parts might require repairing; in those cases it is important to include availability of components in the purchase consideration, in order to minimize downtime of the equipment and stress on the department. Critical parts, such as door seals or valves should have a long life (for example, two years for door seals, and typically no preventive maintenance required for pneumatic valves). Designs should never be over complicated and built as simply as possible. For example, the more components required for a door mechanism, the more likely failures are to occur over the equipment life; systems that only use a simple three-component system make daily use

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very easy with minimal preventive maintenance. Replacement parts should be validated by the OEM to ensure quality standards. The chamber should be fully jacketed to avoid excessive condensation onto the load, with the associated creation of wet packs after processing; the chamber is one of the major components of a sterilizer, and should be built to last for a very long time. Typically, an elliptical chamber has an inherently stronger design than a square or rectangular chamber. Daily tasks should be made as simple as possible; whether that may be by having the drain easily accessible close to the door for daily cleaning, or by using a large touch-screen display and control panel, with easy to use full text messages, rather than codes that have to be looked up in a manual. Familiarity of the user interface can significantly minimize operator error if this interface has a common look and feel to other equipment used in the department (e.g. low temperature sterilizer, washer-disinfector) and makes it significantly easier it to use.

Blagman: Tabletop sterilizers come in many different sizes and different manufacturers’ products have different capabilities and cycles. Before purchasing any sterilizers the facility should review the needs of their users and should size the sterilizer based on their anticipated needs and the types of instruments they are planning to1 sterilize.

Cadmet_Ad_for_TechNation_H_b.pdf 1/6/2017 12:34:48 PM

Blaisdell: Call other facilities in the area that use their equipment. This way you will find out about the reliability of the equipment and whether they are getting prompt, adequate service. Whether servicing in-house or on contract, it is very important to pay attention to where and how the units are installed. Adequate room must be allowed for service. Some units are difficult to maintain due to the installation.

Brian Thompson, Advanced Sterilization Products Thompson: ASP has been revolutionizing this space for a number of years dating all the way back to 1992 when we introduced our first STERRAD System to the market. We’ve used hydrogen gas plasma technology ever since the first introduction in 1992, and continue to use that technology to present day. It’s very effective at what it does, which is killing microorganisms, but it also very safe, both for health care workers as well as the environment. ASP plans to introduce several innovations globally in 2017 to help elevate the standard of care in sterilization.

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OVE RCOM ING BUD GE T CONSTRAINTS How to Manage HTM Funds

BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

W

ith passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, the nation’s hospitals had a new challenge that came through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). That challenge required them to tighten budgets and seek best practices for keeping expenses in check – while taking on more patients.

The expansion of Medicaid, in many states, brought more patients through the doors while other provisions of the ACA have sought to reduce hospital revenues by shifting services to primary providers and other arrangements. Many hospitals have reduced the percent of uncompensated care patients substantially. As with any evolution within an institution,

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

the seismic changes to health care have introduced much belttightening.

A study of the earnings reports of 200 hospitals in 2013 found that the average operating margin had shrunk.

Mergers and acquisitions, including the purchase of insurance companies, have strained many hospital and health system budgets further as they

seek economies of scale and ways to integrate the different components that are interdependent.

The belt tightening has impacted HTM departments in various ways and include the need to maintain older equipment, cutting compensation for training, industry conventions and the number of budgeted FTEs.

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CHECKING THE BOXES To address these budgetary restraints, HTM leadership has had to consider a number of approaches to keep the C-suite happy while maintaining a high level of service to customers. This process requires an annual review along with a number of considerations that are variable.

Speaking of the “break-fix” model approach, Tom Fischer, president of Select Biomedical in Edina, Minnesota, says; “Based on what we are seeing lately, there seems to be a shift away from that model towards a better model that helps biomeds apply tighter budgets and scarcer resources towards a revenue-based approach.”

Fischer says that in the simplest form, the revenue-focused biomed approach has biomeds applying their resources and budgets to the items that have the greatest impacts on facility revenues. Items such as infusion pumps, patient monitors, etcetera, that have a low return for facilities are being shipped immediately to OEMs or repair depots.

“By not ‘triaging’ the items, the biomed team will work on, these biomeds no longer have to order parts, inventory items, or utilize hundreds of different vendors. Instead, these biomeds are able to negotiate better rates and develop stronger relationships with OEM and repair depots that complete the work in a timely/quality manner. We have seen this revenue-focused approach accomplish two critical areas for biomeds: one, improve revenue creation for facilities and two, decrease overall repair costs,” Fischer says.

“We are also beginning to see where some biomeds are actually seeing their budgets increase as they are able to tie their efforts to ROI,” he adds.

“We have a budget preparation process that takes into consideration the costs for the previous year and then has predictors for new equipment purchases

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RODNEY NOLEN, Clinical Engineering Manager, University Of Minnesota Health

" another important part of the budget process is contracts versus in-house support analysis. this is something that is ongoing throughout the year but during the budgeting season is a great time to really discuss service strategies that can reduce hospital costs and increase the bottom line." and potential retirements of devices,” says Rodney Nolen, clinical engineering manager for University of Minnesota Health in Minneapolis.

“We also take inflation costs from parts suppliers, OEMs and third-party vendors. Another important part of the budget process is contracts versus

in-house support analysis. This is something that is ongoing throughout the year but during the budgeting season it’s a great time to really discuss service strategies that can reduce hospital costs and increase the bottom line,” Nolen says.

Nolen says he likes to focus on the higher volume devices and make sure that his employer is getting the support and cost effectiveness. He says that with so many OEMs in use in the hospital, this can be a challenge.

Dave Dickey, CHC, CCE, FACHE, CHTM, corporate director of clinical engineering services at McLaren Health Care in Michigan, echoes Nolen’s approach and breaks out the fixed and variable expense items.

“I prepare annual budgets taking into account multiple factors, starting with a determination of current year cost of service ratio year end estimates, typically based upon seven month actual expenses, annualized. Once this is determined, I then calculate a three year running COSR average, which becomes my base starting goal for the next year,” Dickey says.

“I then determine what the fixed expenses are going to be; which relate to labor, contracts, depreciation and various corporate overhead expenses.

The balance then becomes the variable expense which gets split between parts, vendor repairs, service training and various other line item expenses (food, publications, subscriptions, minor tools, etcetera),” he adds.

Dickey says that he also factors in any new or anticipated expense liabilities that will start during the next fiscal year based upon big ticket item warranty expirations, which he says is why it is so important to have accurate inventory cost values, since everything related to budgeting is driven by the estimated equipment value and cost of service ratio historical data.

“Once budgets are set, and approved,

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"“once budgets are set, and approved, i monitor the cosr for each hospital,

DAVE DICKEY, CHC, CCE, FACHE, CHTM, Corporate Director Of Clinical Engineering Services At Mclaren Health Care

I monitor the COSR for each hospital, monthly, and have the ability to identify trends going in the ‘wrong direction,’ ” Dickey says.

In addition to monitoring the cost of service, the ability to keep as much of that service in-house helps the budget when possible.

“At our hospitals, we start to prepare budgets in the early fall. We add up all current contracts and determine through our CMMS what devices are coming off warranty. If we feel we cannot adequately service these devices in-house, we put them on a SLA,” says Tony Alongi, MBA, supervisor of clinical engineering at Rochester Regional Health System in Rochester, New York.

He says that sometimes they just get the lowest level of coverage, such as parts-only with phone support. At other times, they use a higher level, such as full-service due to a lack of training and limited resources (FTEs), or in some cases, the device is highly proprietary and the only option available is no coverage (too risky) or OEM. “We always try to go ‘at risk’ (no SLA) and service the devices ourselves in house where it is prudent. Age, reliability, the number of in-house staff, and the level of training and experience of the staff are all factors in determining what we will contract out or take in-house. This in turn helps us form our budget for the upcoming year,” Alongi says.

“Typically, we try to meet our Cost of Service Ratio to help develop next

monthly, and have the ability to identify trends going in the ‘wrong direction."

year’s budget. You would take your current inventory, minus any retired equipment, and add any equipment coming off of warranty. You take your COSR (or COSR target) and multiple by your equipment inventory price and you have your target budget. Another method is to start at zero and build the budget for the staffing, contracts, parts, time and material, supplies, training and miscellaneous expenses,” says David Braeutigam, MBA, CHTM, CBET, system director of healthcare technology management at Baylor Scott and White in Dallas, Texas.

How do you juggle in-house, thirdparty ISO service and third-party OEM service to keep equipment in top shape and repair equipment/devices as needed?

“Just like everyone else, we try to do as much work in-house as possible, and try not to use contracts. For lab equipment, we will use a contract if we have experience that a contract is more cost effective than using in-house or time and material,” Braeutigam says.

“We will also use third-party or OEM service if we do not have staff trained on a specific modality or enough staff to work on the equipment.”

A BALANCING ACT Watching the bottom line does not mean that there is a whiteboard on the biomed department wall that maps out a strategy singling out in-house resources as the only approach that is part of a budget template. When additional resources can be employed to either cut costs, bring in specialized

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

expertise or fill a void, then the end justifies the means. HTM management has to consider where each part of the puzzle fits to cover costs.

“When we are short staffed due to training, conferences, illness, disability, retirement and search to fill vacancies, we consider using a high-quality ISO to assist in staying compliant with The Joint Commission requirements and regulations as well as completing PMs to provide safe, reliable, and effective devices for our clinicians and patients,” Alongi says.

In addition to supplementing resources in times of deficiencies, there are also times when outside expertise allows for a juggling if resources based on the equipment and prioritization.

“This continues to be a challenge. Staffing is at a premium and gone are the days of having some hours available to ‘catch up.’ What this means is that I’m constantly looking at what devices are taking up more time to repair. I try to balance what our in-house total cost to repair is against what the repair cost is from the OEM or third-party ISO,” Nolen says.

“For some devices, we do the quicker or more cost effective repairs, but for the more in-depth issues, we rely on third-party or OEM, which allows me to shift my resources to other work with potentially higher priorities,” he adds.

Dickey terms the balancing act of utilizing in-house, third-party ISO and OEM services wisely as the “real time reality of HTM management. He says this is the case because equipment

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TONY ALONGI, MBA, Supervisor Of Clinical Engineering , Rochester Regional Health System

"“we always try to go ‘at risk’ (no sla) and service the devices ourselves in house where it is prudent. age, reliability, the number of in-house staff, and the level of training and experience of the staff are all factors in determining what we will contract out or take in house.

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warranties expire at multiple times during any given fiscal year.

“You have to have the data required in order to make decisions on post warranty service options based upon multiple factors, such as equipment failures during the warranty period, parts costs, resourcefulness of your current service staff, availability of service training (if needed), availability and skill set of local ISOs and budget impact of simply continuing to use the OEM on either a time and material basis, or via service contract, if you are not in position to take on the risk of treating this new cost liability as a variable versus a fixed budget expense,” he says.

THE TECHNOLOGY EDGE Computers and software have become such an integral part of a biomed shop that to operate efficiently without them would be very difficult. Knowing every device in the inventory, and updated information on that equipment, makes many decisions painless and routine.

“Our CMMS system is the root of my service program. We would have very serious issues if our system was down for any extended period of time,” Nolen says. “I have a pretty high bar for the expectations I put on our CMMS provider and they’ve worked hard to deliver for us. We totally rely on the system to generate PMs, hold our histories, and many other vital functions.”

“Your CMMS is one of your most important tools for the HTM. Your CMMS helps you determine your spend on your specific equipment modalities to help make the decision to train for in-house service, use third-party ISO or the OEM for service,” Braeutigam says.

“Data from your CMMS also helps you determine what your most problematic equipment is so you can

review different ways to service it. We have the CMMS run automatic reports and email them to the staff that needs to see the reports. Several examples of this are PM completion, open work orders, unassigned work orders, metrics for goals and equipment inventory that has missing data,” he says.

Dickey agrees, the CMMS is indispensable.

“I could not effectively manage our program without it, especially as related to inventory and service data management components of our program,” Dickey says.

“Of equal importance, is the need for our CMMS system to support financial management issues. Since we centrally budget for all clinical departments equipment service, and we do not bill back our services to our clinical departments, the ability to generate and provide financial year-end cost allocation reports, which shows how much it cost to support each clinical department, is essential,” he adds.

He also says that the CMMS provides the ability to identify and track total service costs by equipment type; vendors versus in-house labor; equipment abuse trends, by department and equipment type.

DOING MORE WITH LESS Can you get blood from a stone? In health care, apparently, the best approach is to try. Resourceful thinking is the answer to challenging times.

Experience is the best teacher and then searching for ideas, or coming up with a few of your own, will fill in the gaps.

This is how HTM management stares down the fissure that divides the budget from available funding.

“You have to be creative on ways to cut cost without affecting service levels. You could approach this by looking at contracts first. Do you have contracts that you could convert to

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in-house or a third-party ISO? What about looking at the hours of service on the contracts? Maybe you don’t need 24x7 coverage but maybe just Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” Braeutigam says.

He suggests that maybe a department could convert some contracts to just

DAVID BRAEUTIGAM, MBA, CHTM, CBET, system director of healthcare technology management at Baylor Scott and White

“Justifying a budget increase to support an increasing equipment value, based upon a historical cost of service ratio becomes easier, especially when you have modality specific COSR data.

What becomes key, is to be able to show that, while a HTM budget may be increasing from one year to another,

"““your cmms is one of your most important tools for the htm. your cmms helps you determine your spend on your specific equipment modalities to help make the decision to train for in house service, use third party iso or the oem for service."

time and material and save some money.

He says that when budgets are tight, training and travel are typically cut.

“We had that happen recently, so we are doing more meetings via WebEx to save both time and travel (we have 22 hospitals). You can get creative on training and see if vendors can hold training classes locally, thus saving you meal, airline and hotel expenses. You can also have your staff, that are experts on certain equipment, train the rest of your staff. We have a continuing education meeting once a month to do just that,” Braeutigam adds.

In addition to finding cost-cutting measures in-house, there are times when outside resources earn their keep. Even the expediting of parts is an expense item that needs to be considered.

“For me, the secret is in the details.

I am always looking for a new way to turn a penny into a nickel. I have recently taken a position that it’s more important to have a great relationship with a third-party ISO that can deliver

on a broad spectrum of services than to piecemeal out to several companies,” Nolen says.

He says that this allows him to go to a trusted service partner and discuss financial issues and work with them to reduce overall cost on an annual basis.

“Another thing I really try to impact is shipping costs. These can get out of control very fast. It seems that every part needs to be ordered overnight if you don’t set some controls to prioritize this decision making,” Nolen adds.

In the HTM department, the COSR is a useful metric for discussing the budget with the C-suite.

“My CFOs understand the cost of service ratio concept, and I have always used this to help justify the annual budget. It is essential that when there is a net increase in the equipment cost base, everyone has to come to grips with the reality that the CE budget will flex by a COSR factor due to the change in the active equipment inventory value,” Dickey says.

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

the cost of service ratio is remaining stable. ‘Stop buying more equipment’ or ‘tell me what you don’t want us to fix’ becomes a standard answer to the HTM increasing expense question,” Dickey adds.

He says that this is the bottom line: If an in-house HTM program can provide required services at a COSR of five percent, and an ISO can provide it for seven percent, and an OEM for 10 percent, which budget increase is easier to justify to your CFO? The health care environment, and the average HTM department, are both in flux. Leadership has found creative ways to address these new budgetary challenges using technology and time-tested strategic initiatives. Finding the balance between staffing levels, outside resources and periodic tweaks to budgetary line-items has allowed HTM to do its part in keeping patients safe and keeping the C-suite happy.

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12 Ways to Avoid a Bad Phone Interview

I

spend the lion’s share of my day conducting 30- to 60-minute telephone interviews. I can’t even begin to estimate how many phone interviews I’ve done but surely it’s in the thousands. Most phone interviews go over without any sort of oddities but from time to time I’m treated to something unexpected or inappropriate. On occasion I even encounter someone who is so lacking in interview etiquette that I decide to end the interview early. Recently one of my colleagues had one of those interviews, where she shut it down pretty quickly. Moments later she said, “I have an idea for your next TechNation piece. You need to write about the 12 things NOT to do during a phone interview. Thus, in no specific order, my colleagues and I strongly urge you to heed the following tips for optimal phone-interview outcomes.

1.

2.

9.

10.

3.

11.

Make sure that your phone is fully charged.

Barking dogs aren’t bad, either.

That is, unless the dog is barking for the duration of the interview.

If you’re sitting in your car for the interview, roll your windows up.

Use the A.C. if you have to, but keep the vents pointed away from your face; we can hear the wind from the A.C. and it sounds really bad.

Don’t speak to anyone who may be in the room with you at the time. “Honey, can you hand me that piece of paper right there?” is just not OK. If you happen to have more than one telephone, turn off the ringer on the other phone.

Don’t put your interviewer on hold to take another call. In the unlikely chance of an emergency in-bound call, that’s understandable. But be very selective about it. If you are expecting a call and don’t want to miss it, let the interviewer know in advance.

4.

When the call begins, make an effort to sound a little enthusiastic. Don’t sound like you just crawled out of bed.

5.

Men, don’t ever refer to a female interviewer as honey, sweetie, darlin’, or anything else that might be reserved for a significant other. When in doubt, just go with ma’am.

6.

Don’t be relieving yourself during the interview. This one is funny but I am pretty sure I’ve interviewed

TODD ROGERS Talent Acquisition Specialist for TriMedx

people who were conducting their business at the time. Just no, don’t!

7.

8.

Have your resume in front of you during the whole interview.

Parents, there’s nothing wrong with having to deal with a crying kid. But, holding a crying kid for the duration of the interview pretty much renders the interview useless so try to make arrangements to have someone on hand to help out if possible.

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

12.

It’s a good practice for any interviewee to know what the company actually does to make money.

Going to the website is a good start. But it’s not sufficient. Use a search engine and dig a little deeper. This shows that you care enough to do more than a cursory investigation and it goes a long way with the person who’s interviewing you.

Before sending this into the TechNation editor, I circulated it to my peers just to be sure. Each agreed that these are fundamental and useful tips to observe for a phone interview. Cheers to you for getting your next phone interview and here’s to hoping that it lands you a second interview, hopefully in-person.

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EXPERT ADVICE

BY FERNANDO CANDELARIO

ULTRASOUND TECH EXPERT

Sponsored by

Because Quality Matters ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED

GE’s BEP Compatibility Issues

A

t first glance, all of the GE Ultrasound Back-End Processors (BEPs) look identical from the front. This can be very misleading if you are not familiar with these items. The best practice is to always check the part number on the case of the BEP. This can be found by removing the left side cover from the machine.

FERNANDO CANDELARIO Medical Equipment Technican, Conquest Imaging

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Back End Processor 4.x have part numbers that that begin with 5162777x and end with 3,4,7 and 8. These can produce some confusing results if a few important key factors are not considered. For example the BEPs ending in 3 and 4 cannot be replaced with a BEP that ends in 7 or 8.

The main issue is that the touch screens are not compatible across these BEPs. The BEP part number 5162777-3 and -4 are used with a specific touch screen part number (2404652-103). If a different BEP part number was installed into the machine and it has this touch screen, there will be no video displayed on the touch screen.

The software that is used on these BEPs is compatible across all of the BEP4 part numbers. This includes the base image software and the application software. Even though the hardware is slightly different, the base installs the required drivers to run that specific BEP4.

And, remember to always make a backup and print out all your system information and user presets, which can be used to restore the system to a familiar working state. Never reload software on an existing system’s hard drive. Chances are, whatever preexisting issues that caused a system to

Never reload software on an existing system’s hard drive. Chances are, whatever pre-existing issues that caused a system to not work properly may be originating from the hard drive. not work properly may be originating from the hard drive. Using a fresh new hard drive can be preventative in terms of downtime and loss of business.

If after reading this article, there is still confusion, don’t hesitate to contact Conquest Imaging’s Technical Support.

TO VIEW our Technical Support Videos, visit www.conquestimaging.com. You can reach Conquest Imaging’s Technical Support 24/7/365 at 866-900-9404.

FERNANDO CANDELARIO is a medical equipment technician at Conquest Imaging.

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BY DAVID SCOTT

BEYOND CERTIFICATION What is H.R. 2118?

W

hat is H.R.2118? It is the Medical Device Servicing Safety and Accountability Act. What is the purpose? It is a bill introduced to the House of Representatives to “amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require the registration of establishments that service devices, and for other purposes”

This bill requiring “any person who owns or operates any establishment in any State engaged in the servicing of a device or devices, or is otherwise engaged in the servicing of a device or devices, to register with the Secretary.

It also requires that such a person establish a complaint handling system equivalent to a system meeting the requirements of section 820.198 of title 21, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations).”

“The term ‘servicing’ includes, with respect to a device, refurbishing, reconditioning, rebuilding, remarketing, repairing, or other servicing of the device by a person other than the manufacturer of the device.”

I’ve read quotes on AAMI’s website from others in the industry saying: “You’ve got OEMs hiding behind the word ‘safety.’ In the eyes of OEMs, in-house BMETs are not ‘trained professionals’ who can work on these devices.” The debate over who can – and should – repair medical devices has been roiling the industry for years. On one side, OEMs say that third-party servicers, such as independent service organizations, need greater federal oversight to ensure patient safety. They contend that some third parties have, at times, used unqualified personnel to service devices, and inadequately documented their work. On the other, HTM professionals cite statistics showing there is no evidence of a patient safety issue.”

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What does all this mean? The way I look at is is that if this bill passes, service companies may have to register with the Secretary. I’m not sure who the Secretary is? I’m guessing it would be at the state level? It could be overseen by the FDA. For years we have been talking about this. I think I have been asked in the past what I thought of registration. I still think the same – I know other people outside the health care profession who are required to register with the state and provide a minimum level of training/education and also a minimum level of continuing education to keep their registration and they have to display their registration at their workplace. Professions such as beautician, massage therapist, etc. They can also undergo unannounced inspections from the state.

Why don’t we have anything like that in our profession? You can currently go to a one-day training session and call yourself a BMET. Or, you can graduate with a four-year degree and also call yourself a BMET! There has to be something in the middle that would be a minimum requirement?

Currently, there is not. Anyone can call themselves a BMET. And to me, that does not hold a lot of weight because it doesn’t show that you have any met any minimum requirements.

A former co-worker of mine was once an automotive mechanic. He was a mechanic for several years. They are now called automotive technicians and

DAVID SCOTT CABMET Study Group Organizer, Children’s Hospital Colorado

are no longer referred to as “mechanics.” Over the years automobiles evolved to where they are today. I have heard that today’s auto has more computing power than was used in the Apollo mission to the moon!

Talking with him about the history of the automotive mechanic/technician I learned about ASE Certification. You see it posted on the front door or window of almost all independent garages. It was not the standard previously in this profession, but it is today. In the auto mechanic industry, this is considered the standard and there are different certifications available for different assemblies of the automotive.

You see ASE at dealership garages too.

Dealerships also send their mechanics to service schools that are specific to that make and model of auto. Could the HTM profession ever go in this direction? Maybe there is an opportunity? ASE is a general certification regarding the way a particular system works then the

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dealership schooling would be the equivalent or similar in our profession to a manufacturer school that is model specific.

What makes someone a “trained professional?” I think that just like the other professions I mentioned, the HTM profession should have to meet some requirements. Such as some kind of college or technical school education or experience, then certification of some sort. We have a certification system now. Is it good enough or does it need improvement? Will it go the same way as ASE certification? Or, will it be something entirely different?

Our profession is evolving just like other professions have evolved. I think a step in the right direction is to at least get your CBET certification as that does hold some weight and demonstrates a certain knowledge level. I’m not sure what manufacturers are going to do or why their service professionals are “more qualified” or why “trained professionals” are more so than someone who has met minimum requirements needed to take the CBET exam and who has proven a knowledge level high enough to pass the exam. Maybe manufacturer service personnel will have to also meet a certification requirement or register?

What are they currently doing that is so different than the rest of us to make them any more qualified to repair medical equipment? Or, at least that’s their argument behind this bill.

For now, we will have to wait and see where H.R.2118 ends up or what version, if any, gets passed into law.

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EXPERT ADVICE

BY INHEL REKIK

TECH TIPS

How did your health care organization react to WannaCry?

W

annaCry ransomware reminded healthcare organizations how vulnerable they are to cyber threats and how unprepared they are to handle and recover from them. The immediate reaction most had was to disconnect all devices from the network and use downtime procedures. However, it became obvious almost immediately that clinical practice is heavily dependent on certain automatic workflows and that hospitals aren’t ready to reverse back to manual procedures for more than few hours and take the hit on the decrease of revenue.

Most healthcare technology management (HTM) departments weren’t prepared for this increase in workload that was prompted by this worldwide attack. Very few have medical device security specialists or have enough resources to perform the remediation work that was required.

In addition, no healthcare regulatory body has dictated any recommendations to HTM departments about medical device security akin to Joint Commission regulations for alarm management and medical equipment preventive maintenance. The primary focus has always been on projects, daily operation and trying to keep legacy devices that have outdated operating systems and software running until funds are secured to replace them.

In addition, clinical engineering often doesn’t have the necessary security documentation about medical devices that are brought into the organization, which should have been collected before the medical device is bought and placed into production by the organization.

However, when WannaCry infected a Medrad injector in the United States, it made medical device cybersecurity a reality. It reminded health care organizations how vulnerable they are and how unprepared the medical device industry is.

Health care organizations have taken different approaches as a response to WannaCry. The first line of defense for

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most was to disconnect networked medical devices if there is no impact on patient care or workflow such as the case of the injector.

Some chose to perform a network scan to determine vulnerable medical devices prioritizing high risk equipment.

If the network scanning tool used is

INHEL REKIK Clinical Engineering Manager

When WannaCry infected a Medrad injector in the United States, it made medical device cybersecurity a reality. It reminded health care organizations how vulnerable they are and how unprepared the medical device industry is. based on IP addresses provided by the HTM department, scanning Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) networked devices can be time consuming since the medical device need to be powered on and capture an IP address that then gets handed to the network security team for network scanning. For devices that are determined to be vulnerable, manufacturers were contacted for released patches. For the vulnerable devices with no available patch, the network security team had either decided to put them behind a firewall or use other mitigation tools such as network segmentation.

Some organizations have bypassed network vulnerability scanning, grouped their devices by critically meaning impact on patient if the devices are infected (high, medium, low). They then contacted vendors to determine impacted medical devices and when a patch will be released starting with high-risk category. After patch installation or the use of mitigationtools, residual risk was presented to senior leadership for risk acceptance.

Others determined that the risk of infection was too high and chose to accept the risk and install available patches prior to having the approval from medical device manufacturer and

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EXPERT ADVICE

could have experienced some issues with malfunctions.

Disabling port 445 with or without manufacturer’s approval is one thing that was done if it has been determined that there was no impact on the operation of the medical device. In summary, each health care organization has a different comfort level with the risk that they are willing to accept.

This incident demonstrated that applying security patches to medical devices can be challenging. It is often unclear who is responsible for performing software patches for medical devices (Biomed or OEM). In addition, when a patch is released for an operating system, it’s oftentimes not validated to be used with the software version running on the medical device. In many cases, the patches cannot be installed until the manufacturer validates and tests the patches. In this case, most device manufacturers didn’t have their patches tested and deployed in a timely manner in order to address this vulnerability even though it has been known since March 2017. Clearly identifying patching responsibilities in contracts and service agreements will help clarify Biomed versus OEM responsibility.

Based on this incident, how many health care organizations will move toward having a more elaborate medical device security plan?

INHEL REKIK is the Clinical Engineering Manager at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.

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THE FUTURE New Challenges

A

AMI’s Annual Conference in Austin, Texas was a great success, both in terms of total turnout, and in getting students excited about their chosen career. Over 40 students from the Biomedical Equipment Technology program at Texas State Technical College Waco attended and all reported a great time.

AAMI made it easy for them to attend by offering registration at the conference and a full year’s membership for only $50. Sodexo sponsored a get together just for them and that turned out very well and generated much enthusiasm.

In the conference sessions and in the expo, students were pleasantly surprised that people actually sought them out and wanted to talk with them! Several found internships and jobs on the spot and all made valuable contacts for the future. I saw a new level of excitement in them.

For me, it was also a trip down memory lane, seeing dozens of graduates from years past – some from as long as 20 years ago – all of them doing well in their careers. Many of these former students are now employers recruiting our graduates. It was fun seeing former and current students talking to each other about opportunities.

One topic that was covered in several sessions, as well as several conversations in the expo hall, is the shortage of students entering the field and upcoming (some say already here) shortage of qualified BMETs due to the retirement of an aging BMET workforce. Schools are closing and many of the established programs are seeing lower numbers of incoming students and fewer graduates per year. Many people were asking what employers could do to increase the interest level in BMET educational programs.

This is strictly my opinion but the first thing that comes to mind is scholarships. AAMI is great about

providing scholarships every year to promising students. Our students have won several AAMI scholarships over the past few years. But the number of employers offering scholarships needs to increase dramatically to increase interest. These scholarships do not need to be huge – perhaps $500 to $1,000 per year to a half dozen students in a given program per employer would be nice. If a program of 120 students had 50 scholarships per year to award, that would be a fantastic recruiting tool.

Maybe the employers could stop by and interview students and select scholarship recipients that way or give criteria and let faculty make the selection. Just judging by what I see in other programs on campus, employers’ presence on campus several times a year to do interviews is a major draw. Also, employers of students in other programs (such as instrumentation, robotics, electrical power, etc.) have vinyl banners up in the hall ways (like the ones you see at conferences), and brochures on bulletin boards announcing positions and interview times on campus.

Another thing that would increase interest would be newer equipment.

This is a tough one and ISOs and hospitals are already donating some equipment, but it would be nice if

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

ROGER A. BOWLES MS, EdD, CBET, Texas State Technical College

manufacturers would get on board. In the end, a lack of people entering the industry will eventually affect their workforce also. State-of-the-art equipment goes a long way when prospective students and their parents (and even teachers with their students) are touring programs. Seeing equipment that still uses cathode ray tubes – well, even the parents can read the writing on the wall.

One of the biggest benefits of going to conferences is keeping conversations flowing and new ideas being discussed.

After missing a couple of conferences in recent years due to budget cuts, we were happy to be a part of this one and hopefully more in the near future.

Also, being a motorcycle fanatic, the Republic of Texas motorcycle rally going on at the same time in Austin made it all the more interesting and entertaining for me. A barbeque dinner at Cooper’s and the get-togethers by TechNation, South Plains Biomedical Services, and AAMI topped it off.

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EXPERT ADVICE

BY JEFF NIEDERHAUSEN

TECH KNOWLEDGE A CFO’s Perspective

I

have been asked many times through the years, “How did you go from biomed to finance?” The truth of the matter is, I never was in biomed or had any training in it. I have always been in finance and accounting. I am someone who happened to stumble upon a help wanted ad in the newspaper (remember those?), and I was about to get married and graduate with a degree in accounting. I was offered the job with a small for-profit biomed company. From there, I went to one of the largest in-house programs for one of the largest Catholic health systems in the country to where I am today.

What I know from biomed came from working with many technicians and leaders through the years. Their vast knowledge gave me insight to the unique and interesting world of biomed, clinical engineering, clinical technology or whatever name they like to give it nowadays. So, why did I tell you this?

I wanted to illustrate the importance of taking the time to let people know what it is you do and how it affects not only patient care, but finances for the company or facility you work for.

Many of us in the “powerful” C-suite level do not know what biomed does exactly. Many see it strictly as a cost center on a financial statement that seems to increase more and more every day! We know it “fixes our stuff,” but that is about the extent of it. Many financial people forget the nature of the programs and the decisions we make affect the bottom line. As an example, Doctor Bob wants a new toy he saw at the last trade show because it can do this and that. Let’s buy it to bring in more revenue! We don’t think about support!

We don’t think about maintaining the piece of equipment! Service Contract? Uh … what? Hey wait a minute! Why did biomed costs go up! Sound familiar?

Many of us “bean counters” in health care don’t understand what drives biomed costs and how our facility’s purchasing contributes to the cost of the program. We think too

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simply. That’s where we get into trouble.

We get a service contract, flat line expense it and all is good in the world. I know that is not how it works and so do you. It is important for technicians to ensure patient safety is always addressed, and right behind that, take a second to think about the facility’s financials. Of course, much goes into that financial piece, but it is something that should always cross our technicians’ minds, especially when they always want to order strictly OEM. The more biomeds interact and educate the financial folks in your world, the better understanding we will have of what your world is. It’s quite simple. None of us knew how to talk until someone taught us, either one-onone or simply listening. It had to be taught. The same rules apply here.

How do you educate us fine financial folks?

• Take the time to meet with us. Don’t try to avoid a meeting with my fellow straightlaced bean counters. Be excited to speak with us. The more you talk with us, the more we will start to understand what biomed does, other than “fix the equipment.”

• Meet regularly. Meetings can be anywhere from weekly to once a year.

It all depends on the dynamics of your facility and how much your financial

JEFF NIEDERHAUSEN Chief Finacial Officer, Tech Knowledge Associates

folks want to be involved. Don’t wait until budget time to do anything! Get out ahead of it. Routine communications go a long way with us.

• Market yourselves. What are you doing for me? Be ready to jump on that. Show us how you are saving money. Show us how as a program you are doing. Do you have benchmarks? Throw those out there. Tell me what a cost-to-value ratio is or what other benchmarks you have.

Make me believe in you and what your numbers are.

• Don’t try to fool us. We are smarter than we look most the time. If you come to us with “smoke and mirrors” on savings, stewardships or whatever, we will call you on it. That’s OK! Be prepared to defend your numbers and why you are doing something to drive savings. You should always have a business plan and a return on investment (ROI) on any plan to drive savings. Make sure you have your ducks in a row. If you do and prove

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EXPERT ADVICE

BY ALAN MORETTI

THOUGHT LEADER A Nifty Fifty Celebration

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any HTM professionals made the trek to Texas in June to join what could be framed as a 50th birthday party. This golden anniversary celebration included a rich early history that is somewhat of an unknown to many. This underlying early history’s significance is that it provided the foundation for what today we call Healthcare Technology Management (HTM). Fifty years ago, visionaries of that time gave birth to what we know as the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI). Where pioneers Robert Hall and Robert Allen thought this conceptual consortium could or would progress to is probably a question only they can answer. However, I would like to believe their greatest expectations may have been exceeded many times over these past 50 years!

ALAN MORETTI Healthcare Technology Management Advisor

Looking back upon those earlier years, medical electronics or medical instrumentation (as it was formally termed), presented a dramatic challenge to hospitals as new-era technology and instrumentation was rapidly being introduced. Many white papers in those early years were beginning to surface and circulate bringing an awareness to medical instrumentation. One white paper written in 1969 by Argo Scientific Corp. President John Abele spoke in defining detail and, in my interpretation, identified the key pillars and vision that formalized the technological structure, business model and the contributing patient care impact this “new” supporting medical equipment service sector would look and act like.

As those early cornerstoned principles matured, it enabled consistent progression and innovation. AAMI quickly became recognized as a subject matter expert organization by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Soon thereafter, the drive by AAMI continued onward and upward including a merger with the

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This evolving profession of over 30,000+ technicians and engineers has a very storied and progressive journey that has only just begun!

International Certification Commission (ICC) in which established the CBET, CLES and CRES credentialing process of HTM professionals.

When one looks at the linear timeline and the many milestones of the medical instrumentation industry landing on the health care industry shore in the 1960s, and its progression to the present day HTM landscape, a great sense of appreciation and accomplishment is felt.

Take some time to research the archives of our Medical Instrumentation/HTM history. This evolving profession of over 30,000+ technicians and engineers has a very storied and progressive journey that has only just begun!

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THE ROMAN REVIEW The Two Wolves Story

I

was recently reminded about the two-wolves-inside-you story. This story has been told and retold in many variations. Sometimes the wolves are changed to dogs. The story is attributed to Cherokee proverb or notso-native storytellers.

In case you have been in outer space for a long time the story states that a wise grandfather tells the grandson there are two wolves inside every individual. One is the Good and the other is the Evil.

The good one represents joy, peace, love, humility, kindness, truth, compassion, etc. The evil one represents anger, envy, greed, arrogance, resentment, lies, pride, etc. The two wolves are in constant conflict.

This is the standard battle between good and evil that most of us feel, understand and accept. The grandson asks, “Which one will win?” The simple answer, “The one you feed.” The battle will be won by the stronger wolf, which is the one we feed the most.

This, of course, makes perfect sense.

We will tend to gravitate toward feeding our anger and arrogance etc. or toward feeding our love, compassion and truth, etc. So on a continuous basis, we make decisions which wolf to feed. Even minor feeding of one wolf will make it stronger and thus that wolf’s influence will increase.

When another similar situation arises, it will be much easier to feed that same wolf once again. This is especially true if some reinforcement of that decision occurred. This establishes the pattern of feeding the same wolf more often and with more food. This is true for either wolf, the one we named Good as well as the one we named Evil.

I have written before about the need to develop and maintain a well-defined value system so that our decisions will be easier. Either they fall within our value system or they don’t. I have cautioned about violating our value system even once, for it then becomes easier and easier to continue the violations. In the wolves example, once we feed one wolf, its strength begins to defeat the other wolf.

Above I said that “most of us feel, understand and accept” the battle that goes on between the wolves. However, some people just don’t seem to have one of these wolves available to cause the balance that they bring. Some people have fed one of the wolves so much and often that the battle has ended. The defeated wolf may still be alive but it is on life support, it’s whimpering ignored.

Please note that I am not saying the death of one wolf is better that the death of the other. That is a personal decision and choice each of us has to make. If a person is pure good, or pure evil, how can he understand and

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

MANNY ROMAN, CRES AMSP Business Operation Manager

differentiate between alternatives? The existence of the two wolves, the battle they fight, and the influence they have on our behavior makes us who we are.

Personally, I tend to feed the wolf we called “Good” more often that the other wolf. This accounts for my relative inability to recognize, and accept, the evil in others. I tend to get taken advantage of quite often because I just can’t see inside people to recognize which wolf is stronger in them. I must rely on my stronger wolf, which continues to tell me that there is no way someone could intentionally be so bad. I give my wolf another tasty morsel and then get bitten in the butt by someone else’s evil wolf. I should replace my wolves with indifferent cats.

AUGUST 2017

TECHNATION

77

HN

IO AT

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TECH

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JULY PHOTO A Medgeneral Myotone model 120256. This was used to evaluate hearing.

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TECHNATION

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TECHNATION

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EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

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TECHNATION

87

INDEX

SERVICE INDEX TRAINING

SERVICE

PARTS

Anesthesia

Company Info

AD PAGE

TRAINING

SERVICE

PARTS

AD PAGE

Company Info

Cardiology

A.M. Bickford 800-795-3062 • www.ambickford.com

20

Sage Service 877-281-7243 • www.SageServicesGroup.com

78

P P

Drager Medical Systems 215-721-5404 • www.draeger.com

28

Southeastern Biomedical, Inc 828-396-6010 • sebiomedical.com/

76

P P

RepairMED 855-813-8100 • www.repairmed.net

74

Southwestern Biomedical Electronics, Inc. 800-880-7231 • www.swbiomed.com/

7

P P

Soma Technolgoy, Inc 1-800-438-7662 • www.somatechnology.com

2425

P

Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • www.technicalprospects.com

35

P

USOC Bio-Medical Services 855-888-8762 • www.usocmedical.com

21

P P

Cardiovascular 35

P

Injector Support and Service 888-667-1062 • www.injectorsupport.com

93

P

Intermational Medical Equipment & Service 704-739-3597 • www.IMESimaging.com

13

P P

JDIS Group 800-974-9729 • www.jdis.com

61

P P

KEI Med Parts 512-477-1500 • www.keimedparts.com

93

P P

RSTI 800-229-7784 • www.rsti-training.com

82

P P P

RTI Electronics 800-222-7537 • www.rtigroup.com

26

P

Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • www.technicalprospects.com

Asset Management Shared Imaging LLC 1-800-606-0266 • www.sharedimaging.com

Computed Tomography

37

Auction/Liquidation J2S Medical 844-342-5527 • www.j2smedical.com

39

Batteries PartsSource 877-497-6412 • www.partssource.com

6

P

P

Biomedical BC Group International, Inc 314-638-3800 • www.BCGroupStore.com

BC

Crothall Healthcare Technology Solutions 800-447-4476 • www.crothall.com

74

P P

Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • www.technicalprospects.com

35

P P P

iMed Biomedical 817-378-4613 • www.imedbiomedical.com

73, 85

P

The Intuitive Biomedical Solution Inc 1-866-499-3966 • www.tibscorp.com

73

P P

Medisurg 855-233-4050 • www.medisurg.com

33

P P P

Tri-Imaging Solutions 855-401-4888 • www.triimaging.com

60

P P P

PRN/ Physician's Resource Network 508-679-6185 • www.prnwebsite.com

41

P P

Contrast Media

RepairMED 855-813-8100 • www.repairmed.net

74

P P

Injector Support and Service 888-667-1062 • www.injectorsupport.com

93

P P

Sodexo CTM 1-888-Sodexo7 • www.sodexousa.com

65

Maull Biomedical Training 440-724-7511 www.maullbiomedicaltraining.com

51

C-Arm Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • www.technicalprospects.com

Diagnostic Imaging 35

Calibration Rigel Medical, Seaward Group 813-886-2775 • www.seaward-groupusa.com

88

TECHNATION

AUGUST 2017

P

P

P

JDIS Group 800-974-9729 • www.jdis.com

61

P P

Shared Imaging LLC 1-800-606-0266 • www.sharedimaging.com

37

P

3

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

INDEX

Healthmark Industries 800-521-6224 • HMARK.COM

52

J2S Medical 844-342-5527 • www.j2smedical.com

39

P P

PRN/ Physician's Resource Network 508-679-6185 • www.prnwebsite.com

41

P P

P

Hand Switches 80

P P

Imaging 61

P P

Infection Control Healthmark Industries 800-521-6224 • HMARK.COM

52

Drager Medical Systems 215-721-5404 • www.draeger.com

28

Select BioMedical 866-559-3500 • www.selectpos.com

62

Soma Technolgoy, Inc 1-800-438-7662 • www.somatechnology.com

2425

Tenacore Holdings, Inc 800-297-2241 • www.tenacore.com

70

P P

Ampronix, Inc. 800-400-7972 • www.ampronix.com

15

P P

Bio-Medical Equipment Services Co. 888-828-2637 • www.bmesco.com

IBC

P

Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • www.technicalprospects.com

35

P

USOC Bio-Medical Services 855-888-8762 • www.usocmedical.com

21

P P

42

P P

Infusion Therapy

Monitors/CRTs

Bayer Healthcare - MVS 1-844-MVS-5100 • www.mvs.bayer.com

39

Cool Pair Plus 800-861-5956 • www.coolpair.com

80

International Medical Equipment & Service 704-739-3597 • www.IMESimaging.com

13

P

JDIS Group 800-974-9729 • www.jdis.com

61

P P

KEI Med Parts 512-477-1500 • www.keimedparts.com

93

P P

6

P P P

J2S Medical 844-342-5527 • www.j2smedical.com

39

RepairMED 855-813-8100 • www.repairmed.net

74

Select BioMedical 866-559-3500 • www.selectpos.com

62

Soma Technolgoy, Inc 1-800-438-7662 • www.somatechnology.com

2425

P

PartsSource 877-497-6412 • www.partssource.com

USOC Bio-Medical Services 855-888-8762 • www.usocmedical.com

21

P P

Neonatal

P P P

Drager Medical Systems 215-721-5404 • www.draeger.com

Laboratory Ozark Biomedical 800-457-7576 • www.ozarkbiomedical.com

P

MRI

Infusion Pumps Elite Biomedical Solutions 855-291-6701 • elitebiomedicalsolutions.com

TRAINING

50

JDIS Group 800-974-9729 • www.jdis.com

SERVICE

Monitors

Cadmet 800-543-7282 • www.cadmet.com

MinXRad 417-597-4702 • www.minxrad.com

PARTS

Endoscopy

Company Info

AD PAGE

TRAINING

SERVICE

PARTS

AD PAGE

Company Info

69

P P

28

Nuclear Medicine Global Medical Imaging 800-958-9986 • www.gmi3.com

Mammography

2

Ampronix, Inc. 800-400-7972 • www.ampronix.com

15

P P

Online Resource

RSTI 800-229-7784 • www.rsti-training.com

82

P P P

J2S Medical 844-342-5527 • www.j2smedical.com

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

P

P P

39

AUGUST 2017

TECHNATION

89

INDEX

Power Systems

Webinar Wednesday 800-906-3373 www.1technation.com/webinars

45

Interpower 800-662-2290 • www.interpower.com

P

27

P

Ampronix, Inc. 800-400-7972 • www.ampronix.com

15

P P

RSTI 800-229-7784 • www.rsti-training.com

82

P P P

Soma Technolgoy, Inc 1-800-438-7662 • www.somatechnology.com

2425

P

Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • www.technicalprospects.com

35

P P P

The Intuitive Biomedical Solution Inc 1-866-499-3966 • www.tibscorp.com

73

P P

Radiology

PACs RSTI 800-229-7784 • www.rsti-training.com

82

Ampronix, Inc. 800-400-7972 • www.ampronix.com

15

P P

BETA Biomed Services 800-315-7551 • www.betabiomed.com/

33

P P

Bio-Medical Equipment Services Co. 888-828-2637 • www.bmesco.com

IBC

Elite Biomedical Solutions 855-291-6701 • elitebiomedicalsolutions.com

42

P P

J2S Medical 844-342-5527 • www.j2smedical.com

39

P P

Pacific Medical 800-449-5328 www.pacificmedicalsupply.com

8

P P

PartsSource 877-497-6412 • www.partssource.com

6

PRN/ Physician's Resource Network 508-679-6185 • www.prnwebsite.com

P

Recruiting Aramark Healthcare Technologies www.aramark.com/careers

35

Sodexo CTM 1-888-Sodexo7 • www.sodexousa.com

65

P

Stephens International Recruiting Inc. 870-431-5485 • www.bmets-usa.com/

26

41

P P

Tech Knowledge Associates 714-735-3810 • www.ii-techknow.com

16-

RepairMED 855-813-8100 • www.repairmed.net

74

P P

Replacement Parts

Sage Service 877-281-7243 • www.SageServicesGroup.com

78

P P

Engineering Services, KCS Inc 888-364-7782x11 • www.eng-services.com

53

P

Southeastern Biomedical, Inc 828-396-6010 • sebiomedical.com/

76

P P

Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • www.technicalprospects.com

35

P

Southwestern Biomedical Electronics, Inc. 800-880-7231 • www.swbiomed.com/

7

P P

Respiratory

Tenacore Holdings, Inc 800-297-2241 • www.tenacore.com

70

P P

A.M. Bickford 800-795-3062 • www.ambickford.com

20

P

USOC Bio-Medical Services 855-888-8762 • www.usocmedical.com

21

P P

J2S Medical 844-342-5527 • www.j2smedical.com

39

Phaco Vitrectomy Medisurg 855-233-4050 • www.medisurg.com

Software 33

P P P

Portable X-Ray

Phoenix Data Systems 800-541-2467 • www.goaims.com

80

P P

Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • www.technicalprospects.com

35

P

Healthmark Industries 800-521-6224 • HMARK.COM

P

AUGUST 2017

52

Telemetry Elite Biomedical Solutions 855-291-6701 • elitebiomedicalsolutions.com

TECHNATION

51

Surgical

MinXRad 417-597-4702 • www.minxrad.com

90

TRAINING

67

SERVICE

MedWrench 866-989-7057 • www.medwrench.com

PARTS

Company Info

AD PAGE

TRAINING

SERVICE

PARTS

AD PAGE

Company Info

42

P P

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

INDEX

RepairMED 855-813-8100 • www.repairmed.net

74

P P

Sage Service 877-281-7243 • www.SageServicesGroup.com

78

P P

Southwestern Biomedical Electronics, Inc. 800-880-7231 • www.swbiomed.com/

7

P P

Tenacore Holdings, Inc 800-297-2241 • www.tenacore.com

70

P P

USOC Bio-Medical Services 855-888-8762 • www.usocmedical.com

21

P P

Tubes/Bulbs

P

A.M. Bickford 800-795-3062 • www.ambickford.com

20

BC Group International, Inc 314-638-3800 • www.BCGroupStore.com

BC

P P

PRN/ Physician's Resource Network 508-679-6185 • www.prnwebsite.com

41

P P

Pronk Technologies, Inc. 800-609-9802 • www.pronktech.com

5

Radcal Corporation 800-423-7169 • www.radcal.com

20

Rigel Medical, Seaward Group 813-886-2775 • www.seaward-groupusa.com

3

RTI Electronics 800-222-7537 • www.rtigroup.com

26

Southeastern Biomedical, Inc 828-396-6010 • sebiomedical.com/

76

50

P

PartsSource 877-497-6412 • www.partssource.com

6

P P P

Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • www.technicalprospects.com

35

P

Tri-Imaging Solutions 855-401-4888 • www.triimaging.com

60

P P

Ampronix, Inc. 800-400-7972 • www.ampronix.com

15

P P

Bayer Healthcare - MVS 1-844-MVS-5100 • www.mvs.bayer.com

39

Conquest Imaging 866-900-9404 • www.conquestimaging.com

11

P P P

Global Medical Imaging 800-958-9986 • www.gmi3.com

2

P P

J2S Medical 844-342-5527 • www.j2smedical.com

39

MW Imaging 877-889-8223 • www.mwimaging.com

14

P P

Summit Imaging 866-586-3744 • www.mysummitimaging.com

4

P P P

Trisonics 877-876-6427 • www.trisonics.com

69

P P

Ventilators Drager Medical Systems 215-721-5404 • www.draeger.com

P P

28

X-Ray

Trade Show 79

Training ECRI Institute 1-610-825-6000. • www.ecri.org

84

International Medical Equipment & Service 704-739-3597 • www.IMESimaging.com

13

RSTI 800-229-7784 • www.rsti-training.com

82

Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • www.technicalprospects.com

35

P

Tri-Imaging Solutions 855-401-4888 • www.triimaging.com

60

P

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Cadmet 800-543-7282 • www.cadmet.com

Ultrasound

Test Equipment

North Carolina Biomedical Association (NCBA) www.ncbiomedassoc.com

TRAINING

8

SERVICE

Pacific Medical 800-449-5328 www.pacificmedicalsupply.com

PARTS

39

Company Info

AD PAGE

J2S Medical 844-342-5527 • www.j2smedical.com

TRAINING

SERVICE

PARTS

AD PAGE

Company Info

P

Bayer Healthcare - MVS 1-844-MVS-5100 • www.mvs.bayer.com

39

Engineering Services, KCS Inc 888-364-7782x11 • www.eng-services.com

53

P

RSTI 800-229-7784 • www.rsti-training.com

82

P P P

RTI Electronics 800-222-7537 • www.rtigroup.com

26

Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • www.technicalprospects.com

35

P

Tri-Imaging Solutions 855-401-4888 • www.triimaging.com

60

P P P

AUGUST 2017

TECHNATION

P

91

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Advancing the Biomedical/HTM Professional

Orlando, FL • October 5-7, 2017

“This was a great show! This show has grown not only in attendance and size, but vendor wise. Great job. It is an asset to all of us! As an HTM professional, I can’t thank MD Expo and TechNation for all the support in the field!” – Dean S., Manager

Orlando, FL • October 5-7, PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY2017

REGISTER AND LEARN MORE AT WWW.MDEXPOSHOW.COM

INDEX

INDEX

ALPHEBETICAL INDEX A.M. Bickford……………………… 20

Ozark Biomedical………………… 69

Ampronix, Inc.……………………… 15

Pacific Medical …………………… 8

Aramark Healthcare Technologies…35

PartsSource……………………… 6

Bayer Healthcare - MVS…………… 39

Phoenix Data Systems…………… 51

BC Group International, Inc……… BC BETA Biomed Services…………… 33

PRN/ Physician’s Resource Network…………………………… 41

Bio-Medical Equipment Services Co.……………………… IBC

Pronk Technologies, Inc. ………… 5 Radcal Corporation………………… 20

Cadmet…………………………… 50

RepairMED………………………… 74

Conquest Imaging………………… 11

Rigel Medical, Seaward Group…… 3

Cool Pair Plus……………………… 80

RSTI…………………………………

82 LOGO PHONE NUMBER

Crothall Healthcare Technology Solutions……………… 74

RTI Electronics…………………… 26

Drager Medical Systems…………… 28

Select BioMedical………………… 62

ECRI Institute……………………… 84 Elite Biomedical Solutions………… 42 Engineering Services, KCS Inc…… 53 Global Medical Imaging…………… 2 Healthmark Industries…………… 52 iMed Biomedical……………… 73, 85 Injector Support and Service……… 93 International Medical Equipment and Service…………… 13

PROOF APPROVED

CLIENT SIGN–OFF:

Sage Service……………………… 78 Shared Imaging LLC……………… 37 Sodexo CTM……………………… 65 Soma Technolgoy, Inc……… 24-25 Southeastern Biomedical, Inc…… 76 Southwestern Biomedical Electronics, Inc.…………………… 7 Stephens International Recruiting Inc.………………………………… 26 Summit Imaging…………………… 4 Technical Prospects……………… 35

JDIS Group………………………… 61

Tenacore Holdings, Inc…………… 70

KEI Med Parts……………………… 93

The Intuitive Biomedical Solution Inc………………………… 73

MinXRad…………………………… 80 MW Imaging……………………… 14

Med

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We have system parts and upgrades for: Achieva, Intera, NT, Panorama 0.6T, Symphony, Sonata, Harmony, Infinion, Eclipse, Polaris, MX8000 and all Brilliance CTs

KEIMed PARTS specializes in Philips, Picker/Marconi, Siemens MRI & CT systems.

PROO

Call us today at

512. 4 77.1500

16-17

TRIM 2.25”

INJECTOR SUPPORT & SERVICE • Loaner injectors • Depot service • Parts identification and sales • Preventative maintenance tools • On-site service • Injector sales

Tri-Imaging Solutions……………… 60 Trisonics…………………………… 69 USOC Bio-Medical Services……… 21 Webinar Wednesday……………… 45

NCBA……………………………… 79

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

GRAMMAR

TRIM 4.5”

J2S Medical……………………… 39

MedWrench……………………… 67

Parts are housed, tested, and shipped from KEI’s facility

PLEASE CONFIRM THAT THE FOLLOWINGinfo@keimedparts.com ARE CORRECT www.keimedparts.com WEBSITE ADDRESS SPELLING

Tech Knowledge Associates…

Medisurg…………………………… 33

Call KEI Med PARTS!

CHANGES NEEDED

Interpower………………………… 27

Maull Biomedical Training………… 51

Looking for Parts?

888.667.1062 www.injectorsupport.com

AUGUST 2017

TECHNATION

93

BREAKROOM

“ They call it a great wonder That the Sun would not though the sky was cloudless Shine warm upon the men.”

- Sighvald, Icelandic Poet

– A total solar eclipse will take place on Monday, August 21, 2017. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth.

94

TECHNATION

AUGUST 2017

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

THE BLACK PIRANHA: EASY AND FAST X-RAY QUALITY CONTROL RTI Black Piranha Features:   

All-in-one multifunction X-ray meter

 

Can measure on scanning beams as well as tomosynthesis

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Built-in energy compensation

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Automatic recognition of external probes

One-shot HVL for Mammography, Radiography, CT, and Dental Solid-state detectors = no need to compensate for temperature & pressure Optimized for X-ray equipment from a large number of manufacturers 100 meters Bluetooth range Unique detector design to minimize position and rotation dependence

RTI Black Piranha

Small, compact & robust – easy to place Long-lasting rechargeable battery Always free firmware upgrades 2-year Calibration Cycle

The Black Piranha and Ocean software are quick. Ocean can perform instant real-time analysis during measurements as well as a report in the background. When the work is done, you can print a complete report of your work. Use your MS Windows tablet or laptop as both an interactive display during the measurements and as a powerful analysis tool when you are back at the office. All your measurements, along with the result and the report will be stored inside your tablet or laptop. There is no unnecessary, time-consuming data transfer at the end of the day.

NEW IPA-3400 Infusion Pump Analyzer The High Accuracy, Easy-to-Use System with Full Touch Screen Control of All Processes         

Large 7” Color Touch Screen 1,2,3 and 4 Channel Models available (Field Upgradeable) User Swappable, Fully Self Contained Flow Modules Calibration in Flow Modules No need to be down for calibration or service!

Smooth Dual Syringe System Eliminates Drain Cycle Inconsistencies Whisper Quiet Operation Auto Start Built-in Auto Test Sequences Built-in Data Collection Phone: 1-888-223-6763 Email: sales@bcgroupintl.com Website: www.bcgroupintl.com ISO 9001 & 13485 Certified ISO 17025 Accredited