TechNation Magazine August 2022

1technation.com

Vol. 13

AUGUST 2022

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL / HTM PROFESSIONAL

BACK TO THE FUTURE TRENDS IN TRAINING PAGE 52

12 18

Department of the Month The PeaceHealth Oregon Network Clinical Engineering Department Professional of the Month Hosameldin ‘Sam’ Elsemany

48

Roundtable Radiography

68

40 Under 40 HTM’s Young Professionals

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CONTENTS

FEATURED

48

THE ROUNDTABLE Several knowledgeable individuals share their radiography insights with readers.

ext month’s Feature article: N Equipment Acquisition and Disposition

52

BACK TO THE FUTURE : TRENDS IN TRAINING The use of AR/VR in training has proven to hold several benefits in the HTM realm.

ext month’s Feature article: N Who’s Your Mentor?

TechNation (Vol. 13, Issue #8) August 2022 is published monthly by MD Publishing, 1015 Tyrone Rd., Ste. 120, Tyrone, GA 30290.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to TechNation at 1015 Tyrone Rd., Ste. 120, Tyrone, GA 30290.

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. ©2022

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

AUGUST 2022

TECHNATION

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CONTENTS

PUBLISHER

John M. Krieg

VICE PRESIDENT

Kristin Leavoy

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Jayme McKelvey Megan Strand

ART DEPARTMENT

Karlee Gower Taylor Powers Kameryn Johnson

EDITORIAL

John Wallace

CONTRIBUTORS

Roger Bowles K. Richard Douglas Jim Fedele Joie Marhefka Manny Roman Connor Walsh David Witt Steven J. Yelton

DIGITAL SERVICES

Cindy Galindo Kennedy Krieg

EVENTS

Kristin Leavoy

WEBINARS

webinar@mdpublishing.com

HTMJOBS.COM

Kristen Register Sydney Krieg

ACCOUNTING

Diane Costea

INSIDE Departments P.12 SPOTLIGHT p.12 Department of the Month: The PeaceHealth Oregon Network Clinical Engineering Department p.14 Company Showcase: Soma Tech Intl p.18 Professional of the Month: Hosameldin ‘Sam’ Elsemany p.20 Shifting Gears: Search and Rescue Volunteer

Jim Fedele, CBET, Senior Director of Clinical Engineering, UPMC

David Francoeur, CBET, CHTM, Service Zone Vice President Midwest Imaging - Siemens Healthineers Jennifer DeFrancesco, DHA, MS, CHTM, System Director, Clinical Engineering, Crothall Healthcare Rob Bundick, Director HTM & Biomedical Engineering, ProHealth Care

INDUSTRY UPDATES News & Notes Welcome to TechNation AAMI Update Ribbon Cutting: Higher Road Biomedical ECRI Update

P.41 p.41 p.42 p.44 p.47

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

P.58 EXPERT ADVICE p.58 Career Center p.60 20/20 Imaging Insights: Sponsored by Innovatus Imaging p.62 Cybersecurity p.65 The Future

EDITORIAL BOARD

Carol Davis-Smith, CCE, FACCE, AAMIF, Owner/ President of Carol Davis-Smith & Associates, LLC

P.24 p.24 p.30 p.32 p.34 p.36

40

ER 4 0 UND

P.68 40 UNDER 40 Y P AT M D

P.98 BREAKROOM p.98 Did You Know? p.100 The Vault p.102 Where in the World is Ben C.? p.110 HTM Strong p.106 Service Index p.109 Alphabetical Index

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SPOTLIGHT

DEPARTMENT OF THE MONTH: The PeaceHealth Oregon Network Clinical Engineering Department

BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

W

ho could find fault with a health care system named PeaceHealth.

The name includes two of the most important and coveted concepts known to humankind.

The health care system provides services to patients in Alaska, Washington and Oregon, and has been in existence since the 1890s. It was officially named PeaceHealth in 1994.

Based in Vancouver, Washington, PeaceHealth has approximately 16,000 employees and more than 750 providers.

Providing medical device management in Oregon is the PeaceHealth Oregon Network Clinical Engineering Department. The 14-member team provides biomed services to three locations.

The group is led by Network Manager Ray Marden, CBET, CHTM. Team members who work at the PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield, Oregon include Biomedical Technician Lead John Bykerk; Surgical BMET III Daniel Sazbo, CBET; Surgical BMET II Henry Bevan; Imaging BMET III Greg Wolfe; BMET I Pavel Goleta, CBET; BMET III Hussien Khlief, CBET; BMET III Jeff Patrick, CBET; BMET II Josh Slocum, CBET; BMET II Steve

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Swartout; BMET I Rachael Washburn and BMET I Corey McIntosh.

BMET II Matt Parsons, CBET, holds down the fort at the PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center, University District in Eugene, Oregon and Biomedical Technician Lead Ed Meyer, CBET, can be found at the PeaceHealth Peace Harbor Medical Center in Florence, Oregon.

“We manage 23,314 devices in four hospitals and many clinics. We have emphasized training in our department so we can provide effective service to the 248 departments in our clinical network. We are based at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend, a Level 2 trauma center that functions as a regional medical center in Oregon. Our team services PeaceHealth’s Oregon network, providing HTM services to PeaceHealth facilities in Lane County, Oregon,” Marden says.

The department is pro-active in its approach and keeps close tabs on inventory.

“One of our technicians participates in weekly environment of care rounds, checking that devices are labeled properly, and educating staff about our biomed program, when needed. Additionally, we help manage our RTLS system (Versus) for device tracking, ensuring that the trackers are charged, and the software is up-to-date with

the correct information,” Marden says.

PROVIDING VALUE TO CLINICIANS AND PATIENTS The CE team has been involved in several efforts that help their clinician colleagues as well as furthering the careers of team members.

“We’ve begun analyzing and reporting CMMS data to nursing and administration to initiate multi-disciplinary continuous improvement initiatives. These initiatives will have a significant impact on patient safety and operations through the identification of training opportunities, alarm reduction and the reduction of ‘unable to locate’ devices,” Marden says.

The team also assisted with construction and renovation of the cardiac labs, in-patient care departments; observation unit and emergency department.

“Our team helps manage the installation, storage and maintenance of the medical devices involved, as well as makes recommendations for purchasing new or replacement equipment,” Marden says.

Like so many other HTM professionals, the team was called upon to help manage the additional requirements of COVID-19 patients.

“We helped with the purchase, installation and maintenance of respiratory

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SPOTLIGHT protection for the staff (CAPRS, PAPRS) and with an expansion of the hospital ventilator supply. Additionally, we loaned ventilators to other nearby hospitals, which involved extra safety checks and device tracking,” Marden says.

He says that the department continues to advance by constantly improving in-house capabilities through training and career progression.

“We have over 20 formal training opportunities on the books for FY22 with a focus on our most critical or cost-intensive devices,” Marden says.

Also in 2022, barriers were removed allowing for the promotion of four internal candidates and for one of the biomed caregivers to transition to an imaging specialist role.

Another project involved networked patient monitoring.

“Our team maintains a Philips Intellivue PIIC iX network with over 90 PIIC iX computers. We’ve worked together to replace the UPS backup system for every device, and to become effective in cyber remediation. Additionally, our entire network of PIIC iXs recently lost its Windows activation,” Marden says.

He adds that the team worked closely with Philips to diagnose and remediate the problem because any device that lost power would lose central patient monitoring.

“We were able to safely reactivate the system within 48 hours.

About a week later, the hospital experienced a power surge that momentarily wiped-out power. Thanks to teamwork and quick action, we were ahead of a major downtime,” Marden adds.

In today’s world, HTM professionals often wear two hats, as they learn to protect the threat surface from cyber attacks.

“Our team consists entirely of BMETs. With the growth of networked medical devices, we’ve recently had to learn to speak cyber.

One of our bigger challenges has been to thoroughly document all of the network information for connected devices, learn about cybersecurity and patching, and effectively distribute manpower to tackle the necessary updates. Working with each other and IT and cyber professionals, we’ve learned a lot and made tremendous progress,” Marden says.

The team has also provided education to clinical colleagues to improve the likelihood of receiving work orders and better work order details.

“It’s not uncommon to find devices hidden in a supply area with a note that says ‘broken,’ or for devices to appear in biomed for repair without any supplemental information. In the last year, we’ve worked with clinical staff, managers and educators to spread the word about what clinical engineering does. Effective communication, quick service and positive attitudes have led to an increase of reported work orders that include details that help our team efficiently diagnose and repair equipment with minimized downtime,” Marden says.

The CE department has worked hard to bring the greatest level of service to its facilities and equipment inventories.

“Our entire team is passionate about HTM. We work hard and often go above what is asked of us for both our clinical and administrative staff. Our team members participate in daily management meetings, weekly in environment of care rounding (audits) and regularly advise on projects and incidents throughout our network,” Marden says.

The HTM professionals on this CE team have done their part to bring peace to busy clinical staff and contribute to the health of those depending on medical devices.

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SPOTLIGHT

SPONSORED CONTENT

COMPANY SHOWCASE Soma Tech Intl

S

oma Tech Intl was founded in 1992 by two young biomedical entrepreneurs that identified a market need for high-quality medical equipment at affordable prices supplied by a local company. The company was first located in a small office in Rocky Hill, Connecticut serving facilities in the area while employing only a handful of dedicated employees.

Within five years, Soma Tech Intl had expanded its market reach to serve facilities throughout the New England area and developed customer relationships and brand awareness that facilitated its move to a new, larger facility in Cheshire, Connecticut. The move happened in 1996 to accommodate a larger inventory and more team members. The move allowed Soma Tech to continue to expand its product line. By the late 1990s, Soma had become a worldwide supplier of new and refurbished medical equipment, setting a high standard for the industry. In order to accommodate its resounding success, increasing demand and a growing team, Soma Tech Intl relocated once again. Its headquarters moved to a brand new, state-of-the-art facility in Bloomfield, Connecticut in 2008.

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manufacturers. Soma has an in-house biomedical engineering department team that is highly trained to refurbish each piece of equipment according to original manufacturer specifications. Soma can guarantee up to five years of parts availability for every product it sells. Soma also offers a standard industry warranty with comprehensive liability insurance.

CEO/President Peter Leonidas

TechNation magazine recently quizzed Soma Tech Intl CEO/President Peter Leonidas about the company.

Q: WHAT ARE SOME ADVANTAGES THAT YOUR COMPANY HAS OVER THE COMPETITION? LEONIDAS: Soma Tech Intl has over 30 years of experience in providing customers a complete turnkey solution for medical equipment and medical equipment services. Soma has one of the largest medical equipment inventories nationwide which allows customers to compare equipment among major models and

Q: WHAT ARE SOME CHALLENGES THAT YOUR COMPANY FACED LAST YEAR? HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO OVERCOME THEM? LEONIDAS: Like most companies, we faced supply chain issues and labor shortages. We overcame them by working with smaller niche suppliers of critical components and by expanding our infrastructure and production capacities.

We also did more batch processes to continue to meet our customer’s needs.

Q: CAN YOU EXPLAIN YOUR COMPANY’S CORE COMPETENCIES AND UNIQUE SELLING POINTS? LEONIDAS: We are proud of the fact that Soma is an industry-leading refurbished medical equipment provider.

Soma is supported by best-in-class products/services with a diversified “Blue Chip” customer base. We have a long track record of exceptional quality and

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SPOTLIGHT

service verified by an ISO-certified quality management system (QMS).

Soma offers turnkey medical procurement solutions that save customers money as well time and effort. Over the last 30 years, we have built a global business with more than 1,500 customers across 50-plus countries worldwide.

navigate through the broken supply chain disruptions and have everything set up and installed within a week. All of our team members worked tirelessly in order to make this become possible. We are all proud knowing that our hard work goes directly toward helping frontline health care providers save lives on a daily basis.

Q: WHAT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT RIGHT NOW? LEONIDAS: We are most excited about our specialty surgical sales and rental division as well as our parts and accessories business. Those divisions have been growing at double-digit rates for the past couple of years. We expect this growth to continue as we open several regional offices that will be strategically located throughout the U.S.

Q: CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR COMPANY’S FACILITY? LEONIDAS: We have multiple facilities.

Our main facility is a state-of-the-art medical facility with over 50,000-squarefeet of space. This space is used to refurbish, service and repair medical equipment. It also has an equipment showroom, warehouse and every type of power that exists throughout the world.

In total, our team speaks 14 different languages. Furthermore, we are expanding and adding an additional 60,000-square-feet of engineering and warehouse space in 2022 to accommodate our one-stop-shop platform with an unparalleled inventory of medical equipment parts and accessories covering all product categories.

Q: CAN YOU PLEASE SHARE A SUCCESS STORY? LEONIDAS: One of our very large health care system customers in the southwest had an emergency. The system needed to set up an ER and OR suite in a couple of days during one of the highest COVID-19 spikes. With a combined effort, our engineering team and cosmetics team worked tirelessly for a couple of days including the weekend to have the equipment ready. By partnering with smaller shipping companies, we were able to

Q: TELL US ABOUT YOUR EMPLOYEES? LEONIDAS: Our employees have been with us for decades and they adhere to the highest standards of excellence

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

with their dedication to service and the latest quality standards. Combined they have 50-plus years of experience with unique skill sets and backgrounds.

The employees provide Soma with a strong advantage in the med/surg marketplace. The best thing I can say is that we have dedicated engineering and management teams that truly enjoy and take a lot of pride in their work.

Q: WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU ABOUT THE WAY YOU DO BUSINESS? LEONIDAS: We founded Soma 30 years ago to offer affordable solutions in best-of-class products under a one-stop shopping platform. We are proud of the fact, that over the years, we have made and continue to make health care more affordable for all.

Q: IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT READERS TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR COMPANY? LEONIDAS: We are proud of the long-term relationships we have developed with leading GPO, IDN, management companies, equipment planners and health care distributors over the last 30 years. We look forward to building and expanding those relationships.

For more information, visit somatechnology.com.

AUGUST 2022

TECHNATION

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SPOTLIGHT

PROFESSIONAL OF THE MONTH:

HOSAMELDIN ‘SAM’ ELSEMANY, CCE, CBET Destined for HTM

BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

S

ome biomeds take a circuitous route to becoming a member of the HTM profession and some get involved with the profession from an early point, realizing that health care and technology are their future.

That was the case for Hosameldin ‘Sam’ Elsemany, CCE, CBET, a clinical engineer in the department of engineering at UConn Health in Farmington, Connecticut.

Elsemany’s path to biomed seemed to be perfectly aligned from the start.

“My late father, a cargo ship captain who circumnavigated the globe, stimulated my interest in technology and innovation at a young age. During his later struggle with gastric cancer, I would accompany him on hospital visits, and it was there that I was exposed to the sophisticated medical equipment that became a fascination for me. The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) pathway I selected in high school aligned me with my college engineering pursuits,” he says.

Elsemany began to network within the burgeoning healthcare technology management (HTM) field to explore opportunities and, over time, discovered biomedical engineering.

His biomed education began with an

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associate of science degree from Gateway Community College in New Haven, Connecticut.

“I worked full-time to support my family while completing the biomedical engineering technology program. I joined the New England Society of Clinical Engineering (NESCE) as a student member, and this allowed me access to valuable mentoring encounters. I was encouraged to seek out volunteer opportunities in CE (clinical engineering) at local hospitals and found a great fit at a local academic medical center,” Elsemany says.

He says that during the 10 weekly hours he volunteered that year, he gained a solid understanding of hospital workflow as well as hands-on experience with preventive maintenance and troubleshooting medical equipment.

“This helped me land a position as a field service engineer at a startup company that specialized in refurbishing nuclear medicine imaging devices. I spent two years working with brilliant engineers who trained me on different makes and models of nuclear medicine cameras as we traveled between health centers across the continental U.S. servicing accounts. This experience also provided valuable exposure in terms of customer service, networking, presenta-

tion and communication skills,” Elsemany says.

His desire to spend more time with his young family led him to investigate in-state employment options, which resulted in him accepting a clinical engineering specialist II position at Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH) in Connecticut.

“YNHH’s excellent tuition reimbursement program motivated me to complete my Bachelor of Science degree in biomedical engineering through Purdue University. At the annual AAMI (Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation) conventions, I learned the value of the CBET and coveted CCE certifications and set about obtaining them. These certifications were pivotal to my promotion to senior clinical engineering specialist at YNHH and subsequently clinical engineer/team supervisor at the University of Connecticut Health Center (UCHC). I am currently completing an MBA degree at UConn alongside full-time employment,” Elsemany says.

OPTIMISTIC ABOUT HTM’S FUTURE There are always challenges in the HTM profession and some additional considerations that come with leadership roles.

Part of that challenge is to learn the

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SPOTLIGHT

Left: Hosameldin ‘Sam’ Elsemany with his wife, Shameela Elsemany, M.D. Bottom: Hosameldin ‘Sam’ Elsemany is a clinical engineer in the department of engineering at UConn Health in Farmington, Connecticut.

FUN FACTS FAVORITE BOOK: “Blink” by Malcolm Gladwell

FAVORITE MOVIE: “Forrest Gump”

FAVORITE FOOD: Sushi & Mediterranean

HIDDEN TALENT? Strategic problem solving

FAVORITE PART OF BEING A BIOMED? “Embracing the challenge, developing troubleshooting algorithms, interfacing with interdepartmental teams, global networking, lifelong learning and teaching, and - most importantly seeing the impact of my work on patient safety and provider satisfaction.”

WHAT’S ON MY BENCH? business side of clinical engineering.

“My current position as a clinical engineer/team supervisor requires leadership, business, finance, communication and conflict-resolution skills.

Short of wearing out the carpet in the self-help section at my local Barnes and Noble bookstore, a trusted mentor suggested I look into a formal degree program that would help me cultivate these skills. I did just that and enrolled in an MBA program at UConn,” Elsemany says.

He says that he is halfway through the coursework and amazed at the relevance of everything he is learning to everyday CE operational management.

“I wish I had done this sooner, and I encourage all biomeds to pursue graduate learning opportunities if possible. It brings the whole HTM picture together, makes for an efficient work environment, optimizes the CE department goals, and benefits the institution as a whole – and you may get featured in TechNation,” Elsemany adds.

He says that another challenge is that hospital staff may be unfamiliar with the role of clinical engineering.

“One challenge I have consistently

encountered in-house is that most hospital staff have limited knowledge of the clinical engineering department within the hospital structure, let alone our valuable day-to-day contributions in terms of patient safety and clinical workflow. I was surprised to discover a widespread assumption that biomeds solely paste stickers on new devices and log them into an inventory. Others assume that we are simply IT professionals taking a shot at repairing malfunctioning electronics. This may well be due to the fact that in smaller hospitals CE is sometimes integrated into another departmental venue or managerial structure such as IT,” Elsemany says.

Despite this, he says that he is optimistic that as the HTM field continues to grow, so too will knowledge about its integral contributions to daily hospital operational functioning.

Elsemany says that his family includes three beautiful daughters, Liana, 9, Ayah, 16, and Zahra, 23.

“My wife, Shameela Elsemany, M.D., is my hero and I could have never done any of the above without her love, support and encouragement,” Elsemany says.

As an HTM professional, Elsemany

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Laptop, planner and inspirational content, family photos and sentimental gifts, coffee mug, walnuts

says that he takes great pride in mentoring students and providing them with learning opportunities that he would have appreciated along the way.

“I enjoy educating people, both professional and lay, about the valuable contributions HTM professionals make in the health care arena. Networking is key, and each of us owes it to our profession to showcase these contributions and advancements. Increased demand for HTM course offerings on college campuses will in turn stimulate the growth of our profession within academia and the health care workforce.

Our trailblazing efforts will result in future generations of HTM professionals finding a wide array of resources and publications at their disposal, which they will be encouraged to pay forward,” Elsemany says.

He says that there is a lot to look forward to, and he wants to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you an exciting career trajectory.

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SPOTLIGHT

SHIFTING GEARS

Search and Rescue Volunteer

BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

I

f it weren’t for volunteers, society would suffer. Volunteers fill in the gaps and provide the additional resources often needed to accomplish important tasks.

Few undertakings are more important than finding someone who is lost or providing aid after a disaster. This effort often relies on the talents of trained volunteers to supplement the work of full-time professionals.

Anthony Rubino, a medical device network risk manager for Scripps Biomedical Engineering, part of the Scripps Information Services Team in San Diego, California, has been a member of the San Diego County Sheriff Search and Rescue (SAR) for five years.

“Originally, I learned of the organization through one of my fellow biomeds but later found several other Scripps employees were also members including our CEO, chief medical officer, a vice president and multiple directors. It turns out Scripps has a very strong relationship with San Diego County Sheriff Emergency Services as a leading health care provider should. I found involvement in SAR to be the exact mix of physical and mental challenges I craved,” Rubino says.

He says that when he first joined, he completed a four-month academy where he

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was certified as an emergency medical responder and taught land navigation, man tracking, rope rescue skills, radio communications, helicopter operations, evidence collection and more.

“I had familiarity with some of these topics from time I spent in the U.S. Marines but the quality of training in the SAR academy improved my skills beyond anything I possessed previously. In the years since the academy, I’ve responded to all kinds of searches from missing dementia patients in urban environments to lost backcountry hikers. Including the occasional mutual aid request from other California counties. Most notably, I spent two weeks in Paradise and Magalia, California, searching for remains after the 2018 Camp Fire,” Rubino says.

He says that as with most SAR organizations in California, “we are all volunteers, we pay for our own equipment and donate our time all in the interest of helping our neighbors at a time when they need it most.”

AN IMPORTANT, BUT DIFFICULT TASK One of the worst disasters to hit California was the Camp Fire, which was ignited on November 8, 2018, and was the state’s deadliest wildfire. It lasted for two weeks and resulted in the deaths of 86 people.

“The San Diego County Sheriff responded to a mutual aid search and rescue request from Butte County in late 2018 as a result of the Camp Fire. I deployed twice, one week before Thanksgiving, then another the week after. When we arrived at the operating base, I was struck by the scale and complexity of the operation. It was the largest and most complex non-military camp I had ever witnessed. There were hundreds of volunteers from across the country operating out of a camp with everything needed for support: advanced communication systems, gas stations, laundry facilities, portable showers, medical, headquarters, supply, and dozens of temperature-controlled tents for the teams. It was a fully functional, self-sustaining portable village,” Rubino says.

Rubino says that as impressive as the operation was, it paled in comparison to the magnitude of the fire’s destruction.

“During my deployment, I received assignments in both Magalia, California, and Paradise, California; two communities that were almost entirely reduced to 18-inches of debris in the wake of the fire.

Our primary objective was to locate human remains. A surprisingly difficult task given some of the hazards we encountered. First and foremost being the condition of, not only the structures we searched, but what

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SPOTLIGHT

Rubino is seen during a search and rescue mission as a volunteer member of the San Diego County Sheriff Search and Rescue Team.

remained of the large trees in a heavily forested community,” he says.

Rubino says that the fire moved quickly through the area, but tree roots could continue burning for days afterward, leaving large trees ready to topple without warning.

“Before we could set foot on any property, we had to survey the utilities to ensure there was no unsecured electrical or gas being supplied. Typically, we would get a warning if electrical was expected as the utility provider was working on the system, but gas was frequently provided by on-site storage. The structures themselves, as piles of debris, presented their own hazards as we had to remove what remained of roofs and walls to gain access,” Rubino adds.

He says that in some cases, they had to coordinate with deployed National Guard units operating heavy machinery to lift intact portions of structures away from the search area.

“We could then sift through several

inches of ash for evidence of the occupants. The first week I spent in the area was hot and dry. Sifting through the debris caused clouds of ash to blow through the air. To protect ourselves we had to search while wearing personal protective equipment: helmets, goggles, bunny suits, respirators and fireproof boots. It was miserable work. The second week there was rain which turned the ash into thick sludge.

I’m not sure what was worse, working in the heat or digging through the sludge,” Rubino adds.

While Rubino has participated in important volunteer work, his vocation also provides important benefits, managing risk as a cybersecurity expert.

“Professionally, I’ve been working for Scripps Health for 20 years. In the beginning, I was strictly a preventative maintenance technician as I worked my way through college. When I finished college, I realized I enjoyed biomed and applied for a full-time position. At Scripps, I

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

was permitted the freedom to pursue my professional interests which resulted in the creation of a hybrid biomed equipment technician and network engineer role,” Rubino says.

He says that the role was called biomed clinical system specialist.

“Eventually, I took a position as a lead biomed for one of our teams and was later tasked with managing implementation of device integration with our EMR as Scripps rolled out Epic over the course of a few years. In recent times, I have moved into another new role for our organization, medical device network risk manager, where I am responsible for building and managing the organization’s medical device cybersecurity program,” Rubino adds.

While helping out the sheriff’s department or protecting his employer’s network, this HTM professional has found ways to help out colleagues, patients and his fellow state residents.

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

NEWS & NOTES Updates from the HTM Industry

MD EXPO SET FOR CALIFORNIA AND MORE MD Expo, MD Publishing’s signature healthcare technology management (HTM) event, is headed back to sunny Southern California! Registration is currently open, and a discounted room rate is available at the Pechanga Casino & Resort in Temecula.

The 2022 MD Expo SoCal event has been approved for up to 7.5 CEUs by the AAMI Credentials Institute (ACI).

Registration is free for hospital employees, active members of the military and students. The event also includes free food and drink at its unique networking events.

One of the highlights of the biannual MD Expo is the excellent educational offerings. HTM professionals can earn

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credits toward certification while also obtaining top-flight education from some of the field’s leading presenters.

The fall 2022 conference is the next MD Publishing event, but not the last. The 2023 Imaging Conference and Expo (ICE) is set for Nashville, Tennessee, next February. Find out more at AttendICE.com. The spring 2023 MD Expo will be held in Houston, Texas and the fall MD Expo is slated for Orlando, Florida in 2023.

For more information about MD Expo and/or sign up for the newsletter, visit MDExpoShow.com.

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

HTM INDUSTRY REMEMBERS JACK BARRETT Seaward Group USA announced the death of former colleague Jack Barrett at the age of 68.

A popular, larger-than-life figure in the biomedical community, Barrett joined the company as business development manager before becoming vice president based in the office in Tampa, Florida.

His dedication, hard work and expertise saw him contribute significantly to developing the business in the USA, increasing revenues, winning new customers and securing success across the country until his retirement in late 2019.

“He was a real character, who made many friends over the years as he immersed himself in his work – he had a strong work ethic” said Michael Walton, category manager of Rigel Medical.

“Jack, who lived life to the fullest, was well-loved and will be fondly remembered by his many friends, colleagues and customers who worked with and knew him over the years,” Walton said. “It is due to his commitment, vision, hard work and diligence that Seaward USA is where it is today – successful, growing and leading the field in U.S. biomedical engineering, renewable energy and health and safety testing and measurement.”

Barrett, who died suddenly and unexpectedly on June 2, was an avid collector of fine wine, loved to travel for pleasure, fishing and classic cars. He is survived by his wife Maryann, daughter Kelli, son TJ and four grandchildren.

CENTRAK OFFERS CONSULTING, TRAINING SERVICES CenTrak has announced the launch of CenTrak Engage. A press release describes CenTrak Engage as “new expert-led consulting and training services providing a tailored, multi-tiered assessment and transformation program to health care systems.

Through practical guidance, health care facilities can maximize real-time technologies and drive meaningful change throughout their enterprise. After a comprehensive and collaborative review of current processes, CenTrak Engage provides recommendations on ways to enhance asset management, staff workflow optimization and patient throughput while increasing productivity and reducing operating costs through the thoughtful application of real-time location systems (RTLS).”

“The 2021 acquisition of Infinite Leap expanded CenTrak’s expertise by adding the industry’s most knowledgeable location technology consultants and comprehensive on-site support services in-house. CenTrak is well-positioned to help customers address the resource and staffing challenges facing health care by offering a robust managed services program and driving substantial value and ROI,” according to a press release.

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

“As CenTrak continues to grow beyond its origins as a technology vendor and further establish itself as an end-to-end strategic solutions provider, our team is excited to support health care organizations in their efforts to enhance the patient experience, improve staff satisfaction and gain operational efficiencies at such a crucial time,” said Scott Hondros, CenTrak’s vice president of professional services. “We’ve found the best way to achieve this is through a personalized approach that combines expert consulting and workflow redesign customized to the unique needs and goals of each facility. With this methodology, our team helps health care leaders fully leverage location services while driving user adoption and change management.”

CenTrak Engage uses a proprietary, three-phased framework for change management. Upon assessing the facility and its current needs and goals, CenTrak experts ensure the right technology is deployed, the right processes are in place to leverage the investment and adequate resources are available to those running the program.

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

TENACORE APPOINTS NEW CCO Tenacore has named industry veteran Riley Van Hofwegen as chief commercial officer. In his new role, Van Hofwegen will lead the company’s full commercial team and execute the company’s sales and marketing plan as well as the longer-term commercial strategy. He will serve as a member of the Tenacore senior leadership team reporting to Chief Executive Officer James Willett.

Van Hofwegen and his team will manage day-to-day sales and marketing activities and execute the core business growth strategy. Additionally, Van Hofwegen will actively partner with the Tenacore operations leadership to grow and expand all segments of the Tenacore product and service offerings.

“With over 10 years of experience in the medical device service and repair industry, Riley brings a unique and incredibly valuable mix of skills that will be instrumental in growing Tenacore’s currently expanding service and repair business,” said Willett. “Mr. Van Hofwegen is an outstanding addition to our team, and I’m confident that his long-standing relationships and experience in this business will make him a key

contributor to our future growth.”

“I’m very excited to join Tenacore and look forward to partnering with the entire team to continue building and growing the company,” said Van Hofwegen.

“Having worked for over 10 years building and growing both USOC Medical and Avante Health Solutions, I bring a unique perspective on how we will leverage Tenacore’s broad product and service offering to define the company’s leadership position in the third-party medical equipment market.”

ASIMILY ANNOUNCES STRATEGIC INVESTMENT Asimily, a risk management platform for IoT devices and web-connected equipment, will accelerate its expansion within the health care industry with a strategic investment from MemorialCare Innovation Fund. The investment includes participation from Ridge Ventures, which led Asimily’s most recent round. Asimily will also utilize the capital to build and release innovative new capabilities for complete IoT device risk management and security, according to a press release.

Modern health care organizations depend on an ever-increasing number of web-connected devices and equipment to serve patients, customers, partners and employees, and to grow their businesses. The proliferation of the IoT in health care demands a wholly different approach to ensuring security than the existing endpoint and server infrastructure that the industry has been used to. Security risks for health care organizations have and will continue to arise from surprising new vectors, while many vulnerabilities that traditional cybersecurity solutions would otherwise flag as dangerous are inconsequential. Effective and efficient IoT device security depends on how accurately and quickly vulnerability risks can be identified, prioritized and remediated through a purpose-built solution for health care organizations.

“Asimily has led the charge in developing and delivering best-inclass vulnerability management, anomaly detection, threat investigation and incident response to customers,” the press release states. “The company continues to release innovative tools and modules that stay ahead of the fast-moving threat landscape. Among its most recent additions is a built-in policy management module that enables searching through the entire network data via a simple graphical interface (akin to Google the network data) for indicators of compromise and risky activity.

Asimily’s Distributed Sniffer, also newly added, gives health care

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organizations an investigative tool for incident response and forensics to reveal the specific tactics and techniques that an attacker is using.

Capabilities like these continue to reinforce the Asimily platform as a uniquely compressive risk management solution for the health care industry.”

“Across medical, diagnostic, life sciences and pharmaceutical companies, demand for IoT device risk management continues to rise rapidly,” Asimily CEO Shankar Somasundaram said. “The value that web-connected devices and equipment can deliver to health care businesses is clear — but how to ensure they remain secure has been a challenge for many. We’ve built our company and platform around meeting this industry need head-on. We’re excited to work with MemorialCare Innovation Fund as our strategic investor and, alongside Ridge Ventures, we are eager to put this capital to work driving business development and expediting delivery of new capabilities built to address ever-evolving IoT security threats.”

“We believe that Asimily has built an impressive team that has identified a crucial and growing market need across the broad health care industry and created a proven solution that meets requirements for IoT device security that is substantially better than anything else on the market today,” said Brant Heise, managing director, MemorialCare Innovation Fund. “We look forward to supporting Asimily’s fast-paced growth and success as it enables IoT device security and compliance throughout the health care ecosystem.”

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

626 ACQUIRES MEDICAL IMAGING SOLUTIONS 626 Holdings LLC recently announced the addition of Medical Imaging Solutions (MIS).

“MIS could not be a better fit. The addition of MIS helps both our customers and our employees win on many different levels, including the improvement and expansion of our capabilities, our growing geographic coverage, our customer expansion, and our culture. 626 and MIS together is a better solution for current customers and future customers starting on day one. MIS hits on all of our growth objectives and we are very excited about our future with MIS. 626 is not done yet, our pipeline of future customers and acquisition targets are still growing,” stated Philip Revien, CEO of 626.

In business since 1996 and based in Woodstock, Georgia, MIS is a leading third-party provider in the HTM space.

“MIS and 626 have a lot in common. Both are family businesses, founded as a high quality, agile, cost advantageous, alternative for support beyond the OEM, and both dedicated to our employees, customers, and patients. After

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

THE WORLD MOVES FAST. WE MOVE FASTER.™ spending time planning next steps for optimal MIS growth with the 626 team, there was no doubt that the best decision was an alliance with 626. We are also thrilled about the role our Imaging Academy will play across this combined business”, said Arnold Bates, president and CEO, MIS. “The combined companies will have over 120 field service engineers, 7 distribution centers, 25,000 parts, and fleet performance improving technology, all positioned to deliver improved uptime at a value to an enlarged footprint. This is a great move for our customers and investors.” 626 President Michael Fischer said.

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

CROTHALL HEALTHCARE’S HTS DIVISION ACHIEVES ISO 13485: 2016 RECERTIFICATION The Healthcare Technology Solutions (HTS) operating division of Crothall Healthcare (Crothall) has received ISO 13485: 2016 recertification, an internationally recognized standard that includes servicing of medical devices. The certification process, overseen by NSF International Registrar, is conducted once every three years. Crothall’s HTS division has been an industry leader in this space, receiving its initial certification in 2019.

“Our ISO 13485 recertification provides a tremendous benefit to our hospital and health system partners who can be reassured we have the policies, practices, and procedures to deliver consistent quality in repair and support services,” said Jim Cheek president, Crothall Healthcare HTS. “This recertification reinforces the common quality language we speak that focuses on reducing variability in processes, utilizing client feedback to drive enhancements, and working with best-in-class suppliers. The result is enhanced patient safety and reduced medical device risk.”

The ISO 13485:2016 standard sets the requirements for a

quality management system with a focus on medical device safety. Certification is a recognition that Crothall’s policies, processes, and procedures ensure consistent quality in the repair and support services provided to clients. The certification audit covers everything from the uptime of medical devices and turnaround time on critical corrective maintenance work orders to ensuring the availability of equipment, device traceability and supplier qualifications. The certification and recertification process includes a lengthy, in-person, comprehensive audit that reviews medical device safety, risk management and process improvement.

“Crothall’s HTS division oversees the entire life cycle of medical devices and clinical technologies at more than 200 hospitals nationwide,” added Cheek. “Our clients and suppliers reap the benefits of the comprehensive continuous quality improvement program reflected by ISO’s rigorous certification standards and processes.”

ECRI ANNOUNCES ALERTS IMPACT AWARD WINNERS ECRI has announced three winners and three finalists of its 2022 Alerts Impact Award for excellence in recall management. ECRI presents its annual award to members of its Alerts Workflow solution who have demonstrated strong success in implementing recall management programs throughout their health care organizations.

“With continuing shortages in supplies, equipment and health care workers, it is increasingly challenging to keep up with recalls that demand swift action. As an enterprise-wide recall management partner, our close collaboration with hospitals can be vital to ensuring patient safety,” says Andrew Furman, MD, vice president, clinical evidence and safety solutions, ECRI. “We congratulate the winners of this year’s award for demonstrating improved outcomes, increased efficiencies and processes, and excellence in safety and compliance.”

The following organizations were announced as winners and finalists at ECRI’s May 2022 Alerts Workflow User Group Meeting.

2022 Winners • Eskenazi Health — Indianapolis, IN | Expedient Resolution of Backlog Alerts During a Recent Cyberattack | 2021 and 2022 Winner • St. Luke’s Health System — Boise, ID | Steady, Systematic Recall Resolution Success | 2021 and 2022 Winner

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•

ThedaCare Medical Center — Appleton, WI | Extending Alerts Workflow to Pharmacy and Lab Teams for Increased Compliance

2022 Finalists • The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center — Columbus, OH | Right Product, Right Place, Right Time • CommonSpirit Health — Erlanger, KY | Using ECRI’s Alerts Workflow for Action-oriented Communication • The University of Vermont Medical Center—Burlington, VT | Leveraging of Alerts Workflow Analytics Helps Improve Recall Response Times “We congratulate our winners and all of our submitters for taking the time to share their impact stories,” says Deb Dominianni, director, healthcare product alerts, ECRI. “The tireless efforts of these and other recall management teams help to protect patients as the industry grapples with unprecedented challenges related to COVID, supply and staff shortages, cybersecurity, and ongoing mergers and acquisitions.”

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

SIEMENS HEALTHINEERS ANNOUNCES TECHNOLOGY OPTIMIZATION PARTNERSHIPS Siemens Healthineers announced the launch of the company’s Technology Optimization Partnerships at the AAMI eXchange event in San Antonio, Texas. Technology Optimization Partnerships are a strategic approach to multivendor service that leverage connected solutions to help hospitals and health systems make data-driven decisions, improve equipment utilization and enhance financial performance across the enterprise.

The innovative approach to service delivers a multitude of key benefits including efficient standardized service for all medical technology regardless of manufacturer; quality and performance assurance that maximizes technology uptime; and a single point of contact that simplifies technology management and accountability. By going beyond the traditional service model with optional connected offerings, such as RealTime Location Solutions (RTLS), medical device

cybersecurity, remote scanning technology, and ongoing workforce development, Technology Optimization Partnerships can help hospitals and health systems enhance the performance of their medical technology fleet and reach key institutional goals.

“We are extremely excited about our new Technology Optimization Partnerships,” said Brent Kruse, senior vice president & head of enterprise services (Americas). “By partnering with Siemens Healthineers beyond traditional technology management, healthcare organizations will now have the potential to transform their service department from a cost center to a growth center.”

For more information, visit siemens-healthineers.com/en-us/ services/technology-optimization-partnerships.

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

CASE STUDY PRESENTATION ADDRESSES BEST PRACTICES, BENCHMARKING In June, David Chambers, CBET and director, facilities management for Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center co-presented at the 2022 AAMI eXchange with Rich Sable, CBET, and product manager for EQ2 LLC a case study on a large-scale project that brought together the hospital system’s biomed, facilities and supply chain operations, with new workflows and technologies. The presentation was titled “Cradle to Grave Asset Management Using Best Practices, Benchmarking and Standardization.”

The project started out as a need to replace one old, legacy CMMS system that was no longer supported at one hospital and turned into a need to replace a total of three outside CMMS systems and a customized in-house system across six hospitals and 26 clinics. EQ2’s “HEMS” CMMS was chosen with its long history of managing health care assets.

The biomed and facilities departments formed a best practices committee leading systems and processes change for data governance and best practices were developed. For example, one device would have one contract instead of four different ones at four different locations.

There were also different PM procedures and PM intervals being used at the various locations. These were standardized with some exceptions and a new service level agreement for response and turnaround times was established.

As biomed and facilities were employing these solutions, supply chain entered the picture to manage details of assets

from when they were first purchased (such as purchase orders, purchase price, warranty/contract dates) and when they were retired. An interface of HEMS to the procurement system eCAPS was put in place. The entire lifecycle of each device is now maintained in HEMS. Total cost of ownership and value of the assets is clear across the enterprise.

A governance board was formed to handle any questions or concerns related to process, access permissions, for data standardization, etc.

A 90-day test pilot was completed at one hospital first. This led to some security setting and workflow changes. Then, the new asset management process was rolled out to the remaining five hospitals in two days.

New processes were created for converting leased to owned inventory, sending equipment for offsite repair, annual/ biannual inventory reconciliation, salvage, new service contracts for existing assets, one-day equipment rentals, donated equipment, and updating existing asset information.

Later IT began using HEMS to manage assets over $500 and an interface of HEMS to Cherwell for IT ticketing was established.

In the end, numerous benefits were gained by the time everything was in place. Medical device recalls are simpler and the correct status of each device – owned or leased for example – is easily identified. The latter meets the Joint Commission requirement of having an inventory of every device at the various sites of the enterprise.

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

AAMI UPDATE

AAMI eXchange 2022 Hints at Increasing Focus on Health IT and VR

T

he AAMI eXchange is an industry event commonly attended by medical device manufacturers and the hospital technicians who maintain those devices. This year, the event’s education sessions, expo hall floor and mainstage events all hinted at three areas of increasing interest for the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) and the health technology space in general: data management, cybersecurity and … virtual reality?

FOCUS ON THE FUTURE: ‘HTM, I SEE YOU’ Here’s looking at you, healthcare technology management (HTM) professionals. From enhancing the patient experience to partnering with the C-suite to strengthening cybersecurity, AAMI President and CEO Pamela Arora and a panel of experts see more significant roles for HTM professionals in the future.

“HTM, I see you,” said AAMI President and CEO Pamela Arora in the opening keynote at the AAMI eXchange in San Antonio, Texas.

Arora shared her personal story as a breast cancer survivor who recognized HTM’s care for their support for her care providers and the equipment used in her treatment and care.

Panelists cited the push toward interoperability of medical devices and

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data integration as the impetus for HTM-IT collaboration over the past decade or so. The focus is changing, but the need for HTM talent is only increasing. “Different things that only HTM can think about are really going to impact our health care system,” said Katherine Lusk, vice president of strategic partnerships at the Texas Health Services Authority.

As hospitals and health care providers leverage technology to move more services into ambulatory settings, communities and homes, HTM’s expertise is vital. HTM professionals know how to support clinicians, IT specialists and patients − and they bring crucial patient safety and risk management knowledge to the table.

“In many ways, HTM may be more prepared than IT at this point,” said Sue Schade, principal of StarBridge Advisors. “HTM recognized the need to integrate with IT. I’m seeing HTM initiating those partnership discussions happening already.” With new C-suite level positions, such as “chief digital health officer,” emerging, she said it is incumbent upon HTM leaders to reach out and make great partnerships.

“The challenge is about taking data and really using it in clinical decision support,” said Philp Bradley, digital health strategist at HIMSS. There are still opportunities across

America to do that better in acute care settings − and new opportunities to integrate smartphones and other devices into other health care settings and into homes. For example, he said, emergency departments pride themselves on identifying sepsis, a serious condition for which early treatment improves survival rates. “What if we could use devices to monitor respiratory rate,” a symptom of sepsis, “in a patient’s home?” he asked.

Monitoring such data from medical or personal devices in patient homes and on the go could improve patient outcomes, reduce clinician burden and reduce costs. But there’s a big obstacle to reaching that point: cyberattacks.

“There’s been a huge change over the past 10 to 15 years,” said Kevin Fu, director of the Archimedes Center for Medical Device Security and director of medical device security at the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. It’s no longer just rogue actors carrying out such attacks. It’s nation-states with highly skilled groups wreaking havoc on hundreds of hospitals at a time.

“Ten or 15 years ago, we were in more of a denial stage,” Fu said.

“Now there’s recognition that that cyberattacks present real patient safety issues. Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility. It’s one thing to work on cybersecurity within hospital walls.

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

Homes are a highly different environment, with different risks. We have to think of cybersecurity as a solution, not a problem. If we don’t solve the problem, it’s less likely that we’ll be able to have devices in homes.”

Cybersecurity is on the radar screen of the Joint Commission as well. “We’re going to ask, ‘What will you do? What is your plan?’ ” added Herman McKenzie, director of the commission’s Department of Engineering in the Standards Interpretation Group. “As your organization matures, we’re going to be more prescriptive, moving from ‘What will you do?’ to ‘You will do.’ ” HDOS & EDUCATION FOCUS ON VR Virtual reality is not just for fun and games. During eXchange 2022, Banner Health showcased a 360-degree virtual reality simulation to train clinicians to treat patients with obstetric hemorrhage. The scenario shows clinicians carrying out the standard protocol from the moment the patient arrives through an emergency Caesarean section.

“We had to treat it as a one-act play, which presented the content in a really succinct manner for education,”

said Perry Kirwin, vice president of technology management at Banner Health and ENTECH, a Banner Health company. Everyone in the video wears a wireless microphone so clinicians in training can hear their conversation as the scenario unfolds.

Using a virtual reality headset, viewers can see what’s happening all around the patient room as if they were there.

Meanwhile, AAMI Fellow James Linton, coordinator and professor for St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, and colleague Jim Durocher led event attendees in reflecting on more than five years of applying virtual reality and extended reality technologies in biology and HTM education.

According to the educators, the most common application of these technologies in training applies to the OR, as showcased by Banner Health and others on the expo hall floor.

However, Linton noted that “biomeds are kind of like surgeons for equipment, right?”

“One of the things we hear in the lab from students is ‘I don’t want to break it,’ ” Durocher added, “but in a virtual space, you can break a device all you want!”

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

While it may take time and labor to set up a physical device to exhibit a specific problem for students to repair, virtual devices can be designed to exhibit “all kinds of problems” in an environment where students are not stressed about harming an expensive machine that their peers are still waiting to use.

According to the educators, implementing extended reality technologies such as VR, not only boosted current student engagement at their college, but also inspired a new wave of students to join the program. Linton recalls when, at career fairs, students looking at his booth would be redirected by parents to go to a nursing booth instead. Now, thanks to the allure of VR demonstrations, he’s able to garner interest and help people understand what HTM is all about.

“Everyone knows how hard it is to get students into biomed,” said Linton. “We’ve got massive shortages in the U.S. And meantime our program is seeing 40+ students and long waitlists. It’s an attention grabber 100%. If you have it in your facility or school to train biomeds, people will want to learn.”

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

RIBBON CUTTING Higher Road Biomedical

H

igher Road Biomedical is a Ft. Myers, Florida-based provider of biomedical services including depot repairs, onsite service, leasing and sales. The company provides service and support to medical care facilities to deliver “optimal uptime of biomedical devices” to ensure those medical facilities can optimally, effectively and safely serve their communities. We found out more recently via an interview with Higher Road Biomedical President Craig Park.

Q: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE SERVICES AND PRODUCTS YOU OFFER? A: We provide on-site service for all types of medical facilities, plus depot repairs at our Ft. Myers location, device leasing and biomedical equipment sales, both refurbished and OEM. It has been interesting as we have ramped up, we started out thinking the depot repair part of our business model would provide the initial growth of our business. We have been pleasantly surprised by the demand for on-site service here in Southwest Florida. So that is ramping up and we are able to move on that opportunity and invest in that. We believe we are well positioned geographically, demographically and resource-wise to provide what our target customer base needs; efficient and professional partnerbased service.

Q: HOW DOES YOUR COMPANY STAND OUT IN THE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT FIELD? A: We are very new, but we are ahead of target on how well the Higher Road Biomedical business model is resonating within the medical service and repair sector. We are a very young company, yet

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relationships in due course, so stay tuned to the wonderful TechNation!

Craig Park President of Higher Road Biomedical we are being sought out for contracts with much larger entities. Our new partners find our approach refreshing and innovative. For instance, one large, well-known OEM has directly approached us to resell their equipment for surgery and radiology, and across the whole country we are 1 of only 2 companies they have approached. Why? Because their traditional (existing) distribution model isn’t working as well in this new business environment. They need to adapt to the new business environment in acute care.

Which is prevalent across the entire business-to-business ecosystem. The OEM was attracted by how we go to market, our professionalism, our ethos and our understanding of what is needed for success. Likewise, we just signed an on-site servicing contract for a leading medical service group. They found us.

We focus on where we can add value to our customers, and where there are inefficiencies that can be addressed. And, although these are early days, our initial progress has been ahead of target. Of course, we will be announcing all our new

Q: WHAT IS ON THE HORIZON FOR YOUR COMPANY? A: Our customers and the opportunities we find will dictate how we scale the business and what we can achieve. The future is bright, there is sector consolidation via M&A, plus there are sector dynamics at play which all help us as we humbly and nimbly go about our business, offering customers value delivered with high service levels. In terms of goals, we believe in phasing in the business and continually measuring our progress. Our immediate goals are to be the first choice for our target Southwest Florida customers for their service and repair needs. Once we achieve good critical mass in (Southwest) Florida, we will then expand our geographic horizons as and when the opportunities are there. We are off to a terrific start. These are exciting times.

Q: IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE OUR READERS TO KNOW? A: This is a people business first and foremost. And we are attracting great people to come on board. Not just team members, but customers also. It is terrific to be doing business with aligned stakeholders. In all we do, we take the “Higher Road,” by doing the right thing.

Having integrity, being a trust partner and following through on what we say we will do. Higher Road Biomedical is excited for what is to come, and grateful for all the opportunities we have now and in the future. Onwards and upwards!

For more information, contact Craig directly at Craig@HigherRoadBiomedical.com or visit higherroadbiomedical.com.

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

ECRI UPDATE

ECRI’s Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns for 2022: Reaching Farther to Support Total Systems Safety

O

rganizations across the continuum of care are striving to become high-reliability organizations, and part of being highly reliable means staying vigilant and identifying problems proactively.

ECRI’s annual Top 10 list helps organizations identify imminent patient safety challenges. To select the Top 10, ECRI and its affiliate, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), analyzed a wide scope of data, including scientific literature, patient safety events or concerns reported to or investigated

by ECRI or ISMP​, client research requests and queries, and other internal and external data sources.

ECRI and ISMP’s annual report helps health care organizations achieve total systems safety. A total systems approach facilitates real improvement in safety. Proactive

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rather than reactive, it anticipates risks and applies system-wide safety processes across the health care continuum.

Reflecting the emphasis of total systems safety on system-wide processes and cross-collaboration, the theme for this year’s list is “Reaching Farther for Safety.”

Health care organizations may already have implemented measures to improve safety for these topics, yet harm continues to occur. To address these safety concerns, health care organizations and their partners may need to reach farther.

The items on this year’s list may require more collaboration with community partners, more involvement across stakeholder groups, more interdepartmental planning and processes. ​ 1. STAFFING SHORTAGES Even before the COVID-19 pandem-

ic, there was a persistent shortage of clinical and nonclinical staff.

Staffing shortages have continued to increase throughout the pandemic.​ These shortages cut across disciplines, affecting nurses, physicians, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, and more; they affect every care setting. For example, over a 10-year period (2016 to 2026), long-term care will see 678,300 job openings for nursing assistants, but 368,100 workers will move to another occupation.

By 2034, the physician shortage is projected to reach 17,800 to 48,000 in primary care and 21,000 to 77,100 in other medical specialties, raising concerns about access to care, disparities and burnout.

Organizations should implement a flexible recruitment and retention program in light of staffing shortages. Strategies include developing an inclusive, culturally competent

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

workforce, establishing flexible staffing models, assessing their systems for psychological safety, and evaluating and addressing factors that contribute to departmental turnover rates.

2. COVID-19 EFFECTS ON HEALTH CARE WORKERS’ MENTAL HEALTH An often discussed but inadequately addressed collateral result of the COVID-19 pandemic is the toll it has taken on the mental health of health care workers.

Health care professionals’ mental health was already at crisis level before the COVID-19 pandemic; both physicians and nurses were at risk of burnout, emotional exhaustion or depression prior to 2020. The pandemic has now forced a reckoning with health care workers’ mental health needs.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many health care workers have sacrificed their mental health in order to deliver care. Health care organizations now need to support clinician resilience.

An organizational tone of personal connection, with leadership available to staff via transparent, two-way communication channels is crucial. Pitfalls like empty hero worship should be avoided, replaced with effective wellness programming, recognizing the connections between job-related burnout and patient outcomes, and minimizing the effort required of staff to participate in resilience activities.

3. BIAS AND RACISM IN ADDRESSING PATIENT SAFETY Racial and ethnic disparities have been well documented in how they affect access to care and outcomes.

What is less well publicized is that disparities can even affect how adverse events are reported and responded to.

Although patients from racial and ethnic minority groups are more likely to experience an adverse event

while in the hospital, providers are significantly less likely to report harmful events for patients from minority groups than from white patients.

Health care organizations should establish and implement policies designed to identify and eliminate racism and discrimination in the organization. Recognizing that racism and implicit biases may be present, they should: • Examine the racial demographics of patient safety events and root-cause analyses performed by the organization.

• Train leaders on health equity, addressing topics that include health disparities, cultural competence and health outcomes among minorities.

• Perform health equity and cultural competence assessments. Repeat such assessments after implementing improvement initiatives.

• Take seriously all allegations of racism, bias or discrimination that originate in the organization, and thoroughly investigate and address such reports.

4. VACCINE COVERAGE GAPS AND ERRORS ​T he success of any vaccine relies on correct, widespread administration to appropriate populations. Vaccine gaps and errors may harm patients or provide inadequate protection against serious diseases.

Vaccine administration errors pose the potential for consequences like: • Inadequate immune protection • Unintended patient harm • Increased costs to providers • Reduced confidence in the healthcare delivery system Implementing a comprehensive vaccine promotion program requires an examination of vaccine adminis-

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

tration protocols and strategies like: • Storing look-alike vaccines and doses on different shelves, and maintaining proper temperatures.

• Keeping vaccines with the earliest expiration dates in the front of storage units, and removing expired products.

• Structuring treatment areas to accommodate one patient at a time.

• Utilizing trained providers with demonstrated vaccination competencies, and training staff whenever vaccines are added or recommendations updated.

• Including a pharmacist on the immunization team.

• Giving patients vaccine information in their preferred language.

5. COGNITIVE BIASES AND DIAGNOSTIC ERROR Cognitive biases can result in misdiagnosis by skewing how clinicians gather and interpret evidence, take action and evaluate decisions. Four common clinician biases include: • Anchoring bias: The clinician adheres to their initial impression in the face of conflicting evidence • Confirmation bias: Information is “cherry picked” to support the diagnosis • The affect heuristic: Actions are driven by emotions; this often manifests as strong feelings regarding a patient after an encounter • Outcomes bias: Clinical results always follow prior decisions, preventing clinicians from considering feedback to improve their care delivery Cognitive biases are difficult to perceive and even more difficult to dismantle. Nevertheless, failure to

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INDUSTRY UPDATES do so can result in misdiagnosis and delayed or inappropriate treatment.

Simply recognizing that the bias exists may help overcome it.

6. NONVENTILATOR HEALTHCARE-ASSOCIATED PNEUMONIA Pneumonia is the most common healthcare-associated infection in the United States and is linked to substantial morbidity and mortality. Despite the attention placed on ventilator-associated pneumonia, nonventilator healthcare-associated pneumonia (NV-HAP) diagnoses in the United States make up 65% of the cases, compared with 35% associated with ventilators.

NV-HAP is a preventable event that is underreported as a health care complication. About 1 in every 100 hospitalized patients experiences NV-HAP, with mortality rates ranging from 15%-30% for hospitalized patients and 13%-41% for nursing home residents.

Proactive prevention of NV-HAP requires incorporating patient- or resident-care intervention bundles, providing staff education, conducting infection surveillance and targeting performance improvement activities around NV-HAP risks.

7. HUMAN FACTORS IN OPERATIONALIZING TELEHEALTH Overlooking human factors in the design, implementation, usability and evaluation of telehealth systems may lead to a situation mirroring what happened during the widespread adoption of electronic health records (EHRs), which caused numerous issues for providers and patients alike, including: • fractured adoption • interrupted workflows • user dissatisfaction • complete system failure A systematic review of studies on telehealth implementation and integration challenges identified issues involving stakeholders and system users as the top hurdle (79%); issues included the lack of active involvement and collaboration to support a

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user-centered system design.

Provider organizations often focus on technical specifications and integration with existing EHR systems and payment models. Accounting for user experiences from all stakeholders is critical to successful implementation, optimization and sustainability.

8. INTERNATIONAL SUPPLY CHAIN DISRUPTIONS The United States heavily relies on international manufacturers to produce medical equipment, drugs, and other health care supplies.

Shor tages of health care supplies can disrupt routine patient care − threatening care qualit y and patient safet y.

There are two critical areas of concern: manufacturers are having difficulty accessing raw materials, and delivery disruptions have impacted the availability of shipping containers, unloading space, trucking capacity and delivery workers.

Planning, preparation, communication, flexibility and cooperation with outside collaborators are essential for safely navigating supply chain disruptions.

• Identify domestic and international alternatives for supplies and drugs that would leave the facility most vulnerable if a supply chain disruption were to occur.

• Demand transparency from distributors and manufacturers regarding: • Minimum inventory levels • Country of origin for product and raw material suppliers • ​S urge capacity plans • Re-examine sole-source, dual-source and multisource agreements.

9. PRODUCTS SUBJECT TO EMERGENCY USE AUTHORIZATION During emergencies, FDA can issue emergency use authorization (EUA) for drugs, devices or biologics for serious diseases or conditions when no FDA-approved alternatives are available. EUAs allow temporary use

of unapproved products or unapproved applications of approved products; they may be revised or revoked at any time, and terminate when the emergency ends or FDA approves the product.

In some circumstances, using a product after the EUA ends may risk regulatory compliance problems or loss of federal liability protections. If necessary, a physician may continue an EUA product for a patient who started treatment with the product before revocation or termination.

Rigorous management of EUA products optimizes patient safety and minimizes risks. An appropriate committee or committees should monitor EUA status of products used in the organization, keep providers apprised of which products have EUAs and document evaluation of safety concerns before continuing a permissible use after EUA revocation or termination.

10. TELEMETRY MONITORING ​​Telemetry monitoring (TM) provides real-time measurements of monitored physiologic parameters from a distance.

Technological breakdowns as well as breakdowns related to clinician response increase the risk of patient harm by the disruption in identification of critical and abnormal changes in a patient’s health status.

Common problems include: • alarm fatigue • poor safety culture between departments • infrastructure breakdowns leading to information dropouts/lost communication • ack of effective emergency backup plans during outages Both clinical (e.g., requiring a physician’s order to adjust settings outside default limits) and technical (e.g., updating software regularly and using segregated networks, firewalls, virtual private networks and network monitors) strategies are necessary to improve TM. TO DOWNLOAD the full Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns report, with complete recommendations for each item, visit https://www.ecri. org/top-10-patient-safety-concerns-2022/ .

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SIEMENS ARCADIS VARIC

Q:

Q:

Can you help me with this error DiagCode: 218.84PY.4BE3.37 software build version: 5.1.0.206. The error code appears when the doctor turns on the device.

A:

Refer to service bulletin INT-060. Check these cables to the control panel: UMB -To- SPD cable, CP Segment 1 cable, and the CP Segment 2 cable. On each cable verify that the green and white wires (USB D+/D-) are tightly twisted together (four twist per inch or four twist per 2.54 CM) between the connector and the cable insulation. Verify each of the connector pins are fully engaged with the locking tab.

Verify that none of the control panel cable pins are bent or recessed. Replace cables as necessary. If the problem persists, replace either the control panel or the CPM board inside of the control panel. For 218 error, you can try to reinstall software.

A:

218 Error: AnnotSP Unanticipated Error Description. The Annotation Signal Path has reported an error for which there is no recovery.

Scanning has stopped. Corrective Action: This indicates a software error. Replacing hardware, or the current revision software is unlikely to solve the problem.

Does Siemens transferring stored images to an external node that was not installed on initial setup? I mean transferring a complete image file hierarchy. The C-arm has previously been hospital-based while now it is stationed at a small pain clinic, i.e. off network.

Our technician tried his best the other day, even trying in dialog with Siemens support center in Germany to no avail. I can only export data recording the files on CD/ DVD but the USB port doesn’t seem to recognize a stick nor a portable SSD unit although it’s been configured matching the running Windows service pack.

A:

If you do not have a suitable PACS network, then you can use a software called DVTK. You can download this software for free and install in any Windows PC. DVTK needs configuring, it has its own default settings like port number: AET etc. but you have to designate an IP for the windows PC LAN which must be compatible (on the same subnet segment) with the Siemens Arcadis. Then, you can download a free Dicom viewer, like Dicom-M. But, again, you will need to be able to access the Siemens service in order to configure the DVTK as a destination storage node. If the Windows PC is using antivirus, you may have to disable the antivirus or if using Windows 10 then you have to create a rule to allow incoming and outbound traffic, otherwise the DVTK communication will not work.

Images successfully sent to your Windows PC are saved into a local folder, you use the Dicom-M to access the folder image, open to be able to display the Dicom image. On another note, in the Arcadis service (VC10A (Gen2)) software there is a section for local drives like USB or a USB HDD. If the USBs are not auto recognized, then there is a USB learning feature within the same section. You can bring up the help file usually with F1. (This feature is only on VC10 Gen2 systems.)

SHOP TALK

is compiled from MedWrench.com. Go to MedWrench.com community forums to find out how you can join and be part of the discussion.

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THE BENCH

BIOMED 101 Conferences Benefit Biomeds

BY DAVE SCOTT

E

arlier this year, I traveled to Atlanta, Georgia, for the MD Expo. It was the 20th anniversary of the Expo. It was also one of the first expos in quite a while without COVID-19 restrictions. This was my first time in Atlanta, other than passing through the airport. I liked Atlanta. I always thought, since it is in the South and known to some as “Hotlanta”, it would be hot and sticky there. Being from Denver, Colorado, I’m not used to hot and humid weather. It was perfect the entire time I was there. It was a nice break to get away for a couple of days and attend an outstanding conference.

The venue was incredible. It was within walking distance of Truist Park the home of the Atlanta Braves. I know the Braves had a home game while we were there, and some MD Expo attendees went to it after the conference schedule was done for the day. MD Expo had the end of show party at a dueling piano bar located in the ballpark area.

The hotel had a big open area in the middle. The MD Expo conference rooms went along one side of the hotel.

The entrance to the trade show area had several vendor booths set up before entering the main trade show. One thing I found especially interesting in that area was the MD Expo timeline display. It was a series of posterboards with pictures from all the previous MD Expos. It was intriguing to see all the pictures. I’ve been to quite a few over the years, but several of these were before my time of attendance. It was also cool to see how much it has changed over the years and grown to what it is today. People could write on the boards with markers and say whatever they wanted. Several different posters had “This was my first MD Expo” written on them along with other comments.

The MD Expo seemed very well attended. Everyone I talked with was happy to be there and happy to be “out” again. I even saw a few friends from Colorado there. It was nice to see other techs and vendors that I have grown to know over the years and new ones that had

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plenty to offer. I attended several excellent presentations.

I, unfortunately, didn’t get to attend everything I wanted to attend, and it was over way too soon.

I teamed up with another tech from Colorado, Brian Wilson, to do two presentations. We presented “10 Things I Wish I Knew About HTM” and “Career Path Guide.”

The “10 Things” presentation talked about what Brian and I have learned in our 65-plus combined years of working in healthcare technology management (HTM). We each did a top 10 of things we wish we would have known or known earlier in our careers. This might be my favorite presentation that I have ever done at any MD Expo. You can find the PowerPoint at tinyurl. com/4hr5abdb.

We also teamed up with the HTM Jobs team of Sydney Krieg and Kristen Register to present on “Career Path Guide.” You can listen to the presentation at youtu.be/ nx5uV4Aoq-g. In my opinion, there were two highlights of this presentation. One was our ideal career path examples, and the other was the HTM Jobs team’s work getting actual job postings that went along with the career qualifications, certifications and experience. We gave examples of in our part of the presentation. The PowerPoint is available at tinyurl.com/5n84w7s8.

With the 20th anniversary of MD Expo over it’s time to look to the future. The next MD Expo will take place on the West Coast this fall. It will be in Temecula, California at the Pechanga Casino and Resort. This MD Expo sounds like it will be another fun one. As usual, there will be industry experts presenting and the trade show will feature the latest services, test equipment, innovations and products from vendors. Start planning to attend now. Hopefully, I’ll see you there!

Find out more at MDExpoShow.com.

– David Scott, CBET, is a senior biomedical technician at UCHealth.

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THE BENCH

WEBINAR WEDNESDAY Sessions Boost HTM Knowledge STAFF REPORT

T

he 2022 Webinar Wednesday series continues to provide top-notch information. Recent sessions have covered a range of topics delivering educational material to biomeds throughout the country.

CMMS IMPLEMENTATION The presentation “Making A CMMS Implementation More Than Just Transferring Data” was sponsored by Phoenix Data Systems and eligible for 1 credit from the ACI. In this 60-minute webinar, Phoenix Data Systems Training Manager Aaron Peters and SQL Developer Daniel Hamadeh showcased a well-executed CMMS conversion and implementation.

The conversation focused on keys to success; such as mapping data, cleaning data and optimizing work flows by understanding how the new CMMS operates. The presenters also took a deep dive into a recent customer’s experience from conversion through implementation.

The webinar was popular with 96 live attendees and more have viewed the session via on-demand viewing at WebinarWednesday.live. A popular aspect of this session was a question-and-answer session where the presenters shared additional insights.

One of the questions centered on the topic of what clients need to do to their data to prepare for an implementation?

The short answer is “It depends.”

However, the presenters did not stop there and discussed some different approaches and options available.

Another attendee asked, “What pieces of the implementation process are outsourced?”

The answer was to the point.

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“That is another good question that almost anyone at this company could answer. I hope everyone who works here knows we don’t outsource anything. Every person you talk to is an employee of Phoenix Data Systems. We don’t hire any third-party vendors,” Peters said.

Attendees provided feedback about the webinar via a survey that included the question, “What are the biggest strengths of the industry?”

“Data standardization and true adoption of technologies like CMMS,” said Laura Rojas, biomedical support.

“The biggest strengths of the health care CMMS industry are software organizations that actually value the customers, their goals and the patients those customers serve. We are setting the bar high at Phoenix Data Systems and will continue to set it higher!” said Jason Fleming, an implementation specialist.

“The resourcefulness of the people in the HTM community,” Biomed Manager Richard Ortiz said.

INFUSION PUMP TESTING INSIGHTS The presentation “Infusion Pump Testing” was sponsored by BC Group. It was eligible for 1 credit from the ACI. Lucio Simoni, engineering manager at BC Group International, discussed infusion pump testing utilizing the BC Biomedical 4 channel IPA-3400. The IPA-3400 is a high accuracy, easy-to-use system that incorporates full touch screen control of all processes without the use of old-fashioned buttons and knobs. This new cutting edge, patented design uses a dual syringe stepper motor driven system that provides continuous monitoring of the fluid flow without the need to stop and perform intermittent drains like older technologies do. This provides a more realistic flow path for the infusion device

under test and therefore more accurate readings.

Attendees gathered additional knowledge during a question-and-answer session. The Q&A session is available for on-demand viewing along with the entire webinar at WebinarWednesday.live.

One attendee asked about simulations.

Simoni answered, “We actually do try to simulate as close as possible. For instance, we have a user selectable back pressure setting, which simulates the pressure in a patient’s veins, and would push back against a diffusion pump. It has to overcome, and the way we see back pressure, we don’t actually begin measuring until pressure exceeds that setting. So, we tried to make it as realistic as possible.”

The webinar was popular. It had 97 attendees for the live presentation. Attendees shared feedback via a survey that included the question, “What are the biggest challenges facing you with your work?”

“Workload/time management,” Director Capital Equipment Services Scott Tarter said.

“Regulations: too many manufacturer training certificates and too many pieces of expensive test equipment are required,” said András Levente Kacsó, BMET. Several attendees said availability of parts or time constraints for PMs are among the biggest challenges they face.

KEEPING THE WHOLE HOSPITAL SECURE The Webinar Wednesday presentation “How BioMed Helps Keep the Whole Hospital Secure” by Anthony Rubino, medical device network risk manager for Scripps Health, and Samuel Hill, director of product marketing at Medigate by Claroty, discussed the challenge of keeping medical devices safe. It was sponsored by Medigate by Claroty and eligible for 1 credit from the ACI.

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THE BENCH

As HTM professionals, the goal is to keep devices online and operational. These devices are at risk because they are connected to a network and could be exposed to bad actors. Not to be deterred, many biomeds are taking security seriously and have helped improve the overall security posture of the hospital.

This advancement helps keep patients safe, their data secure, and devices online and operational. Rubino and Hill discussed the challenge of keeping medical devices safe.

This webinar drew 90 registrations, and included a question-and-answer session. The completed webinar with the question-and-answer session is available for on-demand viewing at WebinarWednesday.live.

One of the questions addressed by the presenters was, “What are some of the best ways for biomed to involve themselves in security?”

Another question was, “How can I start cross training for cybersecurity?”

Attendees for the live presentation provided feedback via a survey that included the question, “What does the future look like for the industry?”

“Manufacturers should be required to do more on their end as it relates to cybersecurity,” Clinical Engineering Manager Paul Graham said.

“I think the future looks more Biomed/IT integrated, cybersecurity is not going away,” shared Clinical Engineering Security Analyst David Simpson.

“Only better when we have industry leaders like these who are looking ahead and helping boost the knowledge of all,” Field Service Supervisor Chuck Yovino said.

NEXT GENERATION The Webinar Wednesday presentation “How to Hire and Retain the Next Generation of HTM Professionals” was sponsored by Nuvolo. It was eligible for 1 credit from the ACI. The next generation of HTM professionals are getting ready to enter the work force, and they have skills health care facilities want and need. However, to hire and retain them, one needs to know what they want and need in their career and work environment. This webinar featured a panel of HTM educators and students who

discussed what younger people entering the HTM industry are looking for in a job that may be different than what previous generations sought. The panel also shared what new skills today’s HTM students are learning that will add value to an organization. The panel discussion was facilitated by Ben Person, chief marketing officer at Nuvolo. Panelists included HTM educators David W. Braeutigam, James Linton, Phillip E. Pash and students.

The complete webinar is available for on-demand viewing at WebinarWednesday.live.

Attendees provided feedback via a survey that included the question, “What part of today’s webinar did you like the most?”

“The age range of the speakers was incredible in hearing the different ideas as it pertains to HTM,” Chief Clinical Engineer Saul Ochoa said.

“I enjoyed hearing what the next generation of biomeds love about this field and what makes them loyal to a company,” Site Manager Bill Sansagraw said.

“I am pleased to see younger people getting involved in the industry, especially talented young women. The industry as a whole is still one of health care’s best kept secrets,” Biomedical Equipment Technician II Brian Snyder said.

“The interaction with the young biomeds. Hearing their thoughts and experiences was helpful in understanding the best way to recruit and retain today’s young biomeds,” said Tyler Tryon, BMET III. USEFUL TOOLS FOR HTM The Webinar Wednesday presentation “Useful Tools for Biomedical Engineers”

by RTI Group’s Erik Wikström illustrated what can be achieved with the help of modern, fit-for-purpose instruments, probes and software, combined with efficient procedures. This webinar was eligible for 1 credit from the ACI. It was sponsored by RTI Group.

One part of a biomedical engineer’s work is looking after diagnostic radiology equipment. The traditional responsibilities include performing preventive maintenance, troubleshooting and first-line repair as well as maintaining service records of the installed base of equipment. With tougher requirements on traceability and increasing demands on integration of

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

reports and service data into software systems for a better overview of the status of the installed base, there is a need for a more efficient process than simply writing down measurement data and doing the evaluation by hand.

Wikström also fielded questions from attendees during the webinar session.

One question was, “Does the cable measure voltage or on the generator controller board?”

Wikström said that it measures the voltage but converts it according to a conversion factor that we know. His complete answer is available via the on-demand version of the webinar at WebinarWednesday.live.

Approximately 100 individuals registered for the webinar. Attendees provided positive feedback via a survey that included the question, “What part of today’s webinar did you like the most?”

“The latest tools to utilize for testing medical equipment,” Biomed Supervisor Arlondo Bia said.

“Ability to get CEU and nice to know what latest tools are available,” Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist Tanja Price said.

“I liked seeing the diversity of metering equipment,” Biomed William Easley said.

For more information, visit WebinarWednesday.live

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THE BENCH

TOOLS OF THE TRADE Qosina

Pinch Clamp Product Line

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osina, a global supplier of OEM single-use components to the medical and pharmaceutical industries, recently introduce a new selection of pinch clamps made from polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), an alternative to nylon that is used in the manufacture of many types of single-use components. The 3/4 inch (0.75 inch, 19mm) pinch clamps are now available in white, red, yellow, blue and black, making them ideal for color-coded sets.

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ROUNDTABLE

ROUNDTABLE Radiography

T

echNation is focused on radiography equipment for this Roundtable article. Several knowledgeable individuals were invited to participate and share their insights with readers.

Participating are FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas Corporation Director of Strategic Marketing, Diagnostic Imaging Rob Fabrizio, ENTECH Director of Capital Refresh John Garrett, Carestream Health General Manager of Global Services and Solutions Jatin “JT” Thakkar and Banner Imaging Casa Grande Practice Manager Misti Wright.

Q: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE NEWEST FEATURES IN RADIOGRAPHY THAT FACILITIES SHOULD CONSIDER WHEN BUYING NEW? FABRIZIO: Many of the new features across radiography equipment include technologies that empower clinicians to achieve lower dose, maximize workflow efficiency and capture high-quality images. It’s important that facilities look to invest in radiography equipment that provides these features as they greatly contribute to enhancing the patient’s experience.

GARRETT: There are a number of artificial intelligence options for better imaging results, specifically in studies that were previously difficult to achieve diagnostic

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health care facilities to lower radiation dose without a loss in image quality. We are also applying AI to enhance the user experience. Our Smart DR Workflow features help radiologic technologists capture exams more efficiently, expediting workflow and delivering repeatable results.

Rob Fabrizio FUJIFILM quality images. There are various options that can increase throughput and improve workflow.

THAKKAR: It is important to select equipment that can support future advances – otherwise your imaging equipment might become obsolete too quickly. The biggest software advances – that have the greatest potential for diagnostic imaging – are leveraging AI. For example, Carestream is using AI to improve the patient experience. Our Smart Noise Cancellation (SNC) enables

WRIGHT: Data sharing, more of the population is technology savvy, the need for data sharing is increasing for health care providers and the patients. New features that can improve image quality, technologist’s workflow and increase productivity.

Q: WHAT ARE SOME APPROACHES/STRATEGIES HEALTH CARE FACILITIES CAN USE TO MAINTAIN AND REPAIR ITS RADIOGRAPHY DEVICES? FABRIZIO: Facilities should start by purchasing reputable equipment, putting their trust in well-established companies and equipment with a solid reputation for uptime reliability, durability and performance. As technologies are advancing in reliability, comprehensive service contracts are becoming more affordable. Many times, the OEM can provide the best option for service. For example, OEMs — like Fujifilm — provide factory trained services and support, and they have direct access to the latest engineering changes,

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ROUNDTABLE parts and documentation. Fujifilm offers technology upgrade options that can bring down the total cost of ownership through service bundled packages that allow very affordable lease and/or financing options that are all inclusive of full coverage — including software updates, maintenance, drop protection and more. These services also include remote monitoring and diagnostics along with factory-trained engineers and overnight parts availability. Remote monitoring can help detect issues before they happen, for scheduled maintenance, to avoid downtimes, load software and patches and even identify parts for service to bring with them before they get to the site.

GARRETT: Create a service strategy prior to purchase. Ensure that training is available to in-house personnel. Understand all of the costs involved in maintaining the equipment. Look for workflow issues that will increase wear on equipment when comparing vendors.

Once purchased, understand how the equipment is used at its specific location and the environment which it operates within. Ensure that preventive maintenance is done per manufacturer specification and any anomalies are addressed immediately. Build a solid relationship with the operators and encourage open and frequent dialog about anything that seems to not work correctly for early identification and correction of problems.

THAKKAR: The three essential areas are preventive maintenance, service response and availability, and software and cybersecurity updates.

• Preventive Maintenance: It is critical to up-time and patient care that health care facilities understand the preventive maintenance requirements for their imaging devices.

These services help keep equipment running at peak performance, in compliance of all regulatory and safety standards, and within the operating standards determined by the manufacturer. Facilities should ensure that only factory-trained and authorized certified service person-

DR space today. Deciding which vendor to partner with can be overwhelming.

My advice to health care facilities is to partner with a radiology service provider who has an exceptional reputation, robust experience in the space and, most importantly, check that the vendor is factory trained and certified to repair and maintain the equipment they will service.

John Garrett Technology Management/Entech

•

•

nel perform work on the equipment; and provide the facility with a record of maintenance performed to meet compliance requirements.

Service Response and Availability: Facilities should also ensure they have an agreed service level with their service provider, with a contract/agreement that contains a committed response time. Knowing this expectation will help the health care facility manage the impact that downtime could have on patient care. Service contracts often provide the facility with a level of priority to help ensure that troubleshooting and repairs are done as quickly as possible.

Software & Cybersecurity Updates: Health care facilities should ensure that their software and cybersecurity protections remain current and able to protect their network and patient data now and in the future. These updates typically are included in service agreements and often can be implemented using remote service technologies.

WRIGHT: Currently our process, preventative maintenance is critical. Proper use of authorized manufacturer-approved cleaners and disinfectants are important.

Q: WHAT SHOULD ONE LOOK FOR IN A SERVICE PROVIDER? FABRIZIO: There are a lot of players in the

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

GARRETT: In the current environment, a big consideration are staffing levels, availability and staff experience. There is a considerable issue everyone seems to be facing with staffing within the medical field. Another, often overlooked, item is service reports. Do they meet the needs of the hospital for documentation and maintaining deemed status? Are they delivered in a timely manner? Do they allow for an accurate service history to be assembled? Do they have access to all the parts needed to minimize downtime?

This includes understanding the supply chain they use.

THAKKAR: Look for a provider who is delivering solutions that advance your strategic goals. For example, are they delivering new features that enhance the experience for your patients or for your radiology team? Do their solutions help improve clinical outcomes or lower your costs? Also look for a provider who offers a wide-ranging portfolio of products, including solutions that meet diverse budgetary needs.

WRIGHT: Inquire about back-up units, is this available during downtime of equipment? Ability of remote services, may be able to identify the issue and get a head start on parts and reduce downtime.

Q: WHAT TYPE OF TRAINING CAN IN-HOUSE BIOMEDS COMPLETE TO BETTER SERVICE IMAGING DEVICES? FABRIZIO: OEMs like Fujifilm offer certified training side-by-side with their own field service engineers. Fujifilm’s customers have two distinct advantages to help them grow their level of expertise with their equipment and success –

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ROUNDTABLE here for the long haul. At a time when many companies are scaling back, Fujifilm has been continuing to grow its portfolio and expertise. It’s also important to ask, “What use cases do I need DR equipment for now, or what cases are going elsewhere and what plans for growth do we see in the foreseeable future?” and then purchase accordingly.

Jatin “JT” Thakkar Carestream Health including industry-leading equipment and industry-leading instruction. In addition to offering hands on/in-person training with customers, Fujifilm also offers product training courses that help users reduce downtime, maintain compliance and support their facility’s goal to provide exceptional health care experiences.

GARRETT: Obviously general modality imaging courses (X-ray, CT, MRI, etc.) and equipment specific training. Participation in local HTM groups, such as AZHTM, allows for training opportunities to keep up-to-date on technology. Further training at conferences, as well as the networking opportunities, build more resources that improve the ability to service equipment.

THAKKAR: In addition to key operator training that enables some on-site adjustments, in-house biomeds should be familiar with the manufacturer’s recommended preventive maintenance schedule and which components must be cleaned, verified and quality tested. For in-house biomeds who are their facility’s first line of support – ask your equipment manufacturer about training on basic service needs and diagnostic tools.

Q: WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE A BIOMED INVOLVED IN PURCHASING A FACILITY’S RADIOGRAPHY DEVICES? FABRIZIO: It’s critical to stick with a trusted supplier that has proven experience and is

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GARRETT: Ask people in your industry network about service histories of the equipment that is being considered.

Understand how your hospital uses the equipment and be able to speak to how that might be expected to impact the longevity, uptime and overall cost of ownership for the equipment. Watch out for old technology repackaged with a new name.

THAKKAR: When purchasing new radiography devices, biomeds should check that the manufacturer offers comprehensive on-site services as well as remote diagnostics and support. Also, ask whether the solution is capable of being upgraded to incorporate new technologies like AI and cybersecurity improvements. This scalability is essential in order to have the solution provide value in the future as well as today. Additionally, understand the types of training available for you so you can meet the needs of your radiography department now and in the future.

WRIGHT: Discussions/involvement of the modality leads and/or radiologist. They are performing and reading the exams.

Their insights can assist with making correct purchases. Reliability of equipment. Can this equipment be upgraded?

Q: WHAT ELSE DO YOU THINK TECHNATION READERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT RADIOGRAPHY EQUIPMENT? FABRIZIO: The radiography equipment market is dynamic with new software applications and technologies taking clinical workflows, exam speed, image quality and the patient experience to a whole new level. It’s important for health care providers and facilities to understand the modern technology that is available to better serve both their clinicians and patients. I recommend

Misti Wright Banner Imaging professionals that work in the space attend radiology and imaging focused tradeshows, like the RSNA and AHRA conferences to witness the latest and greatest DR advancements firsthand.

GARRETT: The specific use and environment should be a major consideration when purchasing medical imaging equipment. There are cases of a unit being purchased based on price that can’t handle patient volume or is not suited for the specific studies that are most often performed at a location. This leads to more downtime, a higher cost of ownership, shortened life of the equipment and poor patient satisfaction. The relationship with those that operate the equipment daily is crucial to best outcomes. It is important that you work as a team to maintain the equipment and understand what is being demanded. Understanding the person operating the equipment and what the facility wants accomplished by the equipment can tell you what needs the most attention during service.

THAKKAR: Don’t overlook the importance of standardization. Often, radiologic technologists move among different pieces of equipment within a facility or network of facilities. Having a consistent user interface for mobile and/or roombased imaging systems not only reduces the training required, but also enhances productivity and ease of use.

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COVER STORY

BACK TO THE FUTURE TRENDS IN TRAINING

By K. Richard Douglas

T

he pace of change and innovation accelerate with each new year.

Novel ideas for building a better mousetrap are enabled by advancing technology. Resourceful minds, focused on the newest capabilities, devise new platforms and systems to meet the needs of a changing world.

The pandemic produced many changes in the world and one of the challenges that it spawned was how to overcome the

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conundrum of in-person training in an environment of social distancing and a highly transmissible virus.

For many professions, continuing education credits are an ever-present requirement as well as credits to maintain certifications and registrations.

The healthcare technology management (HTM) profession was one of the occupational fields that was faced with additional challenges because of social distancing and quarantine requirements.

This impacted national conferences,

association meetings, CE classes, vendor training and college courses.

Yet, despite the restrictions created by the pandemic, resourceful thinking paired with high-tech, provided a bridge between instructors/presenters and biomeds. Also, with the greater need for biomeds to backfill the vacancies of baby-boom retirees, the resourcefulness of colleges and technical schools, to provide the highest level of training, has spawned incredible training environments.

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SPOTLIGHT COVER STORY Apple is said to be working on a powerful mixed-reality headset — augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) — that is slated to be launched in 2023. Although the concept is not new, applications for the technology continue to evolve. Navigation using 3D maps might be an application for the new product, along with live text or even mapping out rooms.

The use of AR/VR in training has proven to hold several benefits. Some companies have embraced this technology.

Also, during the pandemic, the use of remote training was instrumental in keeping the training momentum, using several different platforms.

Training is part of being an HTM professional; whether that training be to fulfill continuing education (CE) requirements, OEM training, management training, training from an ISO or routine in-house training.

Making training more accommodating or more immersive or lifelike increases the effectiveness and usefulness of the experience.

Biomeds had their hands full during the pandemic, standing up COVID-19 surge units, re-appropriating equipment, swapping out departments, extra-sanitizing and staffing challenges. Add the new challenges confronting training to the mix, and the need for resourcefulness, creativity and flexibility were in high demand.

MAKING THE BEST USE OF AR/VR IN TRAINING One company that has fully embraced the use of AR/VR in training within the health care industry is GE Healthcare. They say that; “Talent development plays a critical role in GE Healthcare’s culture and continued success as a leading provider of medical technology, pharmaceutical diagnostics and digital solutions.”

The difference between augmented reality and virtual reality is that augmented reality simply augments one’s surroundings while virtual reality is an immersive experience that creates a simulated environment.

“One of the most effective ways to learn is by doing. Using augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in our service and clinical training, we create experiences that replicate the real work environment and workflow. This enables teams to safely

learn and perform real-life activities in a virtual learning environment,” says Rick Ludwig, principal learning architect with GE Healthcare.

Ludwig says the move is from knowledge-based training to a practice-based approach in which students experience simulated, real-life situations with systems and software. GE Healthcare’s Learning Innovations team leverages 3D models produced by its engineering teams when designing and building products to build

learning interactions that compliment traditional hands-on or interactive distance learning (IDL) education.

The approach has also won favor with Injector Support and Service (ISS) in Winter Garden, Florida.

“Technology is a major tool in education and training, expanding the limits of medical device training and the traditional classroom experience. The most obvious way it is shaping education is through mixed reality, including virtual reality and

“One of the most effective ways to learn is by doing. Using augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in our service and clinical training, we create experiences that replicate the real work environment and workflow.” – Rick Ludwig virtual learning environments, so students are practicing with accurate models.

“With augmented reality, a student can bring up a full-sized CAT scanner in their own living room, look under the covers to see components and walk around it to gain an appreciation of the machine’s scale.

Students are given the ability to simulate a procedure before, during, and after training.

Students can then learn on the job, using AR to overlay the computer-aided design (CAD) on top of the physical machine and show step-by-step exactly where and what the service engineer needs to interact with to complete the task,” Ludwig says.

The AR/VR approach is utilized in the training of new biomeds as well.

“Technological innovation is fueling exponential change in higher education. The most impactful initiative we are undertaking is our investment in mixed reality (MR) curriculum and content development for use in biomedical and imaging training. The use of virtual and augmented reality content provides an opportunity for students to engage in training that would otherwise be too dangerous, too expensive, or simply inaccessible to them,” says Dr. Richard L. “Monty” Gonzales, president of the College of Biomedical Equipment Technology in San Antonio, Texas.

He says that by identifying and narrowly defining critically important interactions, they can design discreet and highly effective

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

augmented reality. Our partnership with the Imaging Academy will bring virtual reality training directly to the student, offering a complete remote training experience, prior to ever touching a piece of equipment,” says ISS President Ryan Clarke.

“We have discovered that students engaging in VR training prior to hands-on training perform better and possess a greater retention rate than students engaging in traditional training only,” he says.

Ludwig says that GE Healthcare also uses VR in instructor-led training at its training institute and remotely.

“This method is shifting towards self-paced learning in which VR technology would allow remote-based field engineers to train autonomously at the time of need. This technology can help improve retention of skills significantly,” he says.

He says that GE Healthcare also utilizes virtual machines to help deliver console-based training in a one-to-one learning methodology. Each student is given the ability to learn how a system’s console works without risk of damage to a real machine.

“Altogether, GE Healthcare has hundreds of mixed reality scenarios, resulting in students experiencing these technologies thousands of times each month.

The expectation is for these technologies to vastly expand over the coming months and years,” Ludwig adds.

The approach seems to be excitedly

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COVER STORY

GE Healthcare uses augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in its service and clinical training to replicate the real work environment. adapted by tech-savvy learners who embrace high-tech applications.

“This approach has revolutionized the way we deliver training. Students love the opportunity to interact with the system from their home, experiment with hardware and software, make mistakes and learn so that they are confident and prepared for customer interaction,” says Dana Milnes, training strategy and technology director with GE Healthcare.

Some in HTM education see VR as another great tool to use for training but can’t discount hands-on training.

“As for VR and the future of BME education, I would say that while it is a useful tool that can supplement training.

It may never truly replace hands-on learning but it does have its place in areas such as medical imaging where you could work on very expensive and dangerous equipment without the fear of downtime and safety issues. In the education world it could also allow students to work on a variety of equipment that many schools don’t have simply due to cost and size,” says James Linton, MiM, PmP, Cmbb, AAMIF, professor/coordinator of biomedical engineering technology at St. Clair College in Ontario, Canada.

He says that the real benefit is people can practice working on equipment anytime, day or night, to prepare. It is similar to how a surgeon may perform a walkthrough prior to a difficult case.

The large argument is always that VR training isn’t as good as hands-on, but in 54

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the same vein, texting or email is not as good as in-person conversations.

“Instead, VR is another stream we can use to train the next generation and validate the skills of those in the field who potentially haven’t touched certain pieces in years. I think back to when I started as a BME manager after 7-plus years as a field service engineer in pharmacy automation, that first IV pump after 7-plus years away from school was quite daunting. I would’ve loved a way to test and improve some long dormant skills in a safe environment instead of one an expensive, important and potentially dangerous piece of equipment,” Linton says.

REPLICATING THE HEALTH CARE ENVIRONMENT When a student is sitting in a classroom learning to be a biomed, it is difficult for them to conceptualize the hospital or other environment they may find themselves in as a biomed. With the demand for well-trained biomeds, every effort is needed to turn out the best HTM professionals as possible.

At the Collin College Technical Campus in Allen, Texas, professor of biomedical equipment technology, David W. Braeutigam, MBA, CHTM, CBET, AAMIF, ITIL, has gone to great lengths to replicate the health care environment in the biomed lab.

“I was fortunate to be able to design the new biomedical equipment technology program at Collin College. I basically had a clean slate to start with. My goal was to recreate specific areas of a hospital that a biomed would typically interact with

clinicians and set the biomed lab to mimic those areas. I wanted the equipment the BMETs worked on to be in the environment they would see at a typical hospital. I was fortunate that the campus already had a physical therapy department so I did not have to recreate that area for the students,” Braeutigam says.

He says that he created a doctor’s office area, two ICUs, a central monitoring unit (CMU) that displayed the hardwired bedside monitors and telemetry, an operating room, a recovery room, a NICU, a clinical lab, an IV pump station with automated IV pump analyzers, and a biomed shop complete with work benches and supplies.

“I had headwalls placed for each of the ICUs and the NICU that included power and network for both GE and Philips monitoring. I had a network closet installed in the biomed shop area that interfaced the bedside monitors to the CMU,” Braeutigam says.

He says that the doctor’s office has an exam table, a wall mounted oto/ophthalmoscope with NIBP and temperature, a vital signs monitor, a hyfrecator, a tabletop autoclave, a 12-lead ECG machine, a centrifuge and a microscope.

The ICUs have Philips and GE monitors mounted to the headwall and hardwired via WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

COVER STORY ethernet to their respective networks, regular and emergency power, dummy gas outlets, and future wiring for a nurse call system.

The monitors are mounted to the headwall just like in an ICU. The ICU also has patient beds, Alaris and Hospira IV pumps, hypo/ hyperthermia units and ventilators.

“The CMU has Philips and GE central station computers for bedside monitors and telemetry. The OR has an operating table, plans for an anesthesia machine, a surgical video tower, a tourniquet, several models of ESUs and patient monitoring. The recovery room has a stretcher, Philips and GE patient monitoring, a fluid/blanket warming cabinet and a Bair Hugger unit,” Braeutigam adds.

He says that the NICU has a radiant warmer, an incubator, baby scales, fetal monitors, a birthing bed, Alaris and Hospira IV pumps, syringe pumps, PCA pumps, and Philips and GE patient monitoring. The clinical lab has urine analyzers, blood gas analyzers, basic and high-speed centrifuges, several cell washing centrifuges, several models of microscopes, a lab incubator, a blood bank refrigerator and a lab scale.

“Throughout the biomed lab are several crash carts with defibrillators to mimic what they would find in the hospital,” Braeutigam says.

He says plans include having a nurse call system installed (he had the headwalls prewired for nurse call) and to also have a PACS system installed this summer.

INNOVATIVE TRAINING IN AN EVOLVING ENVIRONMENT While the pandemic proved to be a historic inflection point in so many ways, it challenged training techniques with more remote focus being the norm out of necessity.

“Innovatus has designed educational sessions targeted at both HTM professionals and the health care staff. Prior to the pandemic, most sessions were held on-site and in-person. One item that we identified with this approach to training, is that not long after our visit, old habits returned.

The pandemic forced us to change our approach to fully virtual sessions. Even though in-person is now possible, our sessions have remained virtual, and moving to virtual sessions has actually resulted in improved results,” says Ted Lucidi, CBET, clinical, technical and commercial

specialist with Innovatus Imaging in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

He says that their approach is focused on training one or more HTM team members to be in-house experts for probe and coil care and handling practices.

“We provide them with the knowledge, documentation and support needed to succeed,” he says.

“HTM professionals use the same tools

hard work,” Taylor says.

Maull Biomedical Training uses a mix of approaches to get the best results.

“Maull Biomedical Training utilizes both classroom and distance learning techniques to teach biomeds how to operate, maintain and repair contrast injectors. Our training is broken into three parts; Introduction to Contrast Injectors, Model Specific Operation Training and Model Specific

“Shifting to virtual training can result in improved outcomes depending upon the approach.” – Ted Lucidi that we would use as if we were on-site, and the Innovatus team collaborates to develop comprehensive solutions to maximize device lifecycle. It’s a true partnership. This approach builds confidence and trust in the HTM team, and places greater ownership on clinical departments. It’s now quite easy to determine which departments choose to engage in implementing best-practices and those who choose to remain status quo.

Shifting to virtual training can result in improved outcomes depending upon the approach,” Lucidi says.

Experience has shown many who train that a multi-faceted approach will keep the interest of students.

“At ReNew Biomedical, we realize that all apprentices learn differently and respond to various teaching styles. We strongly encourage our instructors to use a multi-sensory approach during our training sessions.

Each week, we attempt to engage our students through tactile training on the workbench and visual or auditory training through in-class lectures or video tutorials,” says Jill Taylor, co-owner of ReNew Biomedical.

She says that it isn’t unusual that they allow students to teach a part of a course they feel qualified for, which enables them to gain confidence in their ability to instruct or mentor others and provides additional insight or perspective to the material covered.

“We often use learning software to administer quizzes about complex concepts, and we do our best to make learning fun by playing games such as ‘Knowledge Bowl Fridays’ or ‘Name This Tool,’ where they can earn rewards for their knowledge and

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Maintenance Training. The first two parts of the training are done online with videos and quizzes; the students watch a video and then must answer quiz questions and get at least a 75 percent passing grade to move on to the next section. The third part of the training, the maintenance training, can be done hands-on in a classroom or the student can download our software program that uses videos to provide the maintenance training with step-by-step instructions taking them through the entire PM procedure for each model,” says Steve Maull, owner of Maull Biomedical Training LLC in Aurora, Ohio.

He says that his company is partnering with Imaging Academy to soon produce a virtual reality program that will teach the students the intro, operation and maintenance courses.

“We recently unveiled a version of it at AAMI and it was very promising,” he says.

Training is evolving with the times.

As for the general future of BME education, Linton say that his college has been accommodating as the BME/HTM world continues to change. It allows the staff to update and overhaul the program as needed.

“It’s because of this that we have been able to pivot and adjust to match what we see as the future of education,” Linton says.

He said it is addressing the needs of HTM as well as all of the specialties within the field while “also embedding in students a sense of humbleness and how our whole profession is meant to save lives — no different than a doctor, we just use different tools, if you will,” Linton says.

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CAREER CENTER Satisfy Entrepreneurial Urges While Employed

BY KATHLEEN FURORE

A

ccording to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 5.4 million new business applications were filed in 2021, the highest number on record. But as anyone who has started a business knows, there are many risks involved in launching your own company. Are there ways entrepreneurial-minded people who can’t start their own business can find ways to satisfy those entrepreneurial urges while working for someone else?

It is possible to take on entrepreneurial-style responsibilities without owning a company outright. It just might take strong negotiating skills and a creative mindset to make that happen. Here are some suggestions: Try investing in the company you work for. “Not everyone should be a business owner with all its inherent risks and headaches -- but owning a slice of the company you work for could even be better,” says Rod Robertson, managing partner at Briggs Capital LLC. “Being a part or fractional owner can allow key employees to share the burden of ownership but within bounds. A stake in a company where you are employed instead of being ‘all in’ can be the best of both worlds.”

With companies finding it harder and harder to hire and retain good employees, now might be an opportune time to negotiate, he explains.

“Owners have painfully learned over the last two years that key employees must be retained at all costs -- and cash is king,” Robertson explains. “Progressive ownership and management should be willing to harness their employees to the company by letting them invest to their comfort level, be it $10,000 to $100,000 and beyond,” Robertson suggests. That, he says, is one way that companies can help employees fulfill 58

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their entrepreneurial dreams. “If your company’s owner is an old school fossil, then take your skills and hard-earned cash elsewhere.”

Seek out a firm that gives stock options and the opportunity to accumulate “sweat equity.” This is Robertson’s advice for entrepreneurial-minded folks who don’t have any investment nest egg. “Find that progressive owner who will share in the riches you build for them,” he says. “It’s a new evolving frontier out there -- don’t miss your opportunity to cash out for your labors!”

Consider working for a startup. Marcus Hutsen, business development manager of Patriot Coolers, says this approach allows employees “to feel some of the rush of excitement that comes from an entrepreneurial enterprise in its early stages.” Another option: “See if you can negotiate a small portion of equity as part of your salary offer,” Hutsen adds. “If you are truly financially vested in the success of the business, you are halfway to living the life of the entrepreneur -- without all of the responsibilities!”

Look for a position with a small business whose owner might be selling soon. Stan C. Kimer, president Total Engagement Consulting by Kimer, says finding a small business with an aging owner is a good place to start. “You will be asked to do so many different things since that is the nature of a small business, and you can set yourself up for the owner to sell or pass on the business to you when they are ready to retire,” says Kimer, who at 67, is in that position. “I’m starting to look at taking on an apprentice to pass my business onto in two or three years when I am ready to retire,” he says, noting that an older owner may even want to stay on part time to assist or to be a mentor.

Kathleen Furore

Help out your boss. This is one of the simplest ways to “exercise your entrepreneurial muscle at your day job,” according to David Walter, founder and CEO of Electrician Mentor. “Take on a new project for him or her. You’ll typically gain a deeper understanding of your business, which could help you [if and] when you start your own.”

Ask for cross-training. “Entrepreneurs have to be able to change on a dime and take on new roles in an instant,” Walter says. “By asking for cross-training, you’ll increase those skills.”

Throw your hat into the ring for a promotion. Taking on new responsibilities and tasks are all part of being an entrepreneur ... and getting a promotion is a sure way to take on more responsibilities and tackle new tasks, “all of which will be sure to benefit you once you’re able to strike out on your own,” Walter says.

“One way is to look for opportunities to be innovative and to take on new challenges,” echoes Ashley Chambers, marketing director from ASAP Cash Offer. “Entrepreneurial-minded individuals are often natural problem-solvers, so seek out opportunities to use those skills.”

Build strong relationships with co-workers and customers. “Creating a network of supporters and fans can help entrepreneurial-minded individuals feel a sense of ownership and pride in their work, even if they don’t have full control over the business itself,” Chambers says.

— Kathleen Furore is a Chicago-based

writer and editor who has covered personal finance and other business-related topics for a variety of trade and consumer publications. You can email her your career questions at kfurore@yahoo.com.

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20/20 IMAGING INSIGHTS No Wonder Why TEE Probe Leakage Testing Was Never Performed

BY TED LUCIDI

Ted Lucidi

B

ack in the early 2000s, when I was an in-house service engineer supporting diagnostic ultrasound, I was asked to begin performing leakage testing on TEE probes. I serviced the systems, arranged for replacement probes and was very familiar with performing leakage testing on medical devices. I had no idea of how to perform leakage testing on a TEE probe and really wasn’t that familiar with or comfortable with handling TEE probes either. Fast forward to 2022, and the process of performing leakage testing on TEE probes may still seem unfamiliar to some HTM teams.

I thought it prudent to discuss the process and help raise understanding into why the testing is performed and awareness to some of the challenges faced by end-users.

General leakage testing began as a result of consumer advocates making claims that electrocutions were occurring during routine hospital procedures, and in the 1970s the U.S. government enacted codes and regulations to minimize such opportunities. It’s been shown that for micro-shock to actually occur, multiple devices need to be simultaneously electrically unsafe, and a very, very unique scenario must exist. Some argue the irrelevance of performing routine leakage testing as part of every PM procedure, but that won’t be presented

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here. I think that we’d all agree that leakage testing should be performed at key points in a device’s lifecycle.

The concept of TEE probe leakage testing is related to identifying a break in the probe’s physical integrity (on the distal tip, bending section, or insertion tube) that could allow a micro-shock condition to present itself. Given the statistical probability of a micro-shock scenario not occurring, there are other, far more important, reasons to perform TEE probe leakage testing.

If a break in a TEE probe’s physical integrity exists, the cut, hole, or void could 1) harbor bacteria leading to cross-contamination, or 2) allow harsh chemical disinfectants to enter the probe and be subsequently discharged, from the probe into a patient, during its next use.

I’ll cite a third reason later. I think that you’d agree that these two scenarios have a much higher probability of occurring than micro-shock. You may find it interesting that one OEM has changed its use of the term TEE leakage testing to bite-hole testing to be more descriptive.

The end result is whether it’s called leakage testing, bite hole testing, or something else, frequent “physical integrity” testing is of great importance as part of the usage cycle of TEE probes. It’s imperative that end-users perform this testing between each use and have a

process in-place to address failures. It is not a task to be performed annually, semi-annually, or even monthly by the HTM team.

Back in the early 2000s, TEE probe leakage testing required the use of an electrical safety analyzer and that the probe be connected to the ultrasound scanner. A special tube or basin was needed, as well as water having minimal conductivity (distilled water could not be used). Service and operator manuals didn’t suggest testing intervals other than during a PM or on an as-needed basis (when users identified an item of concern.

What’s that? Definition please). Following the leakage testing procedure from several OEMs, and those in IEC 60601, there are two methods of testing probe leakage, Source and Sink. Each has a different procedure, and each has different pass/fail criteria, and the pass/fail criteria varied by probe type (Type CF or Type BF, What’s that? Help me understand.). Between the specialized equipment, out-of-the norm procedure, and varying testing methods and cryptic criteria, the whole process was extremely cumbersome and intimidating. No wonder why few ever performed this testing in the health care environment.

Enter the mid-2000s, and the process became much easier. Dale Technology created the first universal off-the-shelf

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leakage tester for TEE probes. Siemens developed their own earlier, but it only allowed connection of Siemens probes.

The Dale 800 could be used universally, given the use of the correct accessory adaptor. The main benefits were that leakage testing could now be: 1) performed without the scanner, 2) performed without an intimidating electrical safety analyzer requiring technical aptitude, and 3) could now enable testing by end-users.

The industry began to recognize the importance of frequent TEE probe leakage testing and the need for end-users to be doing it. Now, multiple suppliers offer leakage test meters.

In 2016, the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC) began requiring its accredited hospitals to perform leakage testing on all TEE probes between each procedure. They also require that test results be logged for each probe, between each use.

So far, The Joint Commission has not yet required it, and so many facilities still do not perform it. Our data suggests that less than 50% of all facilities, using TEE probes, have

a comprehensive process to identify and mitigate breaks in physical integrity of TEE probes. It’s no surprise that about 70% of all TEE probes sent in to Innovatus have failed as a result of fluid invasion due to a break in physical integrity.

A third reason for performing TEE probe leakage testing is to minimize costly catastrophic TEE probe failures as a result of fluid invasion. If there is a break in physical integrity, and the probe is immersed in disinfectant or processed in an automated system, the chemical disinfectant will flood the probe. One or more problems might occur: 1. As above, the fluid entering the probe could be discharged into one of the subsequent patients; 2. Once inside a TEE probe, chemical disinfectants can corrode the electronics in a matter of hours, causing massive damage; or 3. If a fluid invaded probe is energized on a scanner, the probe’s sensitive electronics might be irreparably damaged. The scanner itself might

also require a costly repair.

Next month, we’ll continue by presenting some common problems encountered by our customers when using off-the-shelf TEE probe leakage testers.

Innovatus provides technical support on the products that we service (ultrasound probes and MRI coils), and many tech support calls are related to this topic.

We’re here to assist you and your customers with this topic and others. For questions, assistance, or more information, please reach out to info@innovatusimaging.com If you have a TEE probe that has failed the leakage test, we can help! We have some of the strongest repair capabilities on standard and 3D TEE probe models.

For more information, email at TedL@innovatusimaging.com or visit www.innovatusimaging.com/ultrasound.

—Ted Lucidi, CBET, is a clinical, technical and commercial specialist at Innovatus Imaging.

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CYBERSECURITY Medical Device Cybersecurity, is it Time for Legislation?

Sean M. Houle

BY SEAN M. HOULE, CISSP

M

edical device security has come a long way in the last 10 years, but so has the threat landscape. New product development often adds network capability as one of the benefits on everything from MRI machines to handheld thermometers and everything in between.

Telemedicine has expanded in ways that we were just starting to explore 10 years ago. The vast numbers of these connected devices leave a target-rich environment for hackers.

Disruption of health care was once considered “off limits” in an unwritten code of ethics among malicious hackers, it appears this is no longer the case. Ransomware has been a particular favorite payload for attackers targeting the health care industry, with over 1,200 reported cases in 2021. Last year also saw what has been attributed as the first ransomware directly related death in the case of a baby born in Alabama whose doctor was unable to detect complications due to the unavailability of fetal monitoring data due to an ongoing ransomware attack during the time of delivery. It is difficult to measure what negative health care outcomes have come because of delayed care due to malicious cyber attacks. These things have caught the attention of lawmakers who have acted through the proposal of legislation.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released its first guidance to medical device manufacturers in 2014 to assist those manufacturers in addressing cybersecurity issues in the premarket context. The FDA

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followed up two years later in 2016 with a similar guidance, this time addressing the postmarket portion of the lifecycle. Since that time manufacturers have responded in varying degrees to address cybersecurity.

Some have chosen to conduct risk assessment and penetration testing of devices as part of premarket development, others have embedded endpoint security software into their products, there have been knowledge portals conveying suspected and confirmed security vulnerabilities and recommended remediation, while some manufacturers have even taken on maintaining repositories to deliver security patches and updates to endpoint security products on a regular basis. Others sadly leave cybersecurity as an afterthought or had good intentions at one point — creating RSS feeds and information portals — but the content has since gone stale, with no updates being posted in years.

One thing to note is that this guidance released by the FDA is at this point just guidance, it is non-binding, with no obligation for manufacturers to follow it.

In the interest of a secure health care environment there has been an increased interest to address healthcare information security, and specifically medical device security, through legislation. This would codify the requirements that medical device manufacturers must address certain aspects of medical device security as matter of law.

There have been several pieces of legislation introduced in the Congress recently to address this topic. One of the recently introduced bills is the Protecting and Transforming Cyber Health Care (PATCH)

Act introduced in the senate on March 31, 2022, by U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). Representatives Angie Craig (D-MN) and Michael Burgess (R-TX) introduced companion legislation to the House of Representatives the same day. The bill primarily aims to address 4 main topics by means of making them a requirement for premarket submission to FDA. While the requirements are part of premarket certification, the bill addresses the need for cybersecurity throughout the entire lifecycle of the equipment.

The bill calls on manufacturers to have a plan to appropriately monitor, identify and address — in a reasonable time — postmarket cybersecurity vulnerabilities and exploits. The language of this requirement appears to be tied into the second requirement specifically because it identifies this as a postmarket requirement. The bill does not define what it considers a reasonable time, but perhaps it will depend on timelines published by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) in determination.

The second requirement is that the manufacturer shall have a plan for a “Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure” program. These types of programs allow a means for security researchers to communicate with manufacturers to notify them of security issues that they discover without fear of retribution to the individual or group that reports it. It also gives manufacturers time to address and fix these security issues before the findings are made public.

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EXPERT ADVICE Patch, patch, patch. It’s one of the mantras of any good security program, almost to the point of being nauseating, nevertheless it is one of the best means of cyber hygiene. Unfortunately, many times it is easier said than done with medical equipment. Testing, applicability, patch at your own risk disclaimers have often plagued patch management among medical equipment. The PATCH Act states that the manufacturer will have processes and procedures to make updates and patches available on a reasonably justified regular cycle for what it calls unacceptable vulnerabilities, and as soon as possible out of cycle, for critical vulnerabilities that could cause uncontrolled risk.

The fourth requirement of manufacturers included in the PATCH Act is for manufacturers to furnish a software bill of materials (SBOM). This SBOM is to include commercial, open-sourced, and off-the-shelf software components of the system or device. One of the first rules of cybersecurity is that you can’t protect what you don’t know. That starts with knowing what IP addresses are assigned to what devices, but it does not end there. This is where an

SBOM is worth its weight in gold. Many of the high-profile vulnerabilities we have seen recently (such as PrintNightmare, NSA Crypt, Zerologon to name a few) are related to operating systems. Determining what operating system a device is running is usually fairly simple or can easily be answered by manufacturers.

However, what happens when the vulnerability is not embedded in the OS and not in a running software version, but in certain versions of an open-source software library component that may or may not be implemented in a particular software, or may be implemented as part of another embedded third-party library?

We saw this with the log4j vulnerability, named log4shell, a vulnerability with a CVSS score of 10 out of 10. The race was on to identify which systems were affected through file name scanning, log parsing and network traffic analysis. This process resulted in both false positives and false negatives. An accurate SBOM could have identified systems positively having the log4j component that could be addressed immediately, reducing the pool of systems that had to be investigated through the

manual process. An SBOM would also play a key role in providing an accurate risk profile during the risk management process by providing a means to assess potential threats of included software components more thoroughly.

Even as we wait for the legislative process to address these issues, contract language may provide an excellent opportunity to create a means of securing these and other valuable tools as part of the purchasing process. Regulation and legislation are nothing new to the medical device industry. Legislation regarding cybersecurity management seems like a logical progression as we strive to provide a safe and effective health care environment. It will not solve all the problems related to this issue, but it will certainly provide more tools to those charged with the mission to protect data and maintain uptime, amongst the many other tasks healthcare technology professionals provide every day. Stay vigilant.

– Sean Houle, CISSP, is an Information Systems Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (ISBESS) with the Department of Veterans Affairs in Louisville, Kentucky.

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THE FUTURE

Taking Advantage of Educational Resource

BY STEVEN J. YELTON, P.E.

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s I write this column, I am completing my preparation for the 2022 AAMI Exchange in San Antonio, Texas. I am impressed by all of the resources available to both students and technicians. I believe that the AAMI Exchange is thought of by many in the HTM community as an event for director-level employees and above. This is certainly not true if you take advantage of the opportunities available.

Hopefully you were able to attend the 2022 Exchange and encouraged students and colleagues to attend. I also hope you have the opportunity to support, attend and utilize local HTM societies for educational opportunities and networking.

You may ask, “How could a student possibly afford travel to the AAMI Exchange?” This is certainly a good question. If the Exchange is close in proximity to the school or the student’s home, attendance would be much easier.

Students have traditionally taken advantage of this. AAMI makes attendance for students very affordable and this year student registration was $100.

Another fact is that AAMI provided transportation and registration for student scholarship winners. This included the scholarship winners who were not able to attend past Exchanges due to COVID-19 cancellation of the live events. I would ask all of you to encourage any students that you know to apply for scholarships.

In the hospital community, we have tried to find ways to encourage technicians to attend the AAMI conference. One way that was very successful was to allow any technician who was going to sit for a certification exam to attend the AAMI Exchange. This was a win-win for the

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employer and employee.

With all of that said, the local HTM groups are a great way to network and they provide educational opportunities for those who aren’t able to attend the AAMI Exchange (and those who are). If there isn’t one in your area, maybe starting one would be a great way to connect with colleagues in the field. AAMI has resources available to help with that, also.

We are in the stages of bringing our curriculums up to speed for the fall semester. I feel that it is a great time to remind you that there are great resources that are available to all AAMI members.

We encourage educators and students to check out these resources on the AAMI website, but also technicians who are looking to update or improve their skillsets.

With this in mind, using criteria from TAC-ABET and the Core Competencies document produced by AAMI, we are working to produce guidance documents that educational programs can use to stay up to date on what is needed. The AAMI Educators Discussion Group provides discussions about relevant education-related topics and also libraries of helpful documents. These documents include curriculums, laboratory exercises as well as related ideas such as how to promote your program.

We have decided to continue to deliver our HTM courses under our usual “hybrid” model where the students meet partially face-to-face and partially virtual for the 2022-2023 school year. Our students are accustomed to the virtual learning experience. We went fully virtual during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, however it became apparent that our students thrive when given the opportunity to meet face–to– face. I would again, like to thank all of the companies and organizations who have

Steven J. Yelton, P.E. made their online training and resources available to colleges. We will continue to utilize these resources when possible.

The last couple of years have enforced my belief that HTM courses “should” or even “must” be face–to–face at least partially. Except for the very heart of COVID-19, we had face-to-face laboratories and utilized the local hospitals for many other laboratory experiences such as laboratory, cath lab and imaging. For a short time during the pandemic, we ran all of our HTM courses virtually. We were able to continue to have cooperative education students hired at local hospitals throughout the entire time. Our students continued to get that important hands-on training for which I’m very thankful. We are now totally back to the full-time cooperative education model.

Based on our 2022-2023 projected enrollments, many students who put off college during the heart of the pandemic are returning to school.

I again ask that as we begin a new school year, we all strive to get the message out that there are good paying jobs available and it’s to all of our advantage to support our field. Please, continue to stay safe!

- Steven J. Yelton, P.E.; is a Senior HTM Engineer for a large health network in Cincinnati, Ohio and is a Professor Emeritus at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College where he teaches biomedical instrumentation (HTM) courses. He is the immediate past chair of AAMI’s board of directors, previous chair of AAMI’s Technology Management Council (TMC), and chair of AAMI’s HTAC Committee.

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40 UNDER 40

ALLISA LOFTON

Biomedical Technician 1 at Houston Biomedical Mission Statement: I want to learn all I can from anyone who will teach me. I don’t feel like I’m doing enough if I’m not learning.

Fun Fact: I love to play video games, draw and spend time with my friends and family.

ALLISON WOOLFORD, CBET

Biomedical Equipment Technician III at UNC Rex Healthcare Mission Statement: A graduate from Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans and University of Maryland, University College, who always wanted to help people. From working with the American Red Cross and to now working at UNC Rex Healthcare, that dream has come to fruition. The cherry on top is that besides graduating from the Biomedical Technology program at Durham Technician Community College, she is also an adjunct professor for the Biomedical Technology program. In the classroom, Allison is able to bring real life hospital scenarios into a classroom environment. While a student at Durham Tech, she realized that the equipment they were using was out of date.

Once I graduated, my goal was to work on getting updated equipment similar to what the students would see at their future employments. She has been successful in doing just that, by networking with various vendors in the HTM industry. As an African-American woman in a male dominated field, Allison is an example that we can succeed and is helping to break gender barriers. Her mission is to bring light to a field that is not advertised in high schools, colleges/universities, and job fairs. To show high school girls that they too can repair and maintain medical equipment side by side with their male counterparts.

Fun Fact: Allison enjoys yard work. It makes her feel good to look out the window and see a fresh cut lawn and picture perfect flowerbeds.

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40 UNDER 40

AMY KLEMM

Area Director at TriMedex Mission Statement: From a young age, Amy has been interested in problem solving and creating solutions. Her curiosity to learn how to apply engineering principles to enhance healthcare inspired Amy to study Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University, and she graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering and a Master of Science. Her introduction to the Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) field started after grad school and she was instantly drawn to how HTM empowers healthcare professionals to provide the best patient care. Her insatiable desire for learning and professional development led her to become a Certified Clinical Engineer (CCE). She is forever grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the HTM field. Amy wants to bring more visibility to help inspire others to join this field and to continue to develop and expand the impact the HTM industry has on improving healthcare and driving positive patient outcomes.

Fun Fact: Amy has a four-year-old Australian Cattle Dog that she loves to take on outdoor adventures.

Social Media: amy-klemm on LinkedIn

ANDREW WHYTE

Owner/BMET at Maple Tree Biomedical Mission Statement: Andrew started his career as the solo IT tech for a large beverage distributor in Vermont. While looking for a change a friend suggested joining the National Guard as a 68A Biomedical Equipment Specialist. Leaving Texas as the honor graduate for his class, he returned home and served in the Vermont Army National Guard. Concurrently Andrew worked for the University of Vermont as a field service technician. He became the primary Laser and Anesthesia technician for a region roughly 10 hours wide. That’s not to say that’s all he was working on. Andrew continued to service audiometers, centrifuges, sterilizers, monitors and everything an onsite technician would see in-between his frequent trips. In 2015 he earned his CBET and in 2017 received the Fred Cook Biomed of the year award from the University. In 2012 and 2018 Staff Sergeant Whyte traveled to Senegal in joint military missions to service medical equipment in the developing world. Andrew left the National Guard and the University after ten years to start Maple Tree Biomedical LLC. Two years in and MTB is going strong. Andrew is keeping busy with an inventory of over 3,500 devices. He enjoys the freedom operating independently gives him. “Yes, starting your own business is incredibly stressful. But I get to do things the way I think they should be done. That freedom alone made this worth it.”

Fun Fact: Andrew is an avid home brewer and to date has visited 244 different breweries.

Social Media: @MapleTreeBiomed on Facebook

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ANGELA BENNETT

Clinical Engineering Director at Sodexo HTM Mission Statement: “If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life!”

Fun Fact: In my down time, to de-stress, I like to work on house projects. It helps take the focus off what I’m stressing about.

Social Media: angela-bennett on LinkedIn

ASHISH DHAMMAM

Sales & Marketing Soma Tech International Mission Statement: I aim to decrease the costs associated with medical spend by making alternative equipment solutions an acceptable norm for large healthcare entities. I do this by being a responsive partner who can get solutions to facilities as quickly as they need them.

Fun Fact: Immigrated to the United States when I was 21.

During my travels I’d rather visit a speakeasy than a museum.

Social Media: @somatechintl (Twitter, Instagram, FaceBook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest)

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40 UNDER 40

BEN SCOGGIN Director of Clinical Engineering at Duke Health Technology Solutions Mission Statement: My primary professional goal is to make it as easy as possible for the clinical staff to provide quality and empathetic healthcare. My daily objective is to ensure that my customers, colleagues, coworkers, and employees are all glad that I came to work that day. Every voice and perspective deserves to be heard and understood whether the next step is to implement something, correct something, address something (this can include misconceptions), or simply listen.

Fun Fact: I am one of a small number of HTM professionals that plays the banjo and can deadlift 500 pounds!

Social Media: benjamin-scoggin on LinkedIn

CHACE TORRES

Lead Technician, SPBS/Podcast Host, Bearded Biomed Mission Statement: The Bearded Biomed Podcast exists to create awareness, inspire the next generation, discuss industry issues, and build comradery within our profession. I strive to provide insight to those not privy to the amazing work biomeds facilitate every single day. The biomed is the backbone of the medical system and plays a direct role in ensuring optimal patient care/patient safety. It’s no secret that our field is in dire need of new blood to meet the coming demand in the next few years and that isn’t gonna change unless we roll up our sleeves and do something about it. I love this field and I’m going to do all I can to make sure the world knows how rewarding being a biomed can be. May the beard be with you!

Fun Fact: Retro Video Game Collector, Antique Litho Windup Toy Collector, & Army Veteran Social Media: beardedbiomed.buzzsprout.com @BeardedBiomed on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter

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CHRISTOPHER FALKNER

Director of Cybersecurity at Sodexo North America Mission Statement: The moment he was introduced to the buzz of the hospital environment, Chris knew that was where he wanted to spend his career. Chris knew as a biomedical engineer, at the center of the choreographed chaos, was well designed workflows, curated technology solutions, and the most skilled and resilient people on the planet. After finishing his MS degree at the University of Connecticut, where he now teaches as an Adjunct Professor, Chris specialized in Clinical Engineering and found himself managing complex healthcare technology projects for the Veteran’s Health Administration. In 2016 when Chris had the opportunity to lead the technology innovation program at Kaiser Permanente, he was introduced to Design Thinking and the potential to harness creativity in healthcare. Since then, Chris has focused on “solving complex problems through the intersection of Engineering (left-brain) and Design Thinking (right-brain)” he says. In 2019, a confluence of emerging security threats to healthcare pulled Chris into the world of Internet of Things (IoT) cybersecurity. He hasn’t looked back since. The rapidly evolving challenges in healthcare cybersecurity are as Chris describes it, “a perfect sandbox for innovation through engineering & creativity, and the benefits of advancing the protection of patient care are enormously rewarding.”

Fun Fact: Chris is a trained chef and writes his own recipes.

Social Media: @FalknerCreative on Twitter

CODI NELSON

Program Director at Crothall Healthcare Mission Statement: After deciding that a career in construction wasn’t for him, Codi obtained a degree in Biomedical Equipment Technology.

Starting his career as a biomed at the age of 20, he quickly determined his true passion for helping others. Later, while working on the North Carolina Biomedical Association’s Board of Directors, Codi found another avenue for serving; by assisting in the development of talent within the HTM community. Now with 15 years of experience in the HTM field, Codi is a current NCBA President, an adjunct instructor at Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute, and an Advisory Board Member for Central Piedmont Community College; he continues in the development of talent in the HTM field as Crothall Healthcare Technology Services Program Director. In his current position, Codi is developing and implementing the AAMI Apprenticeship Program within Crothall HTS and is the primary instructor for all Apprentices within the organization. He says AAMI’s apprenticeship program will allow us to diversify our talent pipeline further and ensure our company culture, protocols, and processes are instilled in our team from the very first day.

Fun Fact: Codi enjoys serving others through church and community, spending time with his wife and two children, and playing music.

Social Media: codi-nelson-cbet on LinkedIn

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40 UNDER 40

CONNOR WALSH Biomedical Engineer at Veterans Affairs Mission Statement: Biomedical engineer and hybrid IT professional with nearly ten years of progressive experience in healthcare technology management (HTM) and information technology (IT). Currently employed by the US Department of Veterans Affairs as a biomedical engineer at the Office of Functional Champions (OFC) HTM Electronic Health Record Modernization team assisting with the Cerner EHR rollout nationally. Certified as an Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Cisco Certified Networking Associate (CCNA) for Routing/Switching and also CompTIA Network+.

Active cybersecurity columnist for TechNation magazine. Past experience includes supervisory biomedical engineer responsible for building the clinical engineering networking team at VA Boston, and working at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Healthcare System (SLVHCS) assisting in the activation of the new one-billion dollar medical facility.

Fun Fact: Secretly Taylor Swift’s biggest fan Social Media: connor-walsh-cissp on LinkedIn

DANIELLE MCGEARY

VP of Healthcare Technology Managment at AAMI Mission Statement: To give back to the field that has given me so much by supporting, empowering and elevating those around me. #IamHTM Fun Fact: I grew up in a small town in Massachusetts with the longest named lake in the world: Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg.

Social Media: daniellemcgeary on LinkedIn

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40 UNDER 40

DJ PATEL Imaging Informatics (PACS) Manager at Deborah Heart & Lung Center Mission Statement: I believe that I need to bring my everything to my job, my knowledge, my heart, and my morals. I want to make sure I do everything I can to put our patient’s interests first, both in my mind and in the minds of those I work with. I love to listen to people and help them out as much as possible. I also want to motivate and reach out to the younger generation and make a difference by serving as a good role model. One of the goals I have accomplished this year was to complete my MBA. My new goal is to achieve additional professional growth so I can continue to make even more of a positive impact on patients and my team members. I also want to help my organization grow its relationship with the community and support any efforts and initiatives to give back. Being here at this time -- with this team and this organization-presents me with unique opportunities to make a real difference. This is a gratifying experience, and I appreciate the organizational support that helps my professional growth and enables me to mentor the next generation, build quality team relationships, promote community involvement, and ultimately serve our patients with the highest possible level of care.

Fun Fact: Favorite hobby: Listening to music | Favorite Vacation spot: India Hidden Talents: DJing | Favorite Food: too many to name, but anything my mom’s and wife’s cooks are always favorite and amazing Languages I speak: English, Gujarati, Hindi

EDWARD (EDDIE) MYERS Director, Cybersecurity at Crothall Healthcare Mission Statement: Eddie’s true passion is for medical device safety and uninterrupted patient care, which continues to drive him forward, always innovating and evaluating new technology as it emerges. His start in the healthcare field had a very humble beginning. After a college football injury, Eddie decided to make a move to Beaumont, Texas, and started his healthcare career in housekeeping. Technology has always been a part of his life, and he quickly moved to the IT department. He always struck up a conversation with IT when taking out the trash in the department. In 2005 Eddie’s eyes were truly opened on how technology impacts patient care when Hurricane Rita slammed into the coast of Texas. It wasn’t until 2008 when Hurricane Ike also made landfall on the Texas coast that he got a chance to work more closely with Biomed and then decided to join their team as a PACS administrator. When the hospital system moved to outsource biomed to an ISO, Eddie stepped away from PACS administration and into cybersecurity and the HIPAA regulation as it applies to medical devices with the new ISO. With 18 years of experience, and many industry certifications, Eddie now leads Crothall’s HTS cybersecurity division, which also includes Crothall’s IT training for technicians.

Fun Fact: Eddie enjoys spending time with his family and watching his daughter play club soccer.

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EMILY MENGEL Clinical Engineer at WakeMed Health & Hospitals Mission Statement: Emily received her Bachelors in Engineering from Mississippi State University in 2011 and her Masters in Biomedical Engineering in 2017 jointly from North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2017 Emily began her HTM career as a Biomedical Engineer at the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center in Dublin, GA, transitioning to WakeMed Health and Hospitals in Raleigh, NC in 2018. As WakeMed’s only Clinical Engineer, Emily provides high-level support throughout the hospital system where she develops solutions to clinical and technical problems as they arise. She also works with Information Service in evaluating and researching new technologies from concept to implementation. In 2022, Emily was selected for a 2022 Health Care Leadership Award by the Triangle Business Journal (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, NC) in the Rising Health Care Leader category. When asked what motivates the work she does, Emily stated, “The patients and families that WakeMed serves as well as the clinical staff that I support. I know that if I can improve a process or utilization of existing technology in a way to better assist clinical staff as they care for patients, then I have played a small part in ensuring our patients have safe, quality care.”

Fun Fact: Emily loves European style board games and attending sporting events with her husband.

Social Media: emilyjmengel on LinkedIn

GREG CZAJKA Support Services Operations Director at Advocate Aurora Health Mission Statement: I knew within a few years of joining the HTM industry that I wanted to move into leadership to be a positive force for a safer patient experience and to build an environment where people wanted to work. I have found that this is best accomplished through networking, attending conferences, being open to new ideas, and never being afraid to ask for help. No one knows everything but I won’t settle for being a jack of all trades. I want to learn as much as I can about everything in the healthcare field so I can be that resource for others. There is no shame in asking questions if it helps you learn something new.

Fun Fact: Living proof that you can learn to build anything with enough time on Google and YouTube.

Social Media: greg-czajka-chtm on LinkedIn

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JAMES LINTON Professor & Coordinator at St. Clair College Mission Statement: Growing up with an “Old School” mentality, one of the things I was always taught was to leave things better than when you found them. Well, the world of Biomed has been changing at a rapid pace so it’s not been an easy feat to say the least. My mission has always been to have the greatest positive impact on the healthcare industry so that it is in a better place when I leave then when I arrived.

Fun Fact: I am ranked in both Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, as are both of my daughters.

Social Media: @TheBiomedProf (Twitter, Youtube) and @jlinton01 (LinkedIn)

JENNIFER VAZQUEZ Biomedical Technician II Crothall Healthcare Mission Statement: Jennifer Vazquez graduated from DeVry University with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering Technology, one of two remaining graduates of the Biomedical Engineering program in the Orlando area. After attempting to apply herself in the workforce for quite some time, she eventually landed an internship with Universal Hospital Services, now known as Agiliti Healthcare.

There, she slowly developed a repertoire working on the industry’s standard BMET I taskwork. Over a period, she developed a knack for patient monitoring and slowly developed a comfortability working on small-end devices. Slowly, she became familiar with various departments and clinical processes recognizing areas to introduce cost-saving opportunities. She worked with the client to lower damage fees and procurement costs, invest in smart capital purchasing, and provided education to prevent repetitive service calls to lessen “operator error” occurrences in the field. Over time she sought to invest in her own education, not just in different equipment modalities, but also in professional development, achieving AAMI’s HTM Leadership Certification and White Belt Six Sigma. Seeking a more foundational understanding of leadership and its impact in equipment management, networking with others, and applying the sole principle that she was taught “providing well-deserved customer service and attention to detail” she claims to define the course of her career to supply nothing short of decent patient care, as most of us in HTM strive to do every day.

Fun Fact: Jennifer actively serves as a chair member of the Central Florida Biomedical Instrumentation Society.

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JOSH VIRNOCHE HTM Quality Leader at GE Healthcare Mission Statement: Engrain a passion for quality, ethics, and advancement for HTM in a new generation of HTM professionals. Challenge the status quo, drive progress, and create new solutions to the evolving world of medical devices. Do the right thing even when it’s the harder option, without question, without hesitation. Every time.

Fun Fact: Heavily obsessed with indoor rowing and video games.

Social Media: joshvirnoche on LinkedIn

JOSHUA LEASURE, MBA Director of Clinical Engineering Project Management at Comprehensive Equipment Management Corporation Mission Statement: I wish to have a positive impact on the people I work with and the outcomes for endeavors for which I’m involved. For this reason, I aspire continually to develop professionally and position myself to be viewed as a valuable resource in the field of Biomedical Engineering.

Fun Fact: I enjoy experiencing new places as well as outdoor activities, such as mountain hiking and scuba diving, with my family.

Social Media: joshua-leasure on LinkedIn

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JOSHUA (JAY) LEWIS Director, HTM at Sodexo HTM Mission Statement: After graduating from the Department of Defense BMET program, Jay found his calling in healthcare technology management. After leaving active duty he began working as a technician, then transitioned to leadership. “I knew from an early age that I wanted to be in healthcare,” Lewis says.

“In this field I’m able to contribute to improvement along the continuum of care at all levels, and it feels amazing to be part of that process.”

Fun Fact: Jay’s fitness goal is to run 500 miles by the end of the year, and his personal goal is to do a cross country ride on his Harley Davidson motorcycle.

Social Media: @j_lewis001 on Instagram

KAYLEE MCCAFFREY Sales Specialist at Avante Health Solutions Mission Statement: Kaylee McCaffrey has partnered with the HTM industry for more than a decade. Her career began as the very first hired employee within MedWrench.com, a medical equipment support network.

It is within this role that Kaylee really mastered her craft of utilizing social media to create a community of biomeds working together to advance the company mission. Kaylee was able to parlay this skillset and add more value to the biomed community with her current role at Avante Health Solutions as a Biomedical Equipment Sales Specialist. She integrates social media into her daily interactions with customers, creating a positive environment within the biomed community. Kaylee is committed to the success of her biomed family and demonstrates a clear understanding of the services they provide within the hospital. Implementing a strategy to plan your work and work your plan, Kaylee stands ready to address her customer’s needs while achieving company and personal goals. Her success within the biomed community was recently recognized by receiving Rookie of the Year Award, along with Salesperson of the Year at Avante Health Solutions. Kaylee’s future plans include fostering lasting relationships within the HTM industry, exceeding company objectives, and coaching sales professionals within the industry.

Fun Fact: Kaylee is a certified scuba diver, crossfitter, and a mom to twin girls Social Media: kayleemccaffrey on LinkedIn

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KYLE MCGUINNESS Biomedical Equipment Specialist at U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Disease Mission Statement: Since joining the U.S. Army in 2014, I have found my passion in the the healthcare technology field.

Solving complex problems, building efficient processes, sharing knowledge and contributing to the field. The tools and equipment that we support provide significant relief for patients and we should be proud of our work.

Fun Fact: I have taken off in a helicopter but never landed in one. (I roped out). I have never lived anywhere for longer than 5 year Social Media: kyle-mcguinness on LinkedIn

LANCE DIXON CEO & Owner at Precision-Med Biomedical Solutions, LLC Mission Statement: Precision-Med Biomedical Solutions LLC was founded in 2018 by Certified Biomedical Equipment Technician, Lance Dixon. Lance earned his degree in Electronics with a specialization in Avionics in 2009.

After completing college, he was employed by a government contractor repairing highly sophisticated military aircraft. After building a career for over five years in the avionics industry he was laid off and decided to change career paths. Lance joined a hospital as a biomedical technician repairing medical equipment and found a true passion in medical equipment repair.

Realizing his passion for the medical industry Lance set out on a journey to build his credentials and gain more specialized education in this field of study through the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, successfully becoming a credentialed Certified Biomedical Equipment Technician. Deciding to take his career a step further he joined a radiology repair company working on radiology equipment. As fate would have it, Lance was laid off again. This incident would become the springboard for the future of Precision-Med Biomedical Solutions. Lance wanted to start a medical equipment repair company that not only focused on the importance of medical equipment repair and calibration, but also on the real-life everyday emotions of healthcare. The inner-circle motto at Precision-Med Biomedical Solutions is, we service every piece of medical equipment as if our family member will be the next to use it because someone’s family member will be. To use his words, “we’re changing the industry, one calibration at the time.”

Fun Fact: Lance is an avid reader, loves the outdoors and spending time with his family. His goal in life is to leave the world a better place than he found it.

Social Media: @precisionbiomed113 on Facebook

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LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED. TechNation has the resources you need to sharpen your skills and stay in the know, no matter where

you’re working from.

LIVE WEBINARS:

AUGUST 3 | RTI Group Save the date for this live webinar.

Participation is eligible for 1 CE credit from the ACI.

ON-DEMAND WEBINARS:

sponsored by Medigate by Claroty “How BioMed Helps Keep the Whole Hospital Secure”

sponsored by Phoenix Data Systems AUGUST 17 | Cox Communications Save the date for this live webinar.

Participation is eligible for 1 CE credit from the ACI.

AUGUST 24 | Medigate by Claroty

“Making A CMMS Implementation More Than Just Transferring Data”

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Save the date for this live webinar.

Participation is eligible for 1 CE credit from the ACI.

AUGUST 31 | Althea Save the date for this live webinar.

Participation is eligible for 1 CE credit from the ACI.

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PODCASTS:

sponsored by MMS “Clinical Engineering for the Next Generation”

WE’LL KEEP YOU CONNECTED.

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LARRY NGUYEN CEO & CTO at Summit Imaging Mission Statement: I am motivated by creating solutions that solve problems in a complete, repeatable and scalable fashion. Creating and implementing hardware and software technologies to develop sustainable solutions is my method of choice as I believe it results in a broader base of healthcare facility customers benefiting from our sophisticated capabilities.

Fun Fact: My hobbies have significantly changed in the last 2 years. I enjoy gaming and the latest PC hardware that enhances the experience. With latest advances in hardware technology, it has transformed how games can be enjoyed today. I also enjoy modifying my electric bike to increase its performance. It’s amazing what some of the performance e-bikes can do and its fun to push the envelope on what is possible with them.

Social Media: lawrencenguyen on LinkedIn

LARS AAGAARD Head of Futuring & Global Trends at Shop Med Parts Mission Statement: To make people think different about their purpose in life. To change people from ordinary to extraordinary.

I want every day of your life to count for something. The experiences we share together are the most valued part of my life. Do what makes the best story!

Fun Fact: I enjoy making people happy and feel loved, regardless of the personal implications or gains. Everyone is very special in such a unique way and I love to see it. I want people to be weird and be comfortable being themselves. Get weird. Get loud. Be yourself. Make an experience! I am never not being myself, regardless of the situation.

Social Media: @i_be_lars & @shopxrayservice on Instagram

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TechNation is proud to power the Young Professionals at MD Expo (YPs at MD), a networking group designed to foster a sense of community among young professionals in the Biomedical/HTM industry.

MEET THE AMAZING YPS AT MD PUBLISHING:

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Starr Smith

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MAYRA BECCERA BMET II at Memorial Healthcare System Mission Statement: My mission is to share knowledge about HTM and inspire women and young people in the STEM world. I am reaching my audience through social media channels on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, where I am known as TheBiomedGirl.

Fun Fact: I have trained and competed in duathlons and half marathons.

Social Media: @thebiomedgirl on TikTok & Instagram

MICHAEL GARLAND Program Manager/Senior Clinical Engineer at IR Solutions LLC Mission Statement: Throughout Michael’s 13 year career in the medical device industry, one approach has consistently managed to hold true across all borders which has become his personal mission: To protect the patient and the environment of care from adverse events by striving for continual improvements to the healthcare system’s support infrastructure and, when necessary, to question and challenge the status quo.

It takes one person to begin the work towards improvement and change. While it can and many times will be uncomfortable at first, it is a necessity to ensure the success of any organization.

Fun Fact: Since 2004, Mr. Garland has not lived in one house or apartment for more than 3 years.

Social Media: michael-garland on LinkedIn

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MICHAEL HEUSSER Manager of Clinical Engineering at Middlesex Health Mission Statement: In 2007 Mike attended the University of Connecticut and like many students he was unsure of what he wanted to focus towards for a degree. As part of his Introduction to Engineering class he learned of Clinical Engineering from a presentation made by Dr. John Enderle and Frank Painter.

The idea that much of what occurs in a healthcare system could be improved with a Clinical Engineer helping to navigate between the manufacturers of a device and the clinical users fascinated him. This fascination led to Mike applying to the Clinical Engineering Masters degree program at the University of Connecticut. This program gave him a unique opportunity to intern at Middlesex Health while attending classes towards his degree. “This real world experience was invaluable in shaping my knowledge and abilities for the future of my career”, he says. Mike was the first Clinical Engineer the organization hired and this started him on a path that ultimately led to him becoming the Manager of Clinical Engineering at Middlesex Health. “The most rewarding moment of my career was when our CNO at the time, Jackie Calamari, told me that I have made a difference in my time at Middlesex and she wanted to see me here long term”, Heusser says. “I feel like I have been successful at showing the relevance of a Clinical Engineer, knowing that the work I have done and continued to do is making a difference at all levels of the organization.”

Fun Fact: Mike will frequently make movie or tv show references during meetings or in conversation.

NATSUMI SHIOTANI Assistant Director, Medical Device Integrations & Projects at Healthcare Technology Management Crothall Healthcare at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago Mission Statement: Natsumi was given the opportunity to be the pilot for a Healthcare Technology Management Fellowship by Crothall Healthcare at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago in March of 2016.

Upon completing her fellowship which allowed a fast track to management, she and her leadership team determined a gap within the Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) Department — particularly, in leadership for medical device integration and projects. As the industry evolved into increasing quantities of networked equipment, cybersecurity, and project-based work, Natsumi founded the Medical Device Integration & Projects team within HTM, which works in parallel with the Operations team. Today, her team consists of Medical Device Integration Analysts and a Project Manager to support the client and the ever-growing number of medical equipment systems, software, and servers, acting as a liaison between IT teams and clinical departments. She has desires to grow this team to a regional and national scale within Crothall Healthcare within other accounts.

Fun Fact: Natsumi enjoys spending her free time traveling and experiencing different cuisines.

Social Media: natsumi-shiotani on LinkedIn

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PRIYANKA UPENDRA Senior Director, Customer Success at Asimily Mission Statement: Healing the Devices that Heal. This is Asimily’s mission statement that resonates with my core values.

We are a technology community that heals devices from cybersecurity risks in a reliable manner so patients and clinicians’ workflow is not interrupted.

Fun Fact: I hold 2 state records in powerlifting and 1 national record in backstroke swimming. In 2020, I started my food business catering Indo-Fusion food to East Valley in PHX metro area.

Social Media: priyanka-upendra on LinkedIn

RANA HELOU Biomedical Engineer at Crothall Healthcare Mission Statement: How can a female be an unsung hero? That is the first question I asked myself, and my answer was integrity, passion, optimism, and most of all make a difference in the field that many healthcare providers depend on. A mission in the healthcare field cannot be completed without a domino affect in everyone’s role, and in every gender. As we faced the pandemic it was a mission to work in silence as the unsung heroes, and keep the healthcare field alive as the sound to our cheers. Equity and diversity to change the way we apply the tools to grow our field for better health outcomes.

Fun Fact: I started college at an early age in graphic designing, and took the art and merged into the beauty of biomedical completing my degree in biomedical engineering. The view of biomedical is an art piece.

Social Media: LinkedIn is where I find myself socializing, learning, communicating, getting help, helping others, and living with quotes that I hold myself too.

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#BenC Photo Contest SPONSORED BY

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RHIANNON THURMOND Biomed Operations Manager / FSE at Ultimate Biomedical Solutions Mission Statement: Rhiannon Graduated from TSTC Waco in 2006 at the age of 19 years old and got her start as an in-house biomed with ARAMARK. Rhiannon worked in every area of the hospital and also managed biomed at several smaller healthcare facilities in her tenure.

She started in the NICU specializing on Infant security, then trained into Respiratory managing the Ventilator PM’s and Spirometry. After a decade as an in-house biomed Rhiannon opted to get into Field service, bringing her valuable knowledge with her and setting the bar high for her colleagues. Rhiannon since has climbed the leadership matrix rapidly as a biomed Manager with Ultimate Biomedical Solutions. While working as a leader, Rhiannon still gets her hands dirty in the field as an OR Specialist- Focusing on Anesthesia, Surgical PM’s, & C-Arm Repairs. She has built her career path to be indispensable to the Ambulatory Surgical Centers across the state of Texas. Rhiannon is highly skilled in leading, mentoring and pinpointing deficiencies and coming up with ideas to improve the bottom line.

Fun Fact: I played Roller Derby across the state of Texas for nearly a decade. Alias 1: Direct Current # 200mA Alias 2: Fleetwood Smack # 200.

Social Media: rhiannon-thurmond on LinkedIn

ROBERT MILWARD Client Executive at Sodexo HTM Mission Statement: As healthcare continues to advance, HTM and the professionals of this industry will continue to light the path with innovation, insights, and ingenuity. In 2013, as a lead Biomedical Technician, Robert completed his preventative maintenance of a labor and delivery unit at Winnie Palmer Hospital in Orlando, FL. One week later, his daughter was born in the very same delivery room. Shortly after being born, she was placed on an infant resuscitator he performed maintenance on. Today, she is a healthy 9-year-old soccer player, but the importance of our trade and the individual effect each and every one of us has, left a lasting impression. This fueled a desire to bring best-in-class HTM to Healthcare Organizations, which Robert now does as an AAMI Certified Healthcare Technology Manager and Client Executive for Sodexo HTM. In 2016, he was nominated for a Rising Star award with Sodexo HTM. From there, Robert went on to be recognized as Director of the Year in 2018 and 2021 AAMI Bright Ideas award winner in partnership with Health First on the department’s efforts to implement new Digital Dashboards. HTM Departments are only beginning to scratch the surface of the future of the patient experience and HTM is leading the charge.

Fun Fact: Robert is a sports enthusiast who enjoys watching, playing, and coaching teams with his wife, Melissa, and their four daughters.

Social Media: rmilward on LinkedIn

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LOOKING TO FILL A POSITION? Visit htmjobs.com/start-posting/ to post a job.

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SAMANTHA DAWS Quality Manager, Clinical Engineering Supervisor at ChristianaCare Mission Statement: My love for technology goes back to when I was in middle school. I fell in love with problem solving and working with my hands in technology class. I was lucky enough to find my way to a career in Clinical Engineering. Being able to solve a problem and fix a machine that will be used in patient care gives me so much satisfaction. I was fortunate enough to have been given the opportunity to work at ChristianaCare, a place that would allow my career to blossom. I started as a biomedical equipment technician and transitioned into servicing diagnostic imaging equipment. I was promoted to Clinical Engineering Supervisor and now have the privilege to lead some of the best radiology service technicians in this field. Most recently, I also took on the responsibility of Quality Manager for the department. I work hard to make sure the department continues to maintain high quality standards and our ISO 9001:2015 certification. At this juncture of my career, I have held nearly every position within the clinical engineering team, while simultaneously being active and present with my family. With every promotion, my real mission is to inspire my children to strive for greatness.

Fun Fact: I am passionate about music. I can play multiple instruments, but the saxophone is my favorite.

SEAN DALEY VP & COO at Seaward Group USA & Rigel Medical Mission Statement: I will always strive to be a leader my team wants to follow. I firmly believe that if you take care of your employees, they will take care of your customers. I have and will continue to foster a culture of; Team, Customer Service and Innovation. I encourage my team to work together and to bring forward innovative ideas and forward-thinking, so that we can create solutions and new products that will make our customers lives easier and safer.

Fun Fact: While living in Downtown Miami I was in 4 episodes over 2 seasons of the TV show Burn Notice. I was an FBI Agent, private security and Miami PD. Acting was not something that I was pursuing on a serious level. However, I was not going to pass on a chance to be in my favorite TV show at the time. It was an amazing experience that most people don’t get the chance to do.

Social Media: seanrdaley on LinkedIn

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SHEA LUNDEBY Project Manager at Lucky Contracting LLC Mission Statement: In 2016 Shea was introduced to the medical device world while working with the late Mike Boska in the Radiology Research Department at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Shea worked with Mike as an MRI engineer focused in utilizing 3D printers to design MRI coils. “Their endless opportunities to be creative were very exciting,” Shea says. “In the end it was just a matter of not having enough time, or funding...” During this time Shea worked for Berkshire Hathaway Media as an Electronics Specialist and was pursuing his Executive MBA at the University of Nebraska Omaha. After completing his graduate degree Shea took a position with Catholic Health Initiatives managing the Clinical Engineering department for the critical access hospitals, clinics, and Mercy Hospital. “It was great to be able to support the nurses and directors, although things got pretty interesting when adapting to Covid at various sites”, he says. After 3 years with Catholic Health Initiatives and short stint at Sodexo HTM as the Director of Technology Shea has been on sabbatical. “I’m not sure I’d call it a sabbatical because I’m building decks and retaining walls for various friends, it’s been pretty great,” he admitted “the sun is a nice change”.

Fun Fact: My son and I recently made our way to the summit of the tallest peak in the Rocky Mountains.

Social Media: shealundeby on LinkedIn

TIANA RICHARDSON BMET 2 at Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center Mission Statement: I am an AAMI-certified CBET and newly promoted BMET2 at Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center. I started out as an Electronics Technician in the Navy, servicing avionics radar systems, and found a Biomed program when I returned home. As a female in the electronics repair field, I always found myself working twice as hard to prove myself a competent technician, and sometimes questioning whether I even belonged. I was qualified on paper, but dismissed in person, so I was driven toward constant self-development. This has resulted in many ambitious achievements as a BMET 1. I passed the CBET exam on the first attempt, I was project lead for our telemetry system upgrade/installation, I am System Administrator for our medical device network, and I am the Biomed ambassador on the Environment of Care committee. My experience has led me to be a mentor and STEM advocate, especially for young girls who face the same obstacles I have overcome. My vision for the next few years is to connect underprivileged youth with opportunities to become BMETs. I aim to show young people who can’t afford a college education that they still have a chance at a decent career, with the biomed field. This would keep so many kids off the streets, while solving our current HTM staffing shortage. This path I’ve taken has introduced me to new levels in my career. Without the help and support of my family, and my team at Wellstar AMC, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

Fun Fact: I love to sing. As a freshman in high school, I played Eponine in our production of Les Miserables. I have written songs and shared them with my 3 YouTube subscribers. I also play the piano, ukulele, guitar, and violin.

Social Media: tiana-richardson on LinkedIn

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WEBB CLARK Account Sales Associate at iMed Biomedical Mission Statement: I provide planning and support to hospitals, healthcare networks and surgery centers across the United States to help them identify and achieve their HTM goals. My mission is to understand our client’s vision and implement a catered solution that brings these goals to fruition through an exceptional customer experience – minimizing downtime and maximizing cost savings as an alternative to OEM support. iMed Biomedical is an ISO-certified, veteran-owned company based out of Dallas, Texas. Our core competencies include sterilizers, dialysis, anesthesia, injectors, mammography, oxygen blenders and general biomed. In addition to my role at iMed, I am also the President of the Healthcare Technology Management Association of North Texas. HTMA-NTX offers a unique place for HTM professionals from all over Dallas-Fort Worth to network and share their creative ideas and processes. Our members are kept up to speed on industry trends and are provided with opportunities for continued education through CEU accreditation, as well as direct access to an array of industry leaders. As our organization continues to grow, my dream is to connect our chapter in DFW with HTM societies in Houston, Austin, San Antonio, as well as West Texas to create a robust community of HTM professionals across the Lone Star State.

Fun Fact: Native Texan who loves golf, guitars, fly fishing, hunting, and horses.

Social Media: @imedbiomedical on Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube

CLINT CREAL Sales at Pioneer Biomedical & Adepto Medical Mission Statement: Trying to be the biggest and next best thing, all that seems to be highly overrated. It’s the small differences we make in others’ lives that create a generational difference. We’re all blessed with our own gift, find that and own it. Never try to be someone you’re not, we were designed with a purpose in mind, live out that purpose with grace and humility! Everybody is facing their own battles on a daily basis, imagine a world where we give and serve others with an open heart instead of for personal gain. My mission is to live out the life of Jesus in the best way that I can and to support others to live out their mission as well. We have the perfect example to outline for us, it will just take daily effort and small changes to create a global impact! “In this world that’s growing older faster, humility will keep your spirit young” - William Prince Fun Fact: I’m named after Clint Eastwood and have a twin brother.

Social Media: @ClintCreal

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Hammerhead shark’s wide head, with eyes at its ends, gives the shark clear, binocular vision above and below

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TECHNATION

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104

Life Spark Medical

101

RepairMED

66

Soma Technology, Inc

97

www.ambickford.com • 800-795-3062 smarttanktester.com • www.repairmed.net • 855-813-8100 www.somatechnology.com • 1-800-438-7662

SPBS, Inc

www.spbs.com/ • (800) 713-2396

USOC Bio-Medical Services

www.usocmedical.com • 855-888-8762

Asset Management Capital i

capitali.us • 417-708-2924

P

P 29 P 3 P P 61

Asset Tracking ReNew Biomedical

www.ReNewBiomedical.com • 844-425-0987

66

Beds/Stretchers

P P

Southeastern Biomedical, Inc

16

Southwestern Biomedical Electronics, Inc.

103

www.swbiomed.com/ • 800-880-7231

CMMS

herobiz.com • 800-834-1122

17

P P

P P P P

Capital i

61

Nuvolo

31

TruAsset, LLC

13

capitali.us • 417-708-2924 nuvolo.com • 844-468-8656 www.truasset.com • 214-276-1280

Computed Tomography AllParts Medical

35

Injector Support and Service

96

International X-Ray Brokers

99

www.allpartsmedical.com • 866-507-4793 www.injectorsupport.com • 888-667-1062 internationalxraybrokers.com/ • 508-559-9441

RSTI

www.rsti-training.com • 800-229-7784

Tri-Imaging Solutions

www.triimaging.com • 855-401-4888

HERO

56-57 51

Contrast Media Injectors

P P P P P P P P P

Injector Support and Service

96

46

Maull Biomedical Training

BC Group International, Inc

46

BC

Defibrillator

Capital i

61

www.ReNewBiomedical.com • 844-425-0987

Biomedical ALCO Sales & Service Co.

www.alcosales.com • 800-323-4282 www.BCGroupStore.com • 314-638-3800 capitali.us • 417-708-2924

Cure Biomedical

www.cure-us.com • 775.750.7070

Eagle Medical

www.eaglemedgsm.com • 805.238.7401

HERO

herobiz.com • 800-834-1122

www.injectorsupport.com • 888-667-1062

P 64 P 17 P P

105

Life Spark Medical

101

Medical Equipment Doctor, INC.

22

smarttanktester.com • www.medicalequipdoc.com • 800-285-9918

Multimedical Systems

www.multimedicalsystems.com • 888-532-8056

P P 97 P

PD1 Medical

43

ReNew Biomedical

66

RepairMED

66

pd1medical.com • www.ReNewBiomedical.com • 844-425-0987 www.repairmed.net • 855-813-8100

P P P P

SalesMaker Carts

63

Siella Medical

67

salesmakercarts.com • 800-821-4140 siellamedical.com • 888.688.6822

SPBS, Inc

www.spbs.com/ • (800) 713-2396

29

Cables

P

www.maullbiomedicaltraining.com • 440-724-7511

ReNew Biomedical

66

SakoMED

59

sakomed.com • (844) 433-7256

Diagnostic Imaging

43

pd1medical.com •

Cardiac Monitoring Jet Medical Electronics Inc

www.jetmedical.com • 714-937-0809

ReNew Biomedical

www.ReNewBiomedical.com • 844-425-0987

95

International X-Ray Brokers

99

Lexicon

104

Mammo.com

72

avantehs.com •

internationalxraybrokers.com/ • 508-559-9441 lexiconmedparts.com • 615-545-8587 mammo.com •

Probo Medical

www.probomedical.com • 3174947872

TECHNATION

7

Endoscopy

P P

P P P P

Healthmark Industries

39

Multimedical Systems

97

hmark.com • 800-521-6224 www.multimedicalsystems.com • 888-532-8056

ESUs (Surgical) ReNew Biomedical

www.ReNewBiomedical.com • 844-425-0987

Fetal Monitoring Multimedical Systems

www.multimedicalsystems.com • 888-532-8056

66

99 66

P P P P

AUGUST 2022

P

P P

97

P

ALCO Sales & Service Co.

46

Eagle Medical

64

Lexicon

104

PD1 Medical

43

www.alcosales.com • 800-323-4282 www.eaglemedgsm.com • 805.238.7401 lexiconmedparts.com • 615-545-8587

P

P P P P

Avante Health Solutions

pd1medical.com • 106

P P

General

PD1 Medical

TRAINING

A.M. Bickford

SERVICE

Cardiology sebiomedical.com/ • 828-396-6010

Anesthesia

PARTS

TRAINING

SERVICE

PARTS

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Company Info

Company Info

AD PAGE

SERVICE INDEX

P

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

Healthmark Industries

hmark.com • 800-521-6224

Infusion Pumps 35

Elite Biomedical Solutions

43

Infusion Pump Repair

40

aiv-inc.com • 888-656-0755 elitebiomedicalsolutions.com • 855-291-6701 www.infusionpumprepair.com • 855-477-8866

Infusystem

infusystem.com • (800) 658-5582

Multimedical Systems

www.multimedicalsystems.com • 888-532-8056

ReNew Biomedical

www.ReNewBiomedical.com • 844-425-0987

Siella Medical

siellamedical.com • 888.688.6822

P P P P

43

Infusion Pump Repair

40

Infusystem

infusystem.com • (800) 658-5582

RepairMED

www.repairmed.net • 855-813-8100

Siella Medical

siellamedical.com • 888.688.6822

Soma Technology, Inc

www.somatechnology.com • 1-800-438-7662

USOC Bio-Medical Services

www.usocmedical.com • 855-888-8762

29,46,61

www.ReNewBiomedical.com • 844-425-0987

P P

97 3

P P P

66

Labratory SPBS, Inc

www.spbs.com/ • (800) 713-2396

Mammography

P P P

P P 29 P

101

99

Mammo.com

72

mammo.com •

RSTI

www.rsti-training.com • 800-229-7784

56-57

Monitors Clinical Technology Solutions

ctsbiomedical.com • (877) 643-6134

PM Biomedical

pmbiomedical.com • 800-777-6467

Siella Medical

siellamedical.com • 888.688.6822

AIV

35

P P P P P P P P P P

PM Biomedical

4

P P

Siella Medical

67

aiv-inc.com • 888-656-0755

Avante Health Solutions Clinical Technology Solutions Jet Medical Electronics Inc

www.jetmedical.com • 714-937-0809

ReNew Biomedical

www.ReNewBiomedical.com • 844-425-0987

RepairMED

www.repairmed.net • 855-813-8100

SakoMED

sakomed.com • (844) 433-7256 sebiomedical.com/ • 828-396-6010 www.swbiomed.com/ • 800-880-7231

USOC Bio-Medical Services

www.usocmedical.com • 855-888-8762

Patient Monitors

siellamedical.com • 888.688.6822

27, 64 4

P P P P P P P P P

67

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

P 95 P 27, 64 P 99 P 66 P 66 P 59 P 16 P 103 P 3 P

Power System Components Interpower

111

www.interpower.com • 800-662-2290

Radiology Cure Biomedical RSTI

56-57

www.rsti-training.com • 800-229-7784

Soma Technology, Inc

P P P P P P

105

www.cure-us.com • 775.750.7070

www.somatechnology.com • 1-800-438-7662

International X-Ray Brokers

internationalxraybrokers.com/ • 508-559-9441

P

Patient Monitoring

pmbiomedical.com • 800-777-6467

29

www.ozarkbiomedical.com • 800-457-7576

56-57

www.rsti-training.com • 800-229-7784

Southwestern Biomedical Electronics, Inc.

SPBS, Inc

Ozark Biomedical

P

PACS

67

67

www.spbs.com/ • (800) 713-2396

82

www.1technation.com/webinars • 800-906-3373

Southeastern Biomedical, Inc

Siella Medical

siellamedical.com • 888.688.6822

Webinar Wednesday

66

IV Pumps ReNew Biomedical

88

www.MedWrench.com • 866-989-7057

ctsbiomedical.com • (877) 643-6134

Elite Biomedical Solutions

8

MedWrench

avantehs.com •

P P P P

P P

Online Resource

67 35

www.infusionpumprepair.com • 855-477-8866

Innovatus Imaging

RSTI

AIV

elitebiomedicalsolutions.com • 855-291-6702

3

MRI

P P 97 P 66 P P

29,46,61

Infusion Therapy aiv-inc.com • 888-656-0755

USOC Bio-Medical Services

www.innovatusimaging.com • 844-687-5100

AIV

97

Monitors/CRTs www.usocmedical.com • 855-888-8762

39

TRAINING

Infection Control

www.somatechnology.com • 1-800-438-7662

SERVICE

63

Soma Technology, Inc

PARTS

TRAINING

SERVICE

salesmakercarts.com • 800-821-4140

PARTS

SalesMaker Carts

AD PAGE

Company Info

Company Info

AD PAGE

SERVICE INDEX CONTINUED

97

Recruiting Cure Biomedical

105

HERO

17

www.cure-us.com • 775.750.7070 herobiz.com • 800-834-1122

Refurbish AIV

aiv-inc.com • 888-656-0755

35

Rental/Leasing Avante Health Solutions avantehs.com •

95

AUGUST 2022

TECHNATION

107

ALCO Sales & Service Co.

46

Eagle Medical

64

Elite Biomedical Solutions

43

Jet Medical Electronics Inc

99

PM Biomedical

4

www.alcosales.com • 800-323-4282 www.eaglemedgsm.com • 805.238.7401 elitebiomedicalsolutions.com • 855-291-6701 www.jetmedical.com • 714-937-0809 pmbiomedical.com • 800-777-6467

ReNew Biomedical

www.ReNewBiomedical.com • 844-425-0987

66

Replacement Parts Clinical Technology Solutions

ctsbiomedical.com • (877) 643-6134

27, 64

Elite Biomedical Solutions

43

Engineering Services, KCS Inc

6

PM Biomedical

4

elitebiomedicalsolutions.com • 855-291-6701 www.eng-services.com • 888-364-7782x11 pmbiomedical.com • 800-777-6467

Respiratory

P P P P

P P P P P

P P P P P P

104

ReNew Biomedical

66

www.ambickford.com • 800-795-3062 www.ReNewBiomedical.com • 844-425-0987

Software Medigate

P P P

5

www.medigate.io •

Nuvolo

31

TruAsset, LLC

13

nuvolo.com • 844-468-8656 www.truasset.com • 214-276-1280

Sterilizers

USOC Bio-Medical Services

www.usocmedical.com • 855-888-8762

www.spbs.com/ • (800) 713-2396

29

Surgical Cure Biomedical

www.cure-us.com • 775.750.7070

105

P P

Healthmark Industries

39

PM Biomedical

4

hmark.com • 800-521-6224 pmbiomedical.com • 800-777-6467

Telemetry AIV

aiv-inc.com • 888-656-0755

Clinical Technology Solutions

ctsbiomedical.com • (877) 643-6134

Elite Biomedical Solutions

elitebiomedicalsolutions.com • 855-291-6701

Multimedical Systems

www.multimedicalsystems.com • 888-532-8056

PM Biomedical

pmbiomedical.com • 800-777-6467

RepairMED

www.repairmed.net • 855-813-8100

AUGUST 2022

P P

P P 27, 64 P P 43 P P 97 P 4 P P 66 P P 35

67 103 3

Test Equipment

P P P P

A.M. Bickford

104

BC Group International, Inc

BC

Life Spark Medical

101

www.ambickford.com • 800-795-3062 www.BCGroupStore.com • 314-638-3800 smarttanktester.com •

Pronk Technologies, Inc.

www.pronktech.com • 800-609-9802

Southeastern Biomedical, Inc

sebiomedical.com/ • 828-396-6010

P P

2, 109 16

Training

P P

College of Biomedical Equipment Technology

11

ECRI Institute

78

Probo Medical

7

ReNew Biomedical

66

www.cbet.edu • 866-866-9027

www.ecri.org • 1-610-825-6000. www.probomedical.com • 3174947872 www.ReNewBiomedical.com • 844-425-0987

RSTI

www.rsti-training.com • 800-229-7784

Tri-Imaging Solutions

Tri-Imaging Solutions

P P

P P

56-57 51

Tubes/Bulbs

P P

51

P P

AllParts Medical

35

Avante Health Solutions

95

P P P P

Innovatus Imaging

8

MW Imaging

23

Probo Medical

7

www.triimaging.com • 855-401-4888

Ultrasound www.allpartsmedical.com • 866-507-4793 avantehs.com •

www.innovatusimaging.com • 844-687-5100 www.mwimaging.com • 877-889-8223

SPBS, Inc

TECHNATION

www.swbiomed.com/ • 800-880-7231

www.triimaging.com • 855-401-4888

A.M. Bickford

108

Southwestern Biomedical Electronics, Inc.

TRAINING

Repair

siellamedical.com • 888.688.6822

SERVICE

29,46,61

P P

Siella Medical

PARTS

infusystem.com • (800) 658-5582

TRAINING

Infusystem

43

SERVICE

elitebiomedicalsolutions.com • 855-291-6703

PARTS

Elite Biomedical Solutions

AD PAGE

Company Info

Company Info

AD PAGE

SERVICE INDEX CONTINUED

www.probomedical.com • 3174947872

Ventilators ReNew Biomedical

www.ReNewBiomedical.com • 844-425-0987

SakoMED

sakomed.com • (844) 433-7256

SPBS, Inc

www.spbs.com/ • (800) 713-2396

X-Ray

P P P P

P P 59 P P 29 P 66

AllParts Medical

35

Engineering Services, KCS Inc

6

Innovatus Imaging

8

International X-Ray Brokers

99

www.allpartsmedical.com • 866-507-4793 www.eng-services.com • 888-364-7782x11 www.innovatusimaging.com • 844-687-5100 internationalxraybrokers.com/ • 508-559-9441

RSTI

www.rsti-training.com • 800-229-7784

Tri-Imaging Solutions

www.triimaging.com • 855-401-4888

56-57 51

P P P

P P P P P P

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

ALPHABETICAL INDEX A.M. Bickford………………………… 104

Infusion Pump Repair…………………

AIV……………………………………

35

Infusystem……………………… 29,46,61

PM Biomedical………………………… 4

ALCO Sales & Service Co.……………

46

Injector Support and Service…………

96

Probo Medical…………………………… 7

AllParts Medical………………………

35

Innovatus Imaging……………………… 8

Pronk Technologies, Inc. ………… 2, 109

Avante Health Solutions………………

95

International X-Ray Brokers…………

99

ReNew Biomedical……………………

66

BC Group International, Inc………… BC

Interpower…………………………… 111

RepairMED……………………………

66

Capital i………………………………

Jet Medical Electronics Inc…………

RSTI………………………………… 56-57

61

40

99

PD1 Medical…………………………

43

Clinical Technology Solutions……… 27, 64

Lexicon……………………………… 104

SakoMED……………………………

59

College of Biomedical Equipment Technology……………………………

Life Spark Medical…………………… 101

SalesMaker Carts……………………

63

Mammo.com…………………………

72

Siella Medical…………………………

67

Maull Biomedical Training……………

46

Soma Technology, Inc………………

97

Medical Equipment Doctor, INC.……

22

Southeastern Biomedical, Inc………

16

11

Cure Biomedical……………………… 105 Eagle Medical…………………………

64

ECRI Institute…………………………

78

Elite Biomedical Solutions……………

43

Engineering Services, KCS Inc………… 6 Healthmark Industries………………

39

HERO…………………………………

17

HTMJobs………………………………

90

Medigate………………………………… 5

Southwestern Biomedical Electronics, Inc.…103

MedWrench…………………………

88

SPBS, Inc……………………………

29

Multimedical Systems………………

97

Tri-Imaging Solutions…………………

51

MW Imaging…………………………

23

TruAsset, LLC…………………………

13

Nuvolo…………………………………

31

USOC Bio-Medical Services…………… 3

Ozark Biomedical…………………… 101

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Webinar Wednesday…………………

AUGUST 2022

TECHNATION

82

109

BREAKROOM

E

ach month, TechNation magazine will feature photos from throughout the industry on this page. Be sure to tag your posts with #HTMStrong and check the magazine each month to see which photos are included and what is happening in the HTM community.

Reagan Jordan , Dire

ctor of Clinical En gineering at Reno wn Health

l Antonio Marcos os, São Paulo, Brazi rr a B e d Braga

What makes wor king a tough iss ue on a long wee great team and kend? Having a pizza!

bration of e and cali ps at Hospital v ti n e v re P m jection pu contrast in o! ulh Nove de J

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TECHNATION

AUGUST 2022

at success for the #AAMIeXchange22 was a gre

industry!

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

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Interpower® hospital-grade replacement cords are manufactured well beyond minimum agency standards.

Made in the U.S.A., Interpower NEMA 5-15, 5-20, 6-15, and 6-20 hospital-grade replacement cords provide correct amperages and voltages for medical devices—portable CT scanners, X-ray machines, medical-grade treadmills, ECMO machines, and ventilators—essential machines demanding electrical power.

Interpower North American hospital-grade replacement cords come with NEMA hospital-grade plugs bearing the “green dot.” They are continually tested to surpass UL 817 (18.2.4.1) and C22.2 No. 21-14 requirements for hospital-grade power cords and cord sets.

Interpower cords and components are manufactured in accordance with Interpower’s product quality plan: hipot

testing, continuity testing, ground testing, and inspections after each process.

All cords provide the end user with the correct North American connections to the local mains power, which means our cords are ready to use right out of the box.

Order 1 cord or 5,000 cords.

• • • •

No minimum orders Value-added options such as lengths, colors, packaging & labeling Blanket and scheduled orders available Expert customer service

Order Online! www.interpower.com Business Hours: 7 a.m.–6 p.m. CST

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