TechNation - June 2018

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ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL / HTM PROFESSIONAL

APRIL2018 JUNE 2018

THE

ROBOTS ARE COMING

WHO WILL MAINTAIN THEM?

14 Company Showcase Dräger

26 Company Showcase

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CONTENTS

FEATURED THE

ROBOTS ARE COMING

WHO WILL MAINTAIN THEM?

WHO WILL MAINTAIN THEM?

54

OUNDTABLE: IMAGING R TEST EQUIPMENT

HTM professionals need the right tools to do their job and that includes doing PMs and repairs to imaging equipment.

We quiz HTM professionals to find out the latest regarding test equipment for diagnostic imaging devices.

60

THE ROBOTS ARE COMING

The robots are here and more are coming. The health care setting is a prime market for the more advanced robots being produced to perform a variety of tasks. The mechanicalelectrical construction of robots begs for HTM involvement once they arrive on a health care facility’s campus. Currently, manufacturers service these devices, but there will come a time when service is moved in-house. There may be a robot in your future.

Next month’s Roundtable article: Sterilizers

Next month’s Feature article: Family Business

TechNation (Vol. 9, Issue #6) June 2018 is published monthly by MD Publishing, 18 Eastbrook Bend, Peachtree City, GA 30269-1530. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to TechNation at 18 Eastbrook Bend, Peachtree City, GA 30269-1530.

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

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

JUNE 2018

TECHNATION

9

CONTENTS

INSIDE

PUBLISHER

John M. Krieg

VICE PRESIDENT

Kristin Leavoy

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Jayme McKelvey Megan Cabot Lisa Gosser

ART DEPARTMENT

Jonathan Riley Karlee Gower Kathryn Keur

EDITOR

John Wallace

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS

Jenifer Brown K. Richard Douglas Jim Fedele Inhel Rekik Manny Roman Cindy Stephens Steven J. Yelton

DIGITAL SERVICES

Cindy Galindo Jena Mattison Travis Saylor

ACCOUNTING

Kim Callahan

CIRCULATION

Lisa Cover Melissa Brand

WEBINARS

Linda Hasluem

EDITORIAL BOARD

Eddie Acosta, Business Development Manager, Colin Construction Company Manny Roman, Business Operation Manager, AMSP Salim Kai, MSPSL, CBET, Clinical Safety Engineer University of Michigan Health System Jim Fedele, Sr. Program Director, Clinical Engineering, BioTronics, UPMC Susquehanna Izabella Gieras, MS, MBA, CCE, Director of Clinical Technology, Huntington Memorial Hospital Inhel Rekik, Clinical Engineering Manager, Medstar Georgetown University Hospital

Departments P.14 SPOTLIGHT p.14 Company Showcase: Dräger p.16 Professional of the Month: Staff Sgt. Jeremy LeBlanc, CBET p.20 Department of the Month: The Martin Army Community Hospital Clinical Engineering Section p.23 Student Receives Hands-on HTM Knowledge p.24 TechNation Scholarship Recipient p.26 Company Showcase: Elite Biomedical Solutions p.28 Biomed Adventures: Roller Derby Queen P.32 p.32 p.35 p.42 p.45

INDUSTRY UPDATES MD Expo Recap News & Notes AAMI Update ECRI Update

P.46 p.46 p.49 p.50 p.53

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

P.68 p.68 p.70 p.73 p.74 p.77

EXPERT ADVICE Career Center Ultrasound Expert Tech Tips The Other Side Roman Review

P.80 BREAKROOM p.80 Did You Know? p.82 The Vault p.85 Trick Out Your Biomed Cart p.90 Where is Ben C. p.102 Parting Shot p.95 Service Index p.101 Alphabetical Index

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

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JUNE 2018

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Take device care to the next level with smart service solutions Dräger’s newest anesthesia workstation, the Perseus A500, was engineered from the ground up with service and reliability in mind to support your departmental goals and ongoing, high-quality patient care. Through our innovative service solutions, DrägerService® can help you maximize uptime, operate at peak efficiency, and be in compliance with ever changing regulations – with greater ease than ever before.

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SPOTLIGHT

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

COMPANY SHOWCASE

D

räger is a leading international company in the fields of medical and safety technology. Founded in Lübeck in 1889, Dräger has grown into a worldwide, enterprise in its fifth generation as a family-run business. Our North American corporate headquarters is based in Telford, Pennsylvania – just north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Our long-term success is predicated on a value-oriented corporate culture with four central strengths: close collaboration with our customers, the expertise of our employees, continuous innovation and outstanding quality.

Dräger, Inc. Director of Marketing, Perioperative Care, North America David Karchner recently shared more details about the company.

Q: WHAT ARE SOME ADVANTAGES THAT DRÄGER HAS OVER THE COMPETITION? Karchner: Anesthesiology has been a driving force behind our company from the very beginning. In close collaboration with our customers, we leverage our extensive experience to develop anesthesia solutions that support a high standard of care and reliability while enabling our customers to realize a financial ROI. Our broad operating room portfolio, which includes architectural solutions/medical lights, anesthesia machines, patient 14

TECHNATION

JUNE 2018

monitors, clinical IT, accessories, and service allows our customers to build an ideal operating room environment geared toward their own clinical and financial outcome initiatives.

Q: WHAT ARE SOME CHALLENGES THAT DRÄGER FACED LAST YEAR? Karchner: Healthcare is quickly transitioning from the traditional “fee-for-service” model to a “population based health” based model. As a leader in the field of anesthesia, Dräger has been asked to collaborate with our customers to not only come up with new methods to drive down costs, but also assist our customers in improving population health, which ultimately has the ability to improve our customer’s financial health more than ever before. It’s a challenge for healthcare in general, but it’s also an incredible opportunity for Dräger to demonstrate our unique capabilities in the operating room.

Q: CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE COMPANY’S CORE COMPETENCIES? Karchner: When you invest in integrated solutions from Dräger, the value you receive from devices and technology is just the beginning. As a true collaborator, we work closely with our customers to elevate their value through consulting, education, service, and support. Not only can we help improve OR performance, but also ICU

and NICU performance as well. We can do so by offering solutions that help improve outcomes, optimize workflow and workspaces, streamline data capture, and support consistent use with common user interfaces and operating philosophies.

Ultimately, we believe the solutions we offer can elevate care for patients and help customers realize financial value in entirely new ways.

Q: WHAT PRODUCT OR SERVICE ARE YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT RIGHT NOW? Karchner: The Perseus A500 is the latest anesthesia workstation from Dräger.

Designed from the beginning with patient monitoring, clinical IT, service and accessories in mind, its space-saving profile can easily integrate into your OR workspace while helping to improve cable management and streamline hygienic reprocessing.

Consistent with the Dräger anesthesia portfolio, the Perseus A500 is optimized for low- and minimal-flow anesthesia delivery to support a financial ROI for customers. Fresh gas flow efficiency technology (Low Flow Wizard) which has proven to help customers reduce anesthetic agent costs, sample gas recirculation to the breathing system to reduce anesthetic agent waste, and a heated breathing system designed prevent rainout all WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

SPOTLIGHT

support consistent low- and minimalflow anesthesia delivery.

To help customers deliver and maintain a high standard of care, Dräger introduced the TurboVent2 ventilation technology with the Perseus A500. Like our piston ventilation technology on the Apollo and Fabius family anesthesia workstations, the Perseus A500’s TurboVent2 supports ICU-level therapy capabilities - with value-add performance. CPAP in Man/Spon, Airway Pressure Release Ventilation (APRV), and an open breathing system design are just some of the therapy value-adds the Perseus A500 can deliver for customers.

While the Perseus A500 is an extremely flexible anesthesia workstation that can be tailored to the unique needs of our customers, consistency with the entire Dräger anesthesia portfolio was a critical point in its design. The user interface, fresh gas controls, vaporizers, and accessories offer a high-level of consistency with the current Dräger anesthesia portfolio which promotes consistent use and device care.

Q: WHAT IS ON THE HORIZON FOR THE COMPANY? Karchner: In the operating room, you can look for Dräger to continue to deliver innovative anesthesia workstations at the highest of quality. It’s what we’ve done more than 125 years, and we’ve excelled at it. However, as we discussed previously, the business of healthcare is quickly changing from a “fee for service” model to one of “population health.” Look for Dräger to provide new value added offerings and services designed to demonstrate our ability to provide value in “Critical Care Performance,” where Dräger will demonstrate our unique ability to improve our customers’ clinical, operational, and financial performance in the operating room, ICU, and neonatal care areas.

Q: WHAT ARE SOME RECENT CHANGES TO THE COMPANY? Karchner: A recent addition to the North American headquarters is the advanced Dräger Healthcare Design Center. The “Design Center” provides our valued customers the ability to look beyond a “medical device purchase” and gives them the opportunity to strategically plan a “work space” that has the opportunity to improve population health in their geographic area.

Q: WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT ABOUT THE WAY DRÄGER DOES BUSINESS? Karchner: “Technology for Life” is our guiding principle. Wherever our technology is deployed – in clinical settings, industry, mining or emergency services – it protects, supports and saves lives. We support this guiding principle with a customer intimacy that shapes both our long-term vision and our day-to-day operations, our employees who make a difference in the lives of our customers, responses to human needs with technical innovation, and product and service quality for solutions that our customers rely on to sustain and improve life.

For more information, visit www.draeger.com

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

JUNE 2018

TECHNATION

15

SPOTLIGHT

PROFESSIONAL OF THE MONTH Staff Sgt. Jeremy LeBlanc, CBET When Circumstances Call

BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

I

n a recent publication from the U.S. Air Force, Airman Xiomara Martinez told the story of a staff sergeant with the 35th Medical Group at Misawa Air Base in Misawa, Japan who takes on a biomed challenge and saves the day.

The medical group’s surgical washer broke and the consequences were significant; patients would have to be diverted to medical facilities in Tokyo and Hawaii for treatment if it wasn’t fixed.

Martinez explains what happened next; “And that’s where Staff Sgt. Jeremy LeBlanc, a 35th Medical Support Squadron biomedical equipment technician, comes in. His job was to fix a washer that seemed like it was done for. While some might cringe at taking on such a project, LeBlanc had a slightly different attitude.”

LeBlanc says that troubleshooting is his favorite part of the job.

LeBlanc went to great lengths to repair the surgical washer and received recognition from his superiors in the process.

Martinez explains that “after two weeks of running tests 10 to 12 hours every day, tearing the technologies apart and putting them back together, just to run even more trials to check if the surgical washer would work,

16

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LeBlanc’s patience paid off. The surgical washer finally turned on.”

LeBlanc is the 35th Medical Support Squadron unscheduled maintenance NCO in charge and the alternate facility manager at the Misawa Air Base hospital.

He originally chose the HTM profession during a meeting with a recruiter.

“When I enlisted in the Air Force, I had no idea what a biomedical equipment technician was. When I was going through the list of choices with my recruiter, she explained the job to me and it seemed like something I would enjoy doing. It has a good pay off of job growth and opportunities both in the military and the civilian side,” he says.

LeBlanc’s training came by way of an extensive military program.

“There is a 10-month tech school we go through at Fort Sam Houston Air Force Base in Texas. The training program is an accelerated college course where we earn 79 college credits in 10 months,” LeBlanc says.

“The school is comprised of 12 different courses, each specializing in different types of equipment and separate sections of a hospital. The first two courses we learn about are electronic theories and principles.

Then, in courses three to 11, we learn about the various types of equipment,

anything from blood pressure machines to X-ray units,” he adds.

He says that each course is set up to be half classroom time and half hands on, where students learn the application of the equipment, how it works, the anatomy and physiology of what it does to the patient and an overview of the schematics for all the circuitry.

“We actually use the equipment, take it apart, replace parts and the instructors will put in faults and bugs we have to troubleshoot and explain what is causing the fault and why it is affecting the machine the way it is,” LeBlanc says.

“If we can explain how something is affecting the unit, then we get a better understanding of the unit.

Lastly, course 12 is specific to the Air Force where we learn about the command structure, our work order system, recalls, etcetera,” he says.

LeBlanc says that “in our jobs we are the subject matter expert for all the equipment in the hospital, but I have a larger amount of experience in dental and dental lab equipment.”

He says that his first assignment was at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, which is the largest dental lab in the Air Force.

“The dental clinic there submitted the majority of the work orders we had. At my current base, dental is also

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

SPOTLIGHT

Staff Sgt. Jeremy LeBlanc is an award-winning biomedical equipment technician for the 35th Medical Support Squadron.

a majority of unscheduled work that we have,” he says.

Before attaining his current position, LeBlanc went through other stages of HTM career progression in the Air Force.

“I started out as a biomedical equipment apprentice. I mainly received on-the-job training, finished career development courses and other training outlined in our career field education and training plan,” he says.

“After all the training was done, I upgraded to a biomedical equipment journeyman. That job consists of going out and doing scheduled and unscheduled maintenance work orders.

I’m now in upgrade training to be a biomedical equipment craftsman. This will be more management based with less work orders to do,” LeBlanc adds.

MEETING CHALLENGES Logistics can be a challenge for biomeds in other countries and service members stationed in foreign duty stations are not exempt.

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

“I think the hardest part of my job now is our location in northern Japan.

There is always a delay in parts and service due to where we are. I can’t get same-day service over the phone like I could in the states,” LeBlanc says.

Besides the challenge of getting parts quickly, broken surgical washers can be a challenge as well. For his efforts in repairing the surgical washer, he was awarded the “Wild Weasel of the Week” by the 35th Fighter Wing commander. In 2014, he won the Biomedical Equipment Airman of the Year award.

In his off time, LeBlanc enjoys rock climbing, snowboarding and watching movies.

LeBlanc loves his job.

“I would recommend biomedical to anyone in or out of the military. I take pride in what I do and I don’t see myself changing careers anytime soon,” he says.

No doubt that the patients and clinicians at the 35th Medical Support Squadron are happy to hear that.

FAVORITE BOOK “The Shining” FAVORITE MOVIE “12 Angry Men” FAVORITE FOOD Ramen and mocha HIDDEN TALENT Ping pong FAVORITE PART OF BEING A BIOMED “I like having the knowledge to be able to fix anything that comes through the BMET shop. I know that any patient who comes through our hospital will be safe and get accurate measurements from the equipment.”

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SPOTLIGHT

DEPARTMENT OF THE MONTH

The Martin Army Community Hospital Clinical Engineering Section

BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

F

ort Benning, near Columbus, Georgia, may be one of the best known military bases in the country. The U.S. Army base includes the Maneuver Center of Excellence. It is a massive base, supporting more than 120,000 active-duty military, their families, reserve soldiers, retirees and civilian employees on any given day.

The base’s official mission statement recognizes that warfare has become more sophisticated; “The Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Benning provide trained, agile and adaptive combat-ready Soldiers and Leaders; develop the doctrine and capabilities of the Maneuver Force and individual Soldier; and provide a world-class quality of life for our Soldiers, civilians and Army families to ensure our Army’s Maneuver Force remains the world’s premier combat force ready to ‘Win in a Complex World.’”

It was the home of tank maneuver warfare under General George Patton and airmobile tactic during the Vietnam War. The base is, and has been, the training home for generations of trained combat soldiers.

Providing health care services on the base is the Martin Army Community Hospital (MACH). It is a state-of-the-art 250-bed medical complex, which opened in 1958.

20

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JUNE 2018

According to the hospital’s webpage, MACH maintains a “fully accredited laboratory service, diagnostic radiology with computerized tomography and nuclear medicine, extensive pharmacy service, and many other ancillary support services.”

Tasked with servicing and repairing all the medical equipment associated with the facility is the hospital’s clinical engineering department.

“The clinical engineering section has 13 clinical engineers, one contracting officer representative, one office automation clerk and one supply technician,” says Staff Sergeant Nomar DiazLebron, clinical engineering shop foreman.

DiazLebron says that the Martin Army Community Hospital consists of approximately 60 sections within the facility.

“There are about 24 outlying clinics, which includes Troop Medical Clinics (TMCs), dental clinics, blood banks, industrial hygiene, veterinary clinics, optical fabrication and the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS),” DiazLebron says.

He says that his group services and repairs specialized equipment such as vital signs monitors, diagnostic imaging, anesthesia, ventilators, laboratory refrigerators, sterilizers, dental equipment as well as surgical and preventative medicine equipment.

DETERMINED EVEN WHEN YOU WANNACRY The 13 HTM professionals in the clinical engineering section keep busy addressing work orders and keeping all networked equipment safe from uninvited guests.

“The clinical engineering section workload includes, between 800-1,000 scheduled work orders each month, unscheduled work orders (repairs), technical evaluations for equipment that’s either damaged beyond repair or exceeds the life cycle (between 8-10 years), recalls on medical equipment (from the manufacturer), and acceptances (analyzing new equipment),” DiazLebron says.

Specialized equipment is under service contracts with manufacturers.

“The clinical engineers do their jobs by using Test Measurement Diagnostic Equipment (TMDE). TMDE is used to service and verify calibration for specialized medical equipment,” he says.

The department has also tackled cybersecurity threats recently.

“We just completed a 100 percent inventory of all medical devices with Windows OS (operating system) to ensure the equipment is not vulnerable to the WannaCry ransomware. In order to mitigate this, we had to ensure all medical devices that used Windows OS were on Windows 7 service pack 3 or above,” DiazLebron says.

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

SPOTLIGHT

The Martin Army Community Hospital Clinical Engineering Section does its part to ensure quality health care for those stationed at Fort Benning, near Columbus, Georgia.

Just as in civilian hospitals, cybersecurity is a major focus in military health care settings. The ransomware project was approached methodically.

“On the WannaCry project, we received an order from the Department of the Army that all medical devices need to be inspected for mediation. This resulted in 8,700 work orders open on one day. From here, we had to divide and conquer.

We used two clinical engineers during this task and a deadline of 30 days.

First we started with simple medical devices; for example thermometers and scales, that we knew did not need an operating system to work,” DiazLebron explains.

He says that this portion took about six-hours and they did it during one sit, “We started the project once we received the order which was around 10:00 (10 a.m.) and we didn’t stop until 22:00 (10 p.m.) when our eyes could not hold any more – this took us to 20 percent in just one day.”

“We still had a long ways to go but

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

it was a good starting point,” DiazLebron says. “From there, we went to the units that we knew required an operating system, but it was a firmware. For example, monitoring systems like Welch Allyn, had the capability of connecting to the network but did not have a Windows operating system.”

DiazLebron says that the problem they ran into was that this equipment was in use most of the time.

“We adjusted our timeline for the technicians in order to get to the equipment. After a couple weeks, we were very close to resolving our deadline but we hit a big obstacle.

Some units would need logins and keys in order to get the information required. This took us the longest, especially when the manufacturer required technical training in order to provide the information,” DiazLebron says.

He says that it took the two technicians five-weeks to complete the task with a lot of overtime hours and many headaches.

“Our lessons learned from this task were that we need to be more proactive instead of reactive. Because [of the] multiple tasks during this, we could not afford more than two techs gone at the same time. We did not meet different deadlines, but we provided a reasonable explanation for this,” DiazLebron adds.

“The major problem to solve was time management and production management by me losing two techs to this task. I had to adjust the entire shop production in order to meet our requirements on scheduled services. We had technicians cover and leave their comfort zone in order to cover the different areas that the techs used to cover. Thankfully, patient care and hospital readiness was not affected with this task and we never compromised our levels or standards,” he says.

With the ransomeware mitigation project as an indicator of their tenacity, the clinical engineering department at Martin Army Community Hospital embodies all the great qualities the Army expects.

JUNE 2018

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21

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SPOTLIGHT

STUDENT RECEIVES HANDS-ON HTM KNOWLEDGE

BY CODY KENNEDY

A

student at Olathe South High School in Olathe, Kansas spends time in her computer-aided design (CAD) class working on a prototype to improve the C02 laser machine for the biomedical engineering department of Olathe Medical Center. This machine is used in heart surgeries.

Olathe South High School senior Lindsey Eddings made contact with Olathe Health hoping to gain knowledge and experience in the biomedical field.

What she found, was an opportunity that she couldn’t pass up.

“When Lindsey made contact with Olathe Health, we received an answer that we had to read a few times to understand,” Olathe South CAD teacher Jason Smith said. “Once we figured out what they were asking for, she hit the ground running.”

The C02 laser, commonly known in the medical field as a transmyocardial revascularization laser, is used in patients who have recently suffered a heart attack. The purpose of the machine is to puncture holes in the wall of a heart that needs extra blood flow to ensure the tissue doesn’t die. Blood rushes to the punctures and starts the healing process, rejuvenating the endangered tissue.

The machine uses C02 and when the tube that contains the laser burns out, it often takes several hours to replace and ensure the accuracy of the machine.

“The arm of the machine has 12 mirrors to reflect the laser beam,” Eddings said. “The first mirror is right above the C02 tube and you must remove that mirror to replace the tube.”

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Lindsey Eddings, a high school senior working with the Olathe Medical Center’s biomedical engineering department, used a 3-D printer to fashion a prototype device that attaches to a CO2 laser machine to facilitate C02 tube replacement.

Currently, adjusting the mirror takes hours of minor and strategic adjustments.

Eddings was inspired to change the process and help to make calibration more efficient. Using a 3-D printer, Eddings has fashioned a prototype device that attaches to the laser and allows for the mirror to be temporarily displaced to exchange C02 tubes. The goal is that her device will ensure exact placement of the mirror without having to recalibrate the entire machine. After several trips to Olathe Medical Center, she’s close to achieving her goal.

In her fourth year in the CAD program, Eddings has run the gamut of career interests.

“My dad used to build houses so I initially was interested in architecture,” said Eddings. “I then wanted to become

an anesthesiologist but ultimately became inspired to do something in the engineering industry. After doing some research, I found that biomedicine combined both interests.”

Just like a laser beam, her interests perfectly aligned for her postgraduate studies. After high school, Eddings will be attending the University of Arkansas to study biomedical engineering.

“She will undoubtedly be successful wherever her path takes her,” Smith said. “Lindsey is a great example of a student who is charting her own course, and is picking up the experiences along the way that will lead to success.”

Cody Kennedy is the communications and media manager for Olathe Public Schools in Olathe, Kansas.

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SPOTLIGHT

TECHNATION SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT

TSTC Student Follows in Father’s Footsteps

BY DAWN TAYLOR

I

can remember my dad always fixing things around the house. I remember feeling so proud that he was able to fix anything (at least in my mind he could fix anything). If I was visiting a friend and we realized that something was broken, I would proudly offer my dad’s services to fix it. I recall telling them, “My dad can fix that for you!” He was in the U.S. Air Force for 23 years and worked as an Aircraft Equipment Technician. We used to live just outside the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado and there was a B52 Bomber that was put on display at the north entrance of the base.

My dad told me that he worked on that exact plane. He showed us paperwork that had the same serial number as the plane. I was so proud to repeat that story to all my friends. Now, as an adult, I continue to be proud when I repeat that story.

When I think back about my dad’s “fix it” abilities, I realize that he worked mostly on electronics. I don’t think we ever purchased more than one VCR, microwave or toaster. If it broke, he fixed it. We got one of the first VCRs that was sold, and I remember long after the newer technology had come out and the VCRs were getting smaller; we still had our huge top-loading machine.

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Any time it seemed to have an issue, he’d take it away and bring it back working. After he retired from the Air Force, my dad went to work for a company repairing microscopes.

Sometimes he would bring his work home and I’d sit with him and talk about what he was working on. I enjoyed learning and watching him take apart and repair the microscopes.

When I was 19, my dad passed away after a long battle with cancer.

Before he died, he told me how proud he was of me and that he did not worry about my future because he knew I was strong and that I could take care of myself. When my dad died I lost my biggest supporter. I held on to what my dad said and have stayed strong. I have always taken pride in working hard to support myself and my family – just as he did.

I started my family young and never was able to make the time to finish a college education. I would take courses when I could make time and could afford them but never earned a degree. In my last job, I worked myself up to a security analyst position within a cybersecurity organization. I feel this was a huge accomplishment considering that I started as an administrative assistant without a college education. Nonetheless, the

company restructured and sold off different divisions of the company and my position was no longer needed. When I spoke to others within this field of work, I found that it was going to be nearly impossible for me to continue in that field without at least a bachelor’s degree in information technology.

I realized that I had to go to school and complete my education or I would always be spinning my wheels and not moving forward. I decided that if I was going to go to school that I was going to work toward a degree in a field that would be satisfying to me. I liked to work with my hands. I enjoyed taking things apart to see if I could fix them. When I was researching programs at Texas State Technical College, I saw the biomedical equipment technician program and realized this was the same type of work that my dad did. I remembered him talking about going to medical labs to work on the equipment. It became an obvious decision. I have found the career that I want to be in and it feels extra special because of the memories of my dad that come with it.

Dawn Taylor is a student at Texas State Technical College. She is the recipient of the TechNation Scholarship awarded annually to a TSTC student.

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SPOTLIGHT

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

COMPANY SHOWCASE

Elite Biomedical Solutions INTRODUCING: ELITE PRECISION MANUFACTURING

H

ere at Elite, we are excited to announce our latest vertical growth through the implementation of In-House manufacturing. You, our customer, played a large part in this major decision by supporting us through your repeated business, loyalty, and encouragement.

Elite is growing to better support our customers.

In-House manufacturing enables Elite to have our quality, metrology, product development, biomedical repair services, production assembly, customer service, purchasing, and now manufacturing disciplines in one facility. This allows our team to work collaboratively throughout the entire development process. This process includes numerous design reviews, risk assessment and mitigation, manufacturing verification and validation, product testing, production, and product launches.

At Elite, we have assembled a highly skilled team of biomedical,

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mechanical, quality, and plastics’ engineers with over 120+ years of engineering experience in healthcare, automotive, and consumer products’ industries. What this means to all of our customers: a one stop shop for (in-house research and design, quality expertise, metrology capabilities, and “made in the USA” plastic’smanufacturing.) “This allows Elite, to better serve our customers, by giving us the ability to monitor and control every aspect of the component delivery from R&D to finished goods,” states Nate Schlauch, Director of Manufacturing.

QUALITY DEPARTMENT UPDATES We recently upgraded our existing ISO 13485:2003 and ISO 9001:2008 certifications to the most recent standard: ISO 13485:2016 and ISO 9001:2015. In addition, Elite has always been FDA registered and maintains the 21CFR:820

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SPOTLIGHT

requirements. “All of these are a true testament to the excellence of Elite Biomedical Solutions’ Quality Management System,” states Brenda Compliment, Director of Quality.

ELITE BIOMEDICAL SOLUTIONS EXPANSION We are excited to announce we are expanding our facility square footage again. Starting July 1st , Elite adds on an additional 17,000 sq. ft., bringing us to a total of 34,000 sq. ft. This expansion will allow Elite to continue to grow our

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

product development, quality, production assembly, and purchasing departments.

ELITE LAUNCHES NEW MODALITY At the beginning of this year and continuing forward, we have launched several new replacement parts for patient monitoring telemetry units (both GE and Philips). In keeping with Elite’s highest standards of quality, as always, we have continued to maintain very strict and rigorous standards (ex: Ultrasonically welded case halves, IPX7 tested).

ELITE “GIVES BACK” UPDATES Elite continues to live up to our purpose statement: “Improving the lives of our employees, customers, business partners, and communities one day at a time.” We continue to either volunteer and/or financially support great organizations: PanCan Network, Empower Youth, TriMedx Foundation, Engineers without Borders, and other local organizations.

To learn more, visit www.elitebiomedicalsolutions.com

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SPOTLIGHT

BIOMED

ADVENTURES Roller Derby Queen

BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

B

ack in 1973, Jim Croce sang about a roller derby queen named “Spike.” The subject matter was familiar to most people at the time because roller derby had been a favorite TV show for most kids during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Since that time, the sport never really died out but just became a little more refined.

It’s participants have been interested in making it more legitimate as a sport, although those participants still get their share of bruises and the occasional broken bone. The entertainment value, which drew TV and live spectators decades ago, is still there. These days the sport is less brutal and more competitive.

HTM, unbeknownst to many, is proudly represented in the roller derby world by a character known as “Fleetwood Smack.”

Fleetwood’s real name is Rhiannon Thurmond, a biomedical operations manager with Ultimate Biomedical Solutions. She is a member of the Brazos Valley Roller Derby (BVRD) team in Bryan, Texas.

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How did a biomed professional enter the unique sport of roller derby?

“I got recruited into roller derby back in March of 2010, while attending a punk rock concert. A member of the band was doing it and another musician in town, who I totally fangirled over, came up to me and asked if I would be interested in joining. I jumped at the opportunity to be part of a new-aged era of roller derby. Why not?”

Thurmond says.

She showed up at the local venue, an outdoor hockey rink at a park, and watched it a few times.

“Days later, I bought some gear and stated practicing. When I started there were about 13 girls; the league was in its prime and not yet competitive. We researched the rules, skills and requirements to play roller derby and practiced three times a week. I remember racing home from working 8-10 hours at the hospital to grab my gear and hit the track. It was hot out there, but I enjoyed the athleticism and comradery,” Thurmond remembers.

Her only previous experience on skates was some ice skating. She had no

roller skating experience.

“It was very exciting to join a roller derby team; it was something new; something extraordinary. We taught ourselves the rules by researching and reaching out to other established roller derby leagues around Texas. We sat down as a group and collaborated on official bylaws, rules and created waivers to give to new recruits, and before too long, we had a league,” Thurmond adds.

She skated three days a week, toting her daughter along to every practice until she got pregnant with her second daughter.

“There is a saying in the roller derby world; ‘It’s better to get knocked down than knocked up,’ ” Thurmond jokes.

GETTING BACK UP ON SKATES After her second daughter was born, Thurmond decided to return to action.

“While on my nine-month injury, Brazos Valley Roller Derby never stopped. The league became competitive and then found a venue that was indoors with AC. You never know how hot it really is until you skate outside

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SPOTLIGHT

Rhiannon Thurmond (aka Fleetwood Smack) enjoys spending time with her daughters and competing in roller derby. on hot pavement and take a good fall,” she says.

“I took my daughters to a game and knew I had to come back. I came to my first practice two-weeks post-partum and never looked back. I have been skating with BVRD since early 2010.

The thing about roller derby is it is a woman-dominated sport, a lot of us have children, so it is a big happy family,” she says.

“I have worn many hats in this league and play many roles on the track.

I have been president, game committee head, sponsorship committee chair and now serve as interleague liaison. I play all the positions — Jammer (the only skater who can score points), Pivot (controls the pack and is the only skater who can take the Jammers spot in the event of a Star Pass), and Blocker (offense and defense to either help or prevent jammers from getting through),” Thurmond says.

She says she is a dual-rostered skater now, skating in two different leagues.

“I am now in my fourth season with the Missfits Roller Derby out of Humble, Texas and my eighth season with Brazos Valley. I really wanted the opportunity to skate bank track so I got affiliated with a bank track league,” she says.

She points out that this is a track surrounded by a padded rail that was made famous in the early days of televised roller derby.

“It was really intimidating my first

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

time on the banked track — the adrenaline rush for getting the high speed and really working the track is like no other. Missfits Roller Derby recruited me about four years ago. I did a boot camp to get accustomed to the track – I took to it pretty well so they threw me into my first game as soon as my boot camp was over,” Thurmond adds.

If it didn’t already occur to fans of classic rock, Thurmond’s “stage name” makes perfect sense.

“Yes, I was named after the Fleetwood Mac song ‘Rhiannon,’ hence the name Fleetwood Smack,” Thurmond says.

“I wasn’t always Fleetwood Smack.

When I first started derby, prior to my 9-month injury, I was Fleetwood, but later found out there was another Fleetwood Smack playing for a league in California, so I changed my name,” she says.

“I went by Direct Current (DC) for my first four and a half years. My number was 200mA. I chose DC due to my career working around DC electronics. While I really enjoyed DC, I always wanted to go by Fleetwood but didn’t make it official until my team got new uniforms. I figured why not; I will never play against the other Fleetwood,” Thurmond adds.

Thurmond says that roller derby has impacted her life.

“It takes a lot of commitment. I work full time as a biomed (with an

hour and a half commute back and forth every day). I am a mother of two, and commit to this sport two to three times a week. Still, somehow managing time to go to the park, do birthday parties, and play a little disc golf. I travel all over the state of Texas year-round to compete,” Thurmond says.

Her family is supportive of her action-packed hobby.

When not mixing it up on a derby track, Thurmond can be found doing her biomed work for Ultimate Biomedical Solutions.

“I work with a lot of brilliant technicians with many talents and have a pretty awesome team of biomeds. I am the primary anesthesia technician for the Houston area. I have been spending most of my days in a bunny suit working in the ORs,” she says.

She says she travels to different locations — hospitals, standalone ERs, surgical centers — performing PMs, corrective maintenance and inventory.

“I also pull reports to ensure my team reaches our PM goals every month so our customers can rest assured that their equipment is running at peak performance,” Thurmond says.

When not making the rounds in the OR maintaining equipment, this biomed makes the rounds battling it out with other roller derby pros, earning her bruises and representing biomed proudly.

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

BY JOHN WALLACE AND JENA MATTISON

MD EXPO ROCKS NASHVILLE

BY JOHN WALLACE AND JENA MATTISON

M

D Expo rocked Music City in April with one of the most successful conferences ever. More than 100 companies exhibited in a packed expo hall where close to 800 attendees checked out the latest HTM technology and solutions.

MD Expo, which is presented by parent company MD Publishing, continues to grow as it serves the HTM community.

MD Publishing President John Krieg said almost 1,000 people attended MD Expo Nashville and “several people commented that we had the industry’s most prominent and influential people.”

“It’s becoming a must-visit event based on the factors involved with cost, opportunities, the TechNation 20 Leadership Summit and Reverse Expo and how we are helping to shape the future of the HTM industry,” Krieg shared.

The Music City added its unique flavor to the biannual conference.

“Everyone raved about Nashville and how much it has grown and how much fun it is,” Krieg added.

“It was great to have the MD Expo back in Nashville as it such a centrally located city that it is accessible to so many which I think directly attributed to the impressive

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attendance we had at this year’s conference,” MD Publishing Vice President Kristin Leavoy said. “As always MD Expo strives to provide the best education and overall conference experience for its attendees, and I think the Nashville event succeeded in that fully.”

Energy levels were high from the very beginning with the CBET review class by CABMET’s David Scott and the TechNation 20(TN20) events.

Attendees benefitted from afternoon workshops followed by the Sodexosponsored Welcome Reception where exhibitors and attendees socialized over delicious eats and complimentary beverages.

Some attendees even enjoyed a free Florida-Georgia Line concert on Broadway.

TN20 is a unique event that brings together clinical directorsfor a networking dinner and day of discussion on timely topics in HTM. This year, 20 states were represented and conversation was lively.

Summit Imaging, Tri-Imaging Solutions and PartsSource all helped make the TN20 events possible for these decision-makers.

The reverse expo provided an opportunity for TN20 participants to engage in one-on-one meetings with vednors prior to the exhibit hall grand opening.

A continental breakfast sponsored by

Zing Box helped fuel up attendees and presenters ahead of the educational sessions.

The Exhibit Hall Grand Opening that included lunch, sponsored by Renew Biomedical and Asset Services, added to the festive atmosphere followed by a happy hour sponsored by Select Biomedical.

AAMI President and CEO Robert Jensen provided an insightful keynote address the following morning as HTM professionals enjoyed a delicious breakfast.

The Sodexo-sponsored event also included a panel discussion with tons of great information. The day continued with educational sessions and an exhibit hall lunch sponsored by Southeastern Biomedical Associates.

Day three at MD Expo Nashville was capped off with another signature event – a rooftop party at Rock Bottom Brewery in the heart of Music City. The AIV-sponsored grand finale of the conference provided a great venue for networking as attendees and exhibitors enjoyed delicious food, live music

by The Outliers and a variety of complimentary beverages.

Some additional features of MD Expo Nashville included an event app sponsored

by MedWrench and free WiFi via 626 Holdings. Also adding to a great conference were sponsors Elite Biomedical Solutions,

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INDUSTRY UPDATES USOC, Avante, PartsSoure, Summit Imaging, Innovatus, RPI, Mobile Medical Repair and Maintenance, Tri-Imaging Solutions, Stephens International, Maintenance Connection, AlphaSource Group, Intermed, Siemens Medical Solutions, MW Imaging, GE Healthcare and OneSource.

Representatives from companies exhibiting at MD Expo shared positive comments about the event via an electronic survey.

“Classic industry gathering with a focus on networking - nothing phoney or overblown. Well attended and supported by the key players in the industry,” The InterMed Group Director Ken Staab said.

“Great event for networking with existing clients and establishing new clients to develop new business,” Health Tech Talent Management’s Jenifer Brown said.

“It’s an excellent networking opportunity that brings leaders and highly talented individuals together in a collaborative environment,” one exhibitor who wished to remain anonymous said.

“The MD Expo is the place to truly experience the professionalism, diversity, and passion of the HTM Community. It reminds you of why you chose it in the first place. The educational sessions consists of things that are relevant to us today, the networking opportunities allow us to build strong relationships and see our customers face-to-face,” Redwell Education Management Corporation President and Executive Director Jewel Newell said.

“Great place to meet people who actually work in the industry. A much more casual and friendly atmosphere than AAMI. This makes the MD Expo more valuable, as there are more people you can actually talk to and learn from,” Phoenix Data Systems’ Terri Garrett said.

Draeger Inc. Marketing Manager Robert Rejmaniak said MD Expo provided “very meaningful conversations with customers and partners.” He also said that it is “very beneficial to attend” and that he always learns something when speaking to customers at MD Expo.

Attendees also had great things to say about the spring conference in Nashville.

“A lot of great interactions and a lot of great information,” Baxter Regional Medical Center Supervisor of BioMed Dan

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Campbell said.

“Insightful for any HTM employee,” said VHA Biomedical Engineer Gregory Apers.

Norma Hopkins, CBET, from Franciscan Health Olympic Fields said she would tell an HTM professional thinking of attending an MD Expo that it is “lots of fun, great education and so many vendors!”

Southern Illinois Healthcare Director of Clinical Engineering and Telecommunications said MD Expo provides “pertinent information and discussions with like minded people.”

“This is the best value of all the conferences,” Doylestown Hospital Biomedical Site Manager Randall Guess said.

“A great place to learn new things and network,” Braeutigam Enterprises President David Braeutigam said.

Several people also commented on MD Expo while in attendance.

Network Imaging Systems General Manager Bruce Hull said the conference was a success for him. He explained that it was his first conference in a long time and he found a company that can help with a new issue he was working to overcome.

“It’s a great show,” Hull added.

Kent Roberts, site coordinator for clinical engineering at Centra Health, sees great value in MD Expo.

“It’s a good place to get great education and you can find whatever you need really,” Roberts said.

“They have all been good, but this one seems to be more focused and streamlined,” said Piedmont Healthcare’s Diagnostic

Imaging Repair and Biomedical Engineering Manager Steven Kelley. “I’ve added a lot of connections. I was a part of the reverse expo and really enjoyed that.

When you are walking through the exhibit hall you walk past some vendors and don’t connect. In the reverse expo you can find a connection and realize you need to talk to them and that way my time is focused when I go into the exhibit hall.”

Joey Jones, a biomedical instructor at the only BMET program in Kentucky at Madisonville Community College, was blown away by his first MD Expo.

“I’ve been to AAMI and I like this a lot better,” Jones said. “AAMI is overwhelming. This is more doable.”

“MD Expo is more balanced,” he added. “Y’all have done a great job of providing a wide spectrum of classes. I’ll definitely be coming to another MD Expo before AAMI.” Stephen Glasgow with Multi-Medix said he traveled all the way from the United Kingdom to attend MD Expo. He said he meet three new customers at the Nashville conference and is already making plans to attend MD Expo Seattle this October.

“MD Expo is excited to be heading to the Pacific Northwest in the fall,” Leavoy said. “Seattle is a new location for the conference and we hope that it will bring new faces to the exhibit hall and classroom and encourage those in the region to come join us for three days of education, networking and fun!”

Additional information about MD Expo Seattle is available online at MDExpoShow.com.

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VISIT US AT AAMI BOOTH #335

INDUSTRY UPDATES

STAFF REPORTS

NEWS & NOTES

Updates from the HTM Industry AVANTE HEALTH SOLUTIONS WELCOMES ADDITION Avante Health Solutions has announced that Equipment Maintenance Solutions (EMS) will be joining the Avante family.

Founded in 2008 in Ferndale, Michigan, EMS provides MRI and CT service, sales, parts and rentals.

Avante Preisdent Steve Inacker said that EMS further strengthens Avante’s overall reach and capabilities.

“We are focused on strategic consolidation in a fragmented industry,” Inacker said. “EMS is a perfect addition to our teams in terms of their culture and commitment to quality products and services.”

EMS President Seth Davis said he is excited about the opportunities the partnership will create.

“We share a common vision for superior client service, a teamoriented and supportive culture for our employees, and growth in a changing health care environment,” Davis said. “We think our clients will be very eager to access the many service and product solutions that the Avante family of companies provide.”

The EMS service portfolio is primarily in the Midwestern United States, but EMS is also a national provider of service, parts and equipment rentals.

“EMS is an ISO-certified company that provides best-in-class service, equipment, and parts to a variety of major health systems, hospitals,

physician groups and other providers,” according to an Avante news release.

EMS is the newest member of the Avante Health Solutions overall portfolio that includes Global Medical Imaging LLC, DRE Medical Group Inc., Integrated Rental Services Inc., Oncology Services International Inc., Pacific Medical Group Inc. and Transtate Equipment Company Inc. Additional information about EMS is available at www.equipmentmaintenance-solutions.com. •

SOUTHEASTERN BIOMEDICAL ASSOCIATES EARNS ISO/IEC 17025:2005 CERTIFICATION

Southeastern Biomedical Associates has been awarded the ISO/IEC 17025:2005 certification for calibration covering both depot and on-site calibration services in addition to its ISO 9001:2015 certification.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) form a specialized system for worldwide standardization.

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

National bodies that are members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of international standards through technical committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity. ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work.

The general requirements of ISO/IEC 17025 focus on the competence of testing and calibration laboratories and is the main ISO standard used by testing and calibration laboratories. In most major countries, ISO/IEC 17025 is the

standard for which most labs must hold accreditation in order to be deemed technically competent. In many cases, suppliers and regulatory authorities will not accept test or calibration results from a lab that is not accredited. There are many commonalities with the ISO 9000 standard, but ISO/IEC 17025 is more specific in requirements for competence, and applies directly to those organizations that produce testing and calibration results and is based on more technical principles.

“We are proud to provide our customers the confidence of our proven quality with our dual ISO certifications,” Southeastern Biomedical Associates Co-Owner Boyd S. Campbell said via email. •

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

STAFF REPORTS

IMTMEDICAL INTRODUCES CITREX H3 imtmedical has launched its latest gas flow and pressure analyzer.

“The CITREX H3 offers all functions required for a precise testing of ventilators and other medical devices. It can measure pressure, flow, temperature, and – with an optional O2 sensor – even oxygen concentration,” according to a news release.

“CITREX H3 is the latest gas flow and pressure gauge from imtmedical. The state-of-the-art device was developed as an easy to operate entry-level model with only the key features for verifying medical devices – at an unbeatable price. CITREX H3 measures gas flow and pressure in the bidirectional flow channel. The accuracy of the flow measurements is ±2 %.

CITREX H3’s wide measuring range of ± 300 l/min allows testing of various medical devices such as ICU and home care ventilators,” according to the company.

“With the CITREX H3, operators can measure the 16 most important ventilation parameters including: flow, pressure, volume, PEEP, and gas temperature. Five

different gas types and the nine most important gas standards are available for measurements medical technicians and ventilator manufacturers commonly use.

Settings on the CITREX H3 can be changed easily via a simple-to-use configuration tool. By connecting the device to a computer, operators can customize the 1.7-inch screen to display just the values and units they need for their

measurements,” the news release adds.

The CITREX H3 is available as a single unit and can be expanded with various accessories and options. For the measurement of oxygen, an optional O2 sensor can be purchased, which increases the range of application of the CITREX H3. In addition, imtmedical offers a variety of adapters, test lungs and a carrying bag. •

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Striving for Perfection Through Discovery and Innovation 36

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PHOENIX DATA SYSTEMS INC. ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH ONESOURCE DOCUMENT SITE ®

Phoenix Data Systems Inc. and oneSOURCE have completed the interface of AIMS and oneSOURCE’s equipment PM document database.

“The successful merging of these two applications will result in significant time and cost savings for thousands of health care service professionals that currently use the two applications independently,” according to a news release.

“This partnership will enable us to provide our users with a seamless interface that allows them to find, access and store documents in AIMS for their maintenance programs,” Phoenix Data Systems Inc. President and CEO Ben Mannisto stated. “It makes both AIMS and oneSOURCE more valuable to our installed base and opens up more market opportunity to us as well. We are excited about both the power of the interface and early response from our mutual customers.”

“The AIMS/oneSOURCE interface is yet another way we help our clients streamline their operation,” oneSOURCE Biomedical Project Manager Chad Matzen added. “This interface creates a single environment for all documentation needs. When you access the asset in the AIMS software, you can quickly retrieve the documentation through the oneSOURCE embedded link. This ease of use is something I desired throughout my entire career as a BMET.” •

MERRY X-RAY ACQUIRES NATIONWIDE IMAGING SERVICES INC. Merry X-Ray Corporation (MXR) has announced the purchase of Nationwide Imaging Services Inc. Nationwide is an international broker, re-conditioner/re-seller, parts supplier and servicer of medical imaging equipment. Nationwide founder Rob Manetta, also a founding member of the International Association of Medical Equipment Remarketers and Servicers (IAMERS), had recently led Nationwide to achieve ISO 13485:2016 certification.

“Nationwide brings a robust access to re-conditioned medical imaging equipment as well as an international presence to our rapidly expanding suite of offerings to the medical imaging market,” MXR President Ted Sloan said. “With our extensive network of new equipment distributorships, acquisitions in late 2017 of Universal Medical Systems and Consensys Imaging Service, combined with Premier Imaging just last month and now Nationwide, we’ve established a comprehensive portfolio of imaging equipment and service solutions that include new and re-conditioned equipment offerings to hospitals, imaging centers, physician offices, stand-alone ERs and veterinarians across the U.S.” “We’re very excited to join the MXR family,” Manetta said. “Our regulatory-compliant equipment and parts are now fully complimented

by Consensys Imaging Service, also a regulatory-compliant service company. Furthermore, with access to MXR’s vast network of customer relationships accumulated over the last 60 years, we see unlimited growth potential.” • ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

JUNE 2018

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

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GMI RECEIVES ISO 13485:2016 CERTIFICATE Global Medical Imaging (GMI), soon to be Avante Ultrasound, has received its certificate of registration to the Medical Devices Quality Management Standard of ISO 13485:2016. GMI’s scope of registration for ISO 13485:2016 encompasses sales, service, repair, technical support and parts for new and refurbished ultrasound systems.

“GMI has been a trusted quality partner for health care providers and ultrasound original equipment manufacturers for well over a decade. Adding ISO 13485:2016 is consistent with being part of the Avante Health Solutions family of companies,” GMI President Dennis Streppa said. “Maintaining ISO standards in everything we do strengthens our unbiased credibility as we provide the highest level of expertise to ultrasound users around the world” GMI is a provider of diagnostic ultrasound solutions including new and refurbished equipment, nationwide service, transducer repair, technical support, parts and training.

“GMI is the only ultrasound provider that is vertically integrated to address all your ultrasound needs,” according to a new release.

“We are extremely excited about achieving the ISO 13485:2016 certification. This certification ensures that we are utilizing qualitycontrolled processes to consistently deliver quality products and services to all customers,” GMI Senior Manager of RA/QA and Sales Operations Precious Byrd said.

GMI, soon to be Avante Ultrasound, is part of the Avante Health Solutions family of companies. •

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THE INTERMED GROUP ACQUIRES M.I.T. The InterMed Group has announced the acquisition of Medical Imaging Technologies Inc. (M.I.T.). The InterMed Group is a provider of integrated health technology management services, providing an array of asset management options to their clients. “From comprehensive equipment planning and administration to strategic coverage of key divisions or modalities in support of in-house, OEM or hybrid solutions, they tailor their services to enhance the overall quality, cost, timeliness and confidence in our clients’ technology management,” according to an InterMed press release. “I am excited about the capabilities and enhancements to the service coverages for CT services this deal represents. MIT is a great cultural fit for us with their focus on quality services with integrity. MIT has a solid reputation in the southeast for great service and a belief in always bringing the best,” The InterMed Group CEO Rick Staab said.

“Together, this acquisition allows The InterMed Group to deliver end-to- end customer service solutions, offering high adaptability to integrate both current and new customers referred in. M.I.T. has been providing top quality products and service for over 30 years by selling and servicing CT, MRI and X-ray equipment. They provide a full line of services that can be individually tailored to meet each of their customers’ needs and together with The InterMed Group will be able to ‘Bring the Best’ as well,” according to the press release. • WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

INDUSTRY UPDATES

STAFF REPORTS

CLEARWATER COMPLIANCE OFFERS TO HELP HOSPITALS STAY AHEAD OF CYBER THREATS To help hospitals facing a dangerous combination of mounting cybersecurity threats, vulnerabilities to connected medical devices and a widening gap in the skills required to establish, implement and mature a cybersecurity program, Clearwater Compliance has expanded its cyber capabilities to include a Virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO). This professional service addresses the demand and critical needs that health care organizations face for expertise in identifying and analyzing threats, creating strategic security plans, ensuring compliance and securing the environment from threats and cyberattacks.

“With Clearwater as a strategic partner, health care organizations can meet the critical need for cybersecurity competency with access to seasoned professionals who understand the complex industry of health care and cyber risk management. vCISO customers also have access to Clearwater’s award-winning compliance and risk management platform. These solutions alleviate the need to employ skilled talent

and have been developed for organizations that do not have the experience on staff or would like to have a seasoned expert without increasing headcount,” according to a news release.

“Large and small hospitals alike are under the same threat of a cyber-attack, and forward-thinking hospital leaders are preparing their facilities through staff training, risk monitoring and other tactics,” said Lance Lunsford, Texas Hospital Association senior vice president of marketing/communications and CEO for the organization’s subsidiary HealthShare. “With vCISO, more of our members can take advantage of Clearwater’s expertise in risk assessment and management. The Texas Hospital Association represents about 500 hospitals across the state from the largest systems to rural and critical access hospitals. We are very excited about Clearwater’s array of services and solutions that enable our smaller hospitals to pool their resources to share a vCISO across their region.”

Clearwater’s new vCISO services include:

•O verall program leadership and advisory services • I nformation risk management program governance •D evelopment of security and information risk management policy, procedures and best practices •E stablishment of a third-party risk management program “With the dearth of security and risk management professionals, especially those with health care experience, finding and affording a qualified CISO can be a challenge,” says Bob Chaput, CEO of Clearwater Compliance. “Our vCISO service is completely tailorable to any hospital’s compliance and cyber risk management requirements and organizational needs. What’s unique is our ability to equip customers with our award-winning IRM|Pro, SaaS-based software. Along with other solutions, our vCISO can be either on-site or remote, full-time or part-time, whichever makes the most sense operationally and fits the customer’s budget.” •

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

BY AAMI

AAMI UPDATE

AAMI Welcomes First Vice President of Healthcare Technology Management

A

AMI has turned to a rising healthcare technology management leader to serve as its first vice president of HTM, a move that underscores the association’s commitment to the professionals in that field.

Danielle McGeary, who most recently served as the district manager for Aramark’s northeastern region, joined AAMI on April 23. Her priorities include bolstering the number of qualified HTM professionals and strengthening – and elevating – the field in general.

“I am absolutely ecstatic, humbled, and honored to be selected for this role,” McGeary, 32, said. “Increasing the pipeline of HTM professionals is a problem that I’ve tried to fix in my individual positions, so when I saw that this role had a major focus on solving that issue at a national level, I couldn’t think of more compelling and rewarding work that I could be doing.”

AAMI President and CEO Robert Jensen offered high praise for McGeary, saying she was the ideal candidate to attract a new generation of professionals to the field and to the association.

“Our decision was tough. We had a lot of incredibly talented candidates from a field of more than 250 applicants,” Jensen said. “Through her résumé and a series of interviews, Danielle stood out for her intelligence and creativity. She will also bring a lot of enthusiasm to efforts to attract younger HTM

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professionals to join AAMI.” As she starts to settle into her new role, McGeary said her top priority is getting to know AAMI’s members, volunteers and staff.

“My ability to succeed in this position depends on my ability to network with the field and the people within AAMI,” she said. “During my first few months, I plan to talk with subject matter experts from across the country, get to know everyone on AAMI’s Technology Management Council, and really build my network so I can understand their concerns, hear their ideas and formulate a plan from there.”

McGeary began working at Aramark in January 2017. Prior to that, she was the director of clinical engineering and acting health systems specialist for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Boston Healthcare System and VA Bedford Medical Center.

McGeary holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Connecticut. In addition, she has authored articles that have appeared in AAMI’s journal BI&T and the Journal of Clinical Engineering, and has served as president, vice president and webmaster for the New England Society of Clinical Engineering.

McGeary says she is eager to use the skills and experience she’s acquired working in hospitals to tackle the challenges that lay ahead.

“I’m looking forward to being a voice and an advocate for the people supporting healthcare technology on the

frontlines and the great work that they do every day,” she said. “I want to make them proud.”

AAMI, CHIME LAUNCH LEADERSHIP ACADEMY FOR HTM PROFESSIONALS To help cultivate leaders within healthcare technology management (HTM), AAMI and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) launched its first HTM Leadership Academy this month at the AAMI 2018 Conference & Expo in Long Beach, California. The academy was specifically developed to address HTM professionals’ day-to-day challenges – and position them to take a seat at their respective organization’s “big” table.

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money grow with PRN. “Becoming a leader is one way an HTM professional can advance his or her career. On a larger level, having well-trained leaders helps the HTM department become a more valued member of the health care delivery team and have a seat at the table when decisions are made,” said Emilee Hughes, director of curriculum development at AAMI. “This training provided an understanding of how to collaborate effectively with other organization leaders and how to develop excellent communication, interpersonal and other skills.”

During the program, which was held June 4, experienced and future HTM leaders explored how they could become fully integrated members of the health care delivery team and have significant influence in the management of all types of healthcare technology. In addition, participants created an individualized action plan to define the specific steps and relationships needed to achieve personal and organizational growth and success.

“HTM leaders need the skills and knowledge to be ‘at the table’ with other health care leaders. This type of course provides both,” said Sue Schade, a member of the AAMI Board of Directors and a principal at StarBridge Advisors who helped developed the program with CHIME. “Leadership development programs that are targeted to a specific industry and role are most valuable since they represent the world you work in with cases you can relate to.”

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BY ECRI

ECRI UPDATE Celebrating Our Golden Year Under New Leadership

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n honor of ECRI Institute’s 50th anniversary, we are spotlighting stories that made us who we are today.

Here is a story from James Keller, MS, FACCE, Vice President of International Market Development, an employee of ECRI in 1984.

On January 15, 2018, ECRI Institute began a new era as we welcomed just the third CEO in our 50-year history, Marcus Schabacker, MD, PhD. Dr. Schabacker is a board-certified anesthesiologist and intensive care specialist with more than 25 years of health care experience in complex global environments, and more than 18 years of senior leadership responsibilities serving the medical device and pharmaceutical industries across the health care value chain. He replaces Jeffrey Lerner, PhD, who served as CEO since 2001. Lerner is now President Emeritus for ECRI Institute. Lerner took over ECRI’s leadership from our late founder, Joel Nobel, MD, who was posthumously inducted into the first class of ACCE’s Clinical Engineering Hall of Fame in 2015.

After completing clinical and academic practice in Germany and South Africa, Schabacker leveraged deep clinical, regulatory and operational expertise to enhance scientific, technical, medical and regulatory capabilities at companies such as Baxter and Bristol-Myers Squibb. His experience includes designing, transforming and leading organizations of up to 4,000 employees across five continents to provide safe and effective

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

products to patients and health care providers worldwide.

During his clinical years, and his time as an industry thought leader, Schabacker was focused on patient safety and enhancing patient care. Considering ECRI Institute’s long history as a patient safety organization, Schabacker is perfectly suited to take on our leadership role. ACCE’s many international members will appreciate Schabacker’s early career when he served as senior medical officer and head of the intensive care and anesthesia department at the Mafikeng General Hospital, North-West Province, South Africa. His work there was part of a humanitarian aid program to support the African National Congress government under Nelson Mandela in the restructuring and buildup of a rural health care system in post-apartheid South Africa.

After his return from Africa, Schabacker joined the medical industry and held roles of increasing responsibility in medical affairs, preclinical and clinical development, regulatory affairs, quality, research and development, and patient safety. In his last corporate role prior to joining ECRI Institute, Schabacker served as corporate vice president and chief scientific officer at Baxter.

Schabacker takes over the leadership of ECRI at an exciting time as we begin to celebrate our 50th anniversary. We have launched the first stage of our golden anniversary with the tagline “celebrating 50 years of separating fact from fiction in healthcare.” As part of our celebration, we will be proudly spotlighting our many accomplishments.

Early examples include Nobel’s integral role in helping to start the clinical

engineering profession and his launch of the comparative evaluation program that thousands of hospitals around the world continue to rely on for practical and independent advice on purchasing of medical devices. Our look back will be important but moving forward under our new leadership will be the focal point of our celebrations. From a clinical and biomedical engineering point-of-view, you can look to ECRI Institute for resources and guidance to help navigate the emerging responsibilities of our profession. We will have our finger on the pulse to detect which products work best for HIT integration, identify new cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities, and help establish clinical and biomedical engineering-related best practices for managing community-based telehealth programs.

Keep an eye out for ECRI Institute announcements of anniversary-related activities throughout this year. And, to our clinical and biomedical engineering colleagues, thank you very much for your support of ECRI Institute over the years, especially the few of you who have been around for as long as we have!

James P. Keller Jr., MS, FACCE Vice President, International Market Development, ECRI Institute jkeller@ecri.org For more information about ECRI Institute, visit www.ecri.org, contact communications@ecri.org, or call 610-825-6000, ext. 5889.

JUNE 2018

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THE BENCH

BY CONNOR WALSH

BIOMED 101

Cultivating and Solidifying Strong Relationships in HTM

BY CONNOR WALSH

I

n a hospital and clinical setting, communication is everything and is especially important in Healthcare Technology Management (HTM).

As medical equipment continues to evolve from standalone devices into integrated systems, this communication in solving equipment failures becomes even more essential. From contacting the vendor to help troubleshoot, clinical applications specialists to monitor HL7 communication, and clinical end users to help test after a solution is found, all parties are needed to resolve a complex problem. However, rounding up these individuals can be time consuming, with some not sensing the same urgency as you when you notice a potential problem. This begs the question; how do you get these stakeholders to want to help you?

Coming up on my fourth year as an HTM professional, I’ve encountered numerous types of individuals and have observed the interactions I’ve had with them. Personally, the most important observation I have made is that leaders do not necessarily need to be the head of a department, or even in a supervisory role. Narrowing that down even more, there are two types of leaders; those that direct/ delegate, and those that are out on the front line making sure things get done and leading by example. If you find yourself directing tasks and projects and not accruing any yourself, I can tell you now that it may be more difficult to get the most out of people. Why is someone going

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to want to go the extra mile to help you when they know your workload is minimal? Show them that you are capable of leading projects and handling tasks yourself, so that they feel inclined to lend a hand when you need it.

Giving appropriate recognition and expressing gratitude is so important when it comes to generating support and, unfortunately, all too often it is lost during day-to-day operations. A personal rule of thumb of mine is that you can never say “thank you” or “good job” too much. Although you may think it is an easy task, the individual assisting you may have jumped through numerous hoops to get it done for you. Coworkers or employees that feel underappreciated are far less likely to want to continue to assist you when something arises.

If you find it difficult to remember the last time you sent some appreciation to someone that helped you, take the time to let them know their work and effort is valued.

My final advice on building successful relationships is no surprise to many: help others. Make sure to know the key people that are part of solving these interdisciplinary issues and, just as you need their support, ensure that you are there providing a commensurate amount of support in return. Each day, plan appropriate amounts of time to adapt to the needs of others, just as you will require them to adapt to you. Even if you are unable to help them, take the time to explain why, or help point them in

CONNOR WALSH Clinical Engineer at Southeast Louisiana Veterans Healthcare System (SLVHCS)

the right direction. Few people will come running to your side if they know you never come running to theirs.

Having strong relationships with your peers will drastically reduce medical device downtime and streamline project timelines in your department. Think about the last time you took on a project or task at your facility rather than delegate it out, the last time you said thank you to a co-worker for their hard work, or the last time you went out of your way to help a key stakeholder. If you find it difficult to remember a scenario for any of the above, remember these tips moving forward.

They are extremely important in building a healthy work environment and, more importantly, they are all vital in building a network of individuals eager to help you when a problem arises.

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Every ultrasound probe should be tested frequently and have a quality report for patient safety. ProbeHunter users around the world – hospitals, OEMs, ultrasound probe repair servicers, the reprocessing industry, and more – can validate the performance of ultrasound probes in real time.

LIVING PRODUCT & FUTURE READY Our software and hardware team around the globe is now up to 35 people. ProbeHunter is a “Living Product” and it is important to have only the best teams. The goal is to test all ultrasound probes that have a reasonable market share. The ProbeHunter system is “Future Ready” and is already prepared to take on the new ultrasound transducer technology.

PROBEHUNTER COUNTRY Quality assurance of ultrasound probes is moving higher up on the agenda of hospital staffs. The number one ProbeHunter country is Sweden, where it all started. The biomedical engineers gave their input when developing the ProbeHunter. Almost every region today has its own testing device going through the inventory of ultrasound probes on a regular basis. OEMs are asked for probe adapters to fit the test system when purchasing new U.S. systems.

The Probe Care program is implemented at many sites making hospitals’ staffs aware of the importance of how to handle these fragile transducers and to use only approved gels and cleansers to avoid lens damage. The result is a higher quality of care and cost savings.

BE PRO ACTIVE FOR PATIENT SAFETY When testing an ultrasound probe 11 months after purchase (before the warranty ends) and before and after each repair saves hospitals money. Testing the probes as new arrivals will obtain a footprint and make sure only the highest quality probes are received. After 15 years of testing probes, we know that 40 percent of probes at a non-tested hospital need to be attended to and about 10 percent of new arrivals could already have a problem. The good thing is that by testing you can be proactive. If you know you can test a probe, there is no excuse not to. ProbeHunter testing makes it easy to get a “Go” or “No Go” for each probe and maintain a high level of patient safety.

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THE BENCH

STAFF REPORTS

SHOP TALK

Conversations from the TechNation Listserv ISO Certification

Q:

Can somebody tell me if I should only use third-party service providers that have an ISO certification? Is it a big deal?

A:

Manufacturers will not certify a third-party servicer if they compete with the manufacturer’s service revenue.

A:

ISO certification will become more important once the FDA and Congress figure out what they want to do to appease the lobbyists for the several OEM and third-party organizations who are pushing for this action against in-house and third-party medical device service organizations.

Obviously, the ACA has had a negative impact on margins and these lobbying organizations are trying to get the government to preserve as much margin as possible for them through legislation. Rarely is there a discussion about patient safety as the primary goal. The organizations pushing for this legislation like to present anecdotal information about poor service from third-parties and in-house programs. I have similar data that supports poor service and results on

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

devices that have been under fullservice OEM contracts. The argument made by these organizations is false, in my opinion. In the end, it comes down to the personnel who directly service the medical devices in question. This is why I personally am so picky about who joins my team.

Regardless of the service provider – OEM, third-party or in-house, is the person servicing the device invested into the work he and/or she is performing? That person and their commitment to excellence will tell me the quality of the service product delivered, not the name of the company on the ID badge.

So back to your original question, is ISO certification important? Sure it is.

Is it the only criteria to make a decision about partnering with a service/ parts organization? No, but it certainly helps. Much like ACI certification for the HTM professional. Does ACI certification ensure that any successful test-taker will deliver exceptional service for their employer? Certainly not, but it does make any HTM professional more knowledgeable about the career they have chosen and the service they deliver. The solution for exceptional service always come down

to the individual delivering the service.

Is ACI certification or ISO certification a “big deal?” “You betcha!” Does it guarantee anything about quality?

No guarantees, but it should make it better. That is why the HTM professional and the employer should always choose wisely. Do your homework about the people you do business with, that includes OEMs, third-parties, inhouse organizations, etc ... I bet most of us research the car we will buy, the washer and dryer we buy, or even the haircut professional we use. Why not do that in your career? I suspect most organizations in health care who service or provide parts are either ISO certified or are looking into ISO certification. Are you as a healthcare technology management professional looking into your certification and professional development? I hope so. The patient is counting on it!

SHOP TALK is compiled from TechNation’s ListServ and MedWrench.com. Go to www.1TechNation.com/Listserv or www.

MedWrench.com community threads to find out how you can join and be part of the discussion.

JUNE 2018

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THE THE BENCH BENCH

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he new IPA-3400 Series Infusion Pump Analyzer can be configured with 1 to 4 channels. The individual channels can be easily removed and sent in for calibration or repair, allowing the IPA-3400 with the remaining channels to stay in operation. This means no more downtime waiting for the entire device to be returned. The IPA-3400 also uses a new patent-pending technology to determine flow. This new method uses a dual syringe stepper motor 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 and, therefore, more accurate readings. This new design allows the system to run not only more quietly and more smoothly, but it also allows for a bidirectional powered fluid flow for use in the built-in cleaning cycle.

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JUNE 2018

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THE BENCH

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NUCLEAR MEDICINE PANEL DISCUSSION SESSION POPULAR U

niversal Medical rolled out a team of experts for the recent Webinar Wednesday presentation “Why A Reconditioned System Might Be Right for You.” The webinar, which was sponsored by Universal Medical, provided expert insights into nuclear medicine.

The live webinar was attended by 155 people and the presentation is currently available online at WebinarWednesday.live.

The expert panel of representatives from Universal Medical, who fielded questions about reconditioned systems after their presentation, included Senior VP and Chief Operating Officer Jason Kitchell, Vice President of Corporate Quality & Customer Support Services/ Clinical Support Specialist Nik Iwanwi, Evaluation Program Director Chad Watson, Senior Product Manager Craig Diener, National Service Manager Craig Snodgrass and Production Manager/ Quality Manager Kevin Borror.

Topics discussed included camera capability requirements, clinical requirements, financial requirements, reimbursements, parts availability, maintenance and more.

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nuclear imaging systems, parts, equipment service, training courses for health care technology managers, camera system moves, technical and clinical support, flexible financing options and more.

The Universal Medical presentation was well received by those in the industry.

“Great presentation, always good to know of new third-party companies and their quality,” Biomed Manager D. Sanchez shared.

“Even though the nuclear cameras don’t pertain to me in my role, it was interesting to listen. There are always service, quality control issues, support issues that carry across all equipment lines,” wrote Senior Biomed S. Gardner.

“This Webinar was presented in a unique and comprehensive manner.

Some information presented was new to me and I gleaned a substantial amount of information in this webinar. The panel giving the presentation was knowledgeable and their contact information was made available for further discussion of what was presented today,” said K. Ongchango, CBET. “Great webinar for biomedical technicians who have run into issues with purchasing and maintaining

nuclear imaging systems on a tight budget,” said Biomed F. Mishchuk.

The Webinar Wednesday sessions continue to receive positive reviews.

“Webinar Wednesday has helped me get the needed credits for recertification.

In the process I have learned about new products, services and, of course, new ways to perform my job better. Thanks for continuing to provide great quality webinars,” wrote Biomed L. Shelman.

“I always enjoy the Webinar Wednesday series. They are equally entertaining and informative. The content is always relative to what we as HTM professionals do on a daily basis,” Healthcare Technology Management Director S. Brow said.

For information about the webinar series, including a calendar of upcoming presentations and recordings of previous sessions, visit WebinarWednesday.live.

Thank you sponsor:

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ROUNDTABLE

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ROUNDTABLE

ROUNDTABLE Imaging Test Equipment HTM professionals need the right tools to do their job and that includes doing PMs and repairs to imaging equipment.

TechNation reached out to professionals in the world of HTM to find out the latest about test equipment for diagnostic imaging devices. The panel of participants shared their insights regarding the newest technology, what to consider when purchasing testing equipment and more.

The panel for this roundtable discussion on imaging test equipment includes Technical Prospects Director of Engineering and Training Ken Hable, Radcal Corporation President and CEO Curt Harkless, RTI Senior Applications and Product Specialist Rob Morrison and Unfors RaySafe AB/Fluke Corporation Senior Product Manager Göran Zelander.

Q: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE NEWEST IMAGING TECHNOLOGIES HEALTH CARE FACILITIES SHOULD BE AWARE OF WHEN DETERMINING TEST EQUIPMENT NEEDS? Ken Hable, Technical Prospects Hable: One of the unique things about the diagnostic imaging industry is the way we continuously refine and reinvent equipment that already exists. This means that while the technology may advance, the testing tools may remain relatively the same. For example, we’ve seen ultrasound in medicine for more than 50 years, and while it has evolved to the point of live streaming video, much of the basic test equipment and the process remains largely unchanged.

Harkless: Mammography equipment, Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) especially, is advancing rapidly. These systems often have specialized or manufacturer-specific equipment required for installation, service and quality assurance. New contrast-enhanced diagnostic X-ray imaging systems exploit novel filtration such as copper or titanium.

Accurate dose measurement requires energy independent ion chambers or solid-state sensors equipped with new calibrations. Innovative CT systems based on X-ray generation at dual voltages provide unparalleled imaging as well as challenges for quality assurance instruments.

Morrison: One of them would be cone beam CT type devices.

They are a challenge to know what are the necessary measurements that need to be performed and what

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

parameters should be measured. When you look at the segment known as dental cone beam CT devices the American Association of Physicist in Medicine (AAPM) has a task group (TG-261) seeking to give guidance on what should be measured and how to measure. Another imaging device I would add are mini C-arm type devices. They have very low output and it can be a real challenge to measure all the different parameters.

Zelander: The last few years, there has been a rapid development in mammography with new so-called targetfilter combinations from the major OEMs. The objectives are, as always, to minimize dose and improve image quality. In addition, several OEMs offer tomosynthesis capabilities which also puts new demands on the test equipment.

Q: WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT TYPES OF TEST EQUIPMENT IMAGING SERVICE PROFESSIONALS NEED? Hable: Imaging service professionals should rely, first and foremost, on the test equipment recommended by the imaging system’s original equipment manufacturer (OEM). Every OEM provides this testing information as part of the equipment’s preventative maintenance process, and these tools are available through both the OEM and third-party suppliers. I recommend that imaging service engineers have a firm grasp on each modality’s preventative care plan and then maintain the specific test schedule with the suggested test tools. If, for any reason, engineers can’t utilize the specific products approved by the equipment’s manufacturer, it is important that they find testing tools that meet or exceed the OEM’s specifications and standards.

Curt Harkless, Radcal Corporation Harkless: In X-ray imaging, the focus is on optimizing imaging quality with minimal patient exposure. Today’s diagnostic X-ray QA instruments can make this fast and easy. Exposure is typically characterized by dose which can be reliably measured on all machines using ion chambers. Alternatively, solid-state sensors offer a number of advantages, but must be uniquely calibrated for every beam quality to be examined. The energy spectrum used by the imager is equally important. Solid-state multi-sensors provide the means to characterize the spectrum using a single exposure where many filters and exposures were previously

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ROUNDTABLE required. The X-ray generator current is another important QA measurement. Invasive measurement is increasingly impractical, making non-invasive measurement more attractive and, at times, necessary. For CT imaging, the geometry of the beam is also important. Cost-effective beam characterization tools are now available that can make this characterization dramatically simpler than in the past.

Morrison: One type of meter which I am very familiar with is non-invasive X-ray test equipment which is used to cover all X-ray imaging modalities as well as the ability to measure all the different parameters. Every X-ray imaging field service engineer has to have a non-invasive meter to measure kV, time, mA, mAs, dose, dose rate, dose/pulse and pulse rate. However, there are many other test tools that today’s engineer uses from digital multimeters to oscilloscopes along with all the needed standard mechanical tools and specialized tools. I saw recently where one company provides the field engineer with a high precision digital level as part of their kit.

Göran Zelander, Unfors RaySafe AB/Fluke Corporation Zelander: In diagnostic X-ray imaging, a meter is needed that will measure dose, dose rate, kV and HVL. The types of tests that need to be conducted can be stipulated in OEM service manuals or in quality control manuals from organizations such as American College of Radiology (ACR).

Q: HOW HAVE CHANGES IN REQUIREMENTS BY ACCREDITATION ORGANIZATIONS AND THE CMS RULING ON THE REQUIREMENT TO FOLLOW OEM RECOMMENDED SCHEDULES AND TESTING TECHNIQUES AFFECTED THE TYPES OF TEST EQUIPMENT IMAGING PROFESSIONALS NEED AND USE? Hable: The recent mandates and rulings by various accreditation organizations and the CMS further reinforce the importance of adhering to each OEM’s established schedules and techniques. For example, not all radiation testing devices are the same or provide the same measurement metrics, making it difficult to draw conclusions when reviewing test results based on OEMprovided baselines. When able, engineers should select test tools included on the equipment manufacturer’s preapproved list, which generally includes two to four brands available for purchase.

Harkless: The Joint Commission Accreditation Healthcare Organization (JCAHO) established the requirement for luminance characterization of imaging systems. Light sensor instruments perform this measurement reliably and can be purchased as stand-alone solutions or as an integral

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part of the X-ray QA instrument. Increasingly, service and QA of diagnostic X-ray systems require OEM specific equipment such as IQST phantoms for mammography imagers. In these instances, it is important to ensure your test instrument and sensor work with this equipment.

Morrison: I think of laws and requirements like MQSA and ACR accreditation for mammography and the ACR accreditation for CT. When strictly looking at the medical X-ray imaging world, I believe these laws and requirements have placed greater requirements on testing than the CMS ruling. The reason why I believe that is because most hospitals have service contracts of one sort or another on their imaging equipment and that includes the normal preventative maintenance schedule by the OEM and, in our realm, everyone has been doing the same testing for decades. In the 1990s you saw a humongous lobby in the breast cancer realm and that pushed the envelope for mammography screening, etc. This brought along ACR accreditation and MQSA. With those requirements came more testing. With the use of noninvasive meters for those measurements come challenges due to the constant change of X-ray tube targets and the filtration used by the OEMs. That requires us to continue to create new calibrations for new beam qualities and then be able to provide them to our existing users and potential new customers.

Zelander: Typically the OEMs will know better what tests are required on a certain X-ray machine. It’s therefore important for any imaging professional to make sure that tools are used that are fully validated by the respective OEMs. In addition, legal compliance is just as important as an independent complement to making sure the X-rab lab is safe for patients.

Q: WHAT CRITERIA SHOULD BE CONSIDERED WHEN PURCHASING TEST EQUIPMENT FOR DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING SYSTEMS? Hable: Again, imaging service engineers should purchase the test equipment recommended by the OEM whenever possible. If for some reason engineers are unable to, or choose not to, utilize approved brands – they need to do their homework. Just because a brand is not recommended doesn’t necessarily mean that those tools aren’t appropriate or effective. However, engineers need to research and investigate in order to confirm that the test equipment manufacturer has vetted the tools with the specific OEM modality and can provide quantified results.

Harkless: Typical lifetimes for diagnostic X-ray quality assurance instruments are 5-10 years or longer. Look for a manufacturer with a history of instrument longevity and a field upgradeable design to accommodate ever evolving measurement requirements. The high duty cycle for today’s diagnostic X-ray systems means that time is money. Look for convenience features such as noninvasive current (mA)

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ROUNDTABLE measurement and low-cost CT beam characterization tools that can dramatically reduce time. Automated report generation tools are emerging as a huge timesaver. Look for instruments that provide real-time report generation capability and support for developing custom reports. Today’s evolving consumer devices, such as tablets and phones, provide a convenient and familiar interface. Look for progressive solutions that embrace support for these devices such as iOS and Android apps.

Morrison: My quick response would be to stay away from the X-ray source. However, service engineers have to be in the room close to the X-ray source especially when measuring fluoro. How or what do you do to you protect yourself from that? You use the ALARA principle which means you limit your time, increase your distance and shield yourself.

Remembering these principles will help protect yourself.

Also remember that you get more radiation from a flight from Los Angeles to New York City than you do when you get a dental X-ray.

Rob Morrison, RTI Morrison: There is a need for a durable device able to measure all modalities and their required parameters giving accurate results. Further benefits would be the ability to save, report and trend those results using a modern software approach. The final things would be the warranty coverage, the required frequency of calibration by an ISO 17025 certified lab and the cost of those calibrations. Since noninvasive test equipment is typically used for 6 to 10 years one should look at the total cost of ownership, not just the initial purchase price.

Zelander: It is important that the test tool is complete for all modality needs. Many tools can be purchased in a limited configuration and later upgraded when new X-ray equipment reaches the market. The second aspect is ease-of-use to minimize hassle and, more importantly, to minimize the risk of human errors leading to costly re-visits or worse, an incorrectly calibrated X-ray machine.

Q: WHAT CAN AND SHOULD IMAGING SERVICE PROFESSIONALS DO TO PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM RADIATION AND OTHER DANGERS WHEN SERVICING IMAGING EQUIPMENT? Hable: All imaging service engineers and professionals need to receive the appropriate training in basic radiation safety.

When working in the presence of radiation, professionals should go back to the acronym ALARA, or “As Low As Reasonably Achievable.” We generally apply this rule to three different pillars: time or shortest amount of time possible, distance or the furthest possible location from the radiation source, and shielding or wearing the appropriate protection at all times. As an imaging service professional, you owe it to yourself and your employer to adhere to ALARA as often as you can.

Harkless: Diagnostic X-ray imaging systems have safety systems that are very mature. Radiation safety guidelines use screens and distance protocols such as lead aprons and barriers to minimize exposure. Shielding integrity can be assessed using scatter and leakage sensors such as ion chambers. These can be stand-alone meters or an integrated part of the diagnostic X-ray quality assurance instrument. Finally, dosimetry badges should be worn and can be purchased from many manufacturers.

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Zelander: Use long cables/wireless connections to stay out of any scattered radiation. If that’s not available, read the display after any exposures. While measuring, for example tube leakage close the machine, always wear an apron.

Q: WHAT ELSE DO YOU THINK TECHNATION READERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TEST EQUIPMENT FOR DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING DEVICES? Hable: All imaging service engineers need to remember that, at the most basic level, X-ray admitting devices can be dangerous and potentially harmful. You need to be vigilant and constantly aware of what the machine is doing when servicing it. Through proper safety training and a functional understanding of the equipment, engineers can keep themselves and others out of harm’s way.

Harkless: I frequently emphasize that diagnostic X-ray quality assurance instruments represent more than a simple purchase; they represent the formation of a relationship.

Select a partner that offers comprehensive service, warranty and calibration programs making the associated costs reasonable and predictable. Look for a partner that provides free field upgradeable capabilities to accommodate changing measurement requirements for the lifetime of your instrument.

Morrison: In our realm of noninvasive test equipment for X-ray imaging it is a small but specialized world. As a user, you depend on that equipment on a regular basis. You need it to work when you need it and to not only work but to give you accurate results. However, all equipment breaks down at some time or another. Make sure that the company who you buy the product from stands behind it, supports it and continues to develop it. What I am saying could be said about anything you buy. But when you are hit with all the marketing hype you do not always remember those principles.

Make sure you do your due diligence before buying.

Zelander: The information above primarily speaks about testing of diagnostic X-ray equipment. Of course, testing of MR and ultrasound equipment will be needed as well, even though these techniques do not use radiation to create image.

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THE

ROBOTS ARE COMING

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n Roseville, Michigan, a man walks into his house and says out loud “Alexa, turn on the lights.” His living room lights instantly illuminate. In Carlsbad, California, a woman heads out to work, but first asks her smartphone, “OK Google, what is the traffic like?” She then asks the voice assistant if it will rain later in the day.

A recent robotics competition at Grand Canyon University in Arizona highlighted the interest and focus on robots among students. The competition pitted alliances of high school student teams against each other.

In Columbus, Georgia, high school students build robots and compete in the Georgia For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics Competition.

Robotics classes and clubs can be found in junior high schools and high schools across the country, continuing a trend that is exploding. A new generation of robotics engineers are being developed from a young age with skills that will lead to even more advanced robots in the future.

In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a surgical robot performs the intricate steps in a knee replacement operation.

A sterilization robot cleans a hospital room in a VA hospital in Grand Island, Nebraska.

ARE COMING

Common Robotic System (Individual) program, which is a 25-pound ground robot which can be transported in a backpack. The robot allows soldiers to remain a safe distance from a threat that is being observed.

Robots are finding their way into the fast food industry, handling everything from dish washing to food preparation and serving.

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics has become integrated into our everyday lifestyles and health care environment.

Technology that was more science fiction than reality two decades ago is in everyday use across the country today.

In health care, the list of applications grows yearly as new ways are found to integrate technology into hospital chores, robotic greeters, U V cleaning, patient monitoring and surgery.

In China, robots are being put into nursing homes to act as companions to some of the country’s estimated 230 million senior citizens. And, in Nagoya, Japan, Robear is a bear robot that resembles Yogi the Bear, and can lift a patient out of a bed or from a wheelchair and move the patient to a bed or bath. This can prevent back injuries to caregivers.

Robear’s developers report that

“We might get to a time in the near future where a critical amount of robots are in a hospital and the hospital will have to take a step back and say ‘What is the best way for us to service robots?’ We’re not there yet, but we might be there soon because we are going to have a lot of robots.” – Rob Maliff, director of strategic growth and business development at ECRI Institute

The military is developing robotics systems to take on some of the most dangerous missions to reduce the risk to soldiers in the field. The U.S. Army incorporates what they call the

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there are still kinks to be worked out.

A robotic seal in Japan has been developed to engage in conversation with elderly patients to help prevent dementia.

Some U.S. hospitals use courier robots to carry away garbage and deliver linens. A greeting robot made ECRI Institute’s 2017 Top 10 Hospital C-Suite Watch List. The robot is used to greet guests in two Belgian hospitals. At Kettering Medical Center in Kettering, Ohio, they use four “assistive staff” robots to do yeoman’s work. The robots make deliveries of medical supplies, equipment and food to each of the five floors in the medical center.

“They deliver supplies to clinical areas, making multiple daily trips and covering many miles. We have created names for them such as R2D2, Hal and Rosie,” says Salim Kai, MSPSL , CBET, biomedical engineering manager at Kettering Health Network.

“They save the hospital costs, can work 24/7 and never complain or get tired,” he says.

HTM IN A ROBOTIC WORLD What HTM’s role is in regards to servicing robots is largely yet to be seen. Much of what determines this role going forward is the availability of training and the willingness of the manufacturer to allow in-house service or the dissemination of proprietary information.

According to Intuitive Surgical’s website, a surgeon uses the da Vinci Surgical System every 60 seconds.

There are more than five million patients who have undergone daVinciassisted surgeries and the robotic devices can be found in hospitals on six continents with more than 4,400 da Vinci systems in hospitals. The systems are generally serviced by Intuitive Surgical’s technical support teams.

Outside of surgical robots, disinfection robots are becoming more commonly used. They use a U V-C light source to kill pathogens.

“The cleaning robots we use require basic electronics, controls and mechanical abilities. Training from the OEM is necessary, and due to the

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nature of the light assembly and software that controls the robots, a contract to cover parts and software,” says Gregory L. Herr BSEE , MBA, CCE , CHTM, director of Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) for The Christ Hospital Health Network in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“A general electronic and biomed background are excellent and the biomedical techs commitment to patient care is an excellent fit. Detail oriented and good deductive thinking is necessary,” he says.

“Supporting these units, we are working with environmental services staff versus our normal clinical staff.

However, these units are used to protect the patient care areas, and there is oversight from infection control and other nursing services.

The important aspect has been to get the training and tools necessary to understand how the equipment works and support it per the OEM recommendations,” Herr says.

“Since there are a limited number of units, and they are a critical part of the room turnover process, demand for these units is high.

Downtime must be kept as low as possible with the ability to respond quickly to needs. We had to train several HTM specialists in order to meet the demand. The lights are the number one item that goes, and the company can monitor when they might fail and alert us to the need to replace,” Herr adds.

He says that the HTM specialist must have this combination of electronics, mechanical and control plus be detail oriented and have the ability to communicate with environmental services and the OEM. “Not too different from our traditional biomedical requirements,” he says.

The sheer number and variety of robots that could populate hospitals in the years ahead begs the question; who handles what?

“There are those food delivery robots or pharmaceutical delivery

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robots that can be maintained by facilities staff. Then, these humanoid robots that have a lot of programming for interaction; do they fall to the IT department? Some of these are funded through special grants and so that might be one service methodology. There might be someone in HTM, who has been dabbling in robots for 10 years and they are a great person to maintain the pharmaceutical delivery robot,” says Rob Maliff, director of strategic growth and business development at ECRI Institute.

“With the changes in technology, the skill sets of the HTM technicians/ engineers will be invaluable. The troubleshooting and resolution-

T H E M ? traditional robots the HTM will need to support due to the integration of multiple medical devices as well as the patient,” McDonald adds.

“We might get to a time in the near future where a critical amount of robots are in a hospital and the hospital will have to take a step back and say ‘What is the best way for us to service robots?’ We’re not there yet, but we might be there soon because we are going to have a lot of robots,” Maliff says.

Will there be hybrid departments in the future that will take on the servicing of robots?

“A lot of HTM departments now report to the CIO. It’s another good example of medical technology

“ They deliver supplies to clinical areas, making multiple daily trips and covering many miles. We have created names for them such as R2D2, Hal and Rosie.” – Salim Kai, MSPSL, CBET, biomedical engineering manager at Kettering Health Network

focused drive that HTM has will assist in ensuring access to technology for patient care,” says Michael McDonald, MS, CCE, chief, biomedical engineer, healthcare technology management for VISN 20.

“They will need training specific to the different models of robots with an overall understanding of networking and network security. The da Vinci robot in particular is a system that we cannot maintain with in-house staff. The vendor does not provide training and the only way to maintain the equipment is through a service contract,” McDonald says. “Most HTM departments manage the service of the robots currently in use by in-house or service contract.”

“There are AI systems that could be coming that would go beyond the

combining with IT to come up with this new platform that both departments should really be involved with,” Maliff says.

Herr describes a number of skills that HTM staff would need to maintain a contingent of robots.

The day may come in the near future when the ability to service robots is part of the skill set that an HTM professional should have.

“Good mechanical/electronic/ electrical mind, logical thinking, precision, the ability to deal with software and talk to the OEM/vendor, [someone who] enjoys ongoing training and can function in a high stress environment; the robots tend to become key dependencies on the department’s workflow [and the] ability to communicate at a high level with users, OEM, management and IT,” Herr says.

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“For these devices and systems, the OEM training is a must. There are multiple proprietary software and other items that will need to be communicated and trained by the OEM. Also, networking and IT basic skills would be very helpful.” – Rodney Nolen, clinical engineering manager at University of Minnesota Health.

ANOTHER SERVICE CONTRACT Of course, in many cases, the manufacturer or developer of the robot will continue to service the robot. As is the case in the previously mentioned robots at Kettering Health Network, the robots are leased and the lease includes all service. At Kettering, leasing has proven to be a more fiscally beneficial route than purchase, and service agreements would continue.

As long as the HTM professional receives OEM training, they should have the skill set to take on the maintenance of the standard robots currently found in hospitals.

“I feel any good, seasoned biomed tech should be able to support these with OEM training and support,” says Rodney Nolen, clinical engineering manager at University of Minnesota Health.

“For these devices and systems, the OEM training is a must. There are multiple proprietary software and other items that will need to be communicated and trained by the OEM. Also, networking and IT basic skills would be very helpful,” Nolen says.

He says that his system’s robots have been kept under a service contract and staffing would prevent them from taking on robot servicing at this time.

Herr says that there are other robots used in his facility.

“The OR is the primary user of

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these robots, and at our hospital, the contracts and management of the da Vinci robots are in the OR. Other robots recently purchased will be under HTM. The issue with these robots is there is no training for support. The OEM wants to support and will not train an in-house or ISO service. HTM is now trying to bridge that gap and working to see where HTM can add value. The robots all run on software and software support and updates are critical or the robots quickly become outdated,” Herr says.

“Other areas are robotic systems in pharmacy to sort and count pills, again under contract, and currently the vendor will not support in-house service,” he adds.

He says that they don’t currently have any robots for telemedicine (e.g. in the emergency department and other clinical areas), but that HTM will be there to try to help support them when that happens.

“The challenge for HTM, as I see it, is the OEMs want to support the equipment and work directly with the clinical departments. Getting service histories and knowing if the equipment is working within specifications is usually hard to obtain,” Herr says.

“The OEMs may have good reasons to limit service and repair, and it will be up to HTM to convince them that there is value in providing some training and not rely on field service entirely,” Herr adds.

PROTECTED INFORMATION Whether or not robots present a cybersecurity risk may depend on the type of robot and its purpose.

“A lot of times, the robots themselves do not have any protected health information. If a greeting robot is programmed to respond to simple questions, but they don’t have any information about the patient or the diagnosis. Then, there is not that threat of hacking the robot to get specific patient information. There’s no patient information stored on the robot generally,” Maliff says, speaking of greeting and delivery robots.

“Right now, they are a low-risk vector from a cybersecurity risk. But, what if a robot gets involved in diagnosis?”

Maliff asks. “If you think about it, Watson is a type of robot, so Watson or other deep-learning robots or deeplearning algorithms, in a broader sense, they have a ton of patient information.”

Maliff points out that robots will not likely displace employees as a rule, but the robots will handle more repetitive tasks and employees will simply take on new functions.

He points to a video on YouTube that shows a nurse robot attempting to set up a patient’s meal on an overbed table which takes something like 45 minutes.

The video shows a student-developed nurse assistant robot which will eventually be used with telemedicine.

“There are still things that humans do an awful lot better,” he says.

With tens of thousands of robotfocused engineers entering and graduating from colleges and universities, the prevalence of robots in all settings is likely to increase.

The health care setting is a prime recipient of many types of robots.

Their mechanical-electrical construction begs for HTM involvement. Like so many other pieces of equipment, there will be a point where a service contract is moved to in-house service.

There may be a robot in your future.

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Visit our Corporate Campus in Alachua, FL The InterMed Group | 800-768-8622 | www.intermed1.com | 13301 US Highway 441, Alachua, FL 32615

EXPERT ADVICE

BY JENIFER BROWN

CAREER CENTER

The Importance of Your LinkedIn Profile in Our Industry and Ways to Enhance it!

BY JENIFER BROWN

T

he medical service industry and health care heavily use LinkedIn as a tool to communicate, network, recruit and screen individuals.

This is also a great tool to do research on the senior leadership and/or a hiring manager ahead of an interview. Some statistics from LinkedIn show it is the fourth largest social network in the U.S., eclipsed only by Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Plus, 85 percent of recruiters use this social network site at some point during the recruiting and hiring process. So, if you are making a career change or advancement, having a LinkedIn profile is essential!

However, just pasting your resume into your profile and waiting for something to happen is not enough! You need to have a current and fully detailed profile along with engagement on the site.

mation. This includes your current position title and description as well as your location. Also, any additional education, training or certifications should always be updated. Lastly, in your “contact� information you should list a current personal email address and cellphone number.

Use specific industry related key words or terms. According to LinkedIn, those who list specific key skills on their profile get 13 times more views than those who use broader or less specific statements. Adding specific industry related key words or terms in your summary statement at the top of your profile makes it easier for recruiters to find your profile when searching for candidates.

Invest in a professional photo: According to LinkedIn, members who have a profile photo receive 21 times more views than those who do not have one. The photo should project a professional image, so keep family, pets, etc. out of frame.

Connect with current and former coworkers. To build up your LinkedIn connections reach out to current and former coworkers, but be sure to add a personal note with each invite. Then, to keep in contact with them, reach out about four times a year because these connections can be a great resource at some point in your career. These former coworkers may now hold senior positions or be a hiring manager at an organization you are interested in.

Make sure your profile is current.

Since possible employers, hiring managers, and/or recruiters will be viewing your profile you want to make sure it has all of your current infor-

Ask for introductions. Second-degree connections are often the best entry to a position or company you are interested in. View your existing friends or connections to see who

HERE ARE SOME TIPS TO ENHANCE YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE AND ENGAGEMENT EXPERIENCE:

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JENIFER BROWN CEO and Founder of Health Tech Talent Management

they are connected to and ask them to introduce you via LinkedIn which will usually get you an accepted invitation.

Request recommendations. Having your previous employers, clients or peers make recommendations and comments on your LinkedIn profile can demonstrate that you truly have the experience and or skill sets that you listed!

Contribute to the conversation.

Share industry-related articles or topics of interest. At the top of your homepage use the search box to view and join related groups and then add to discussions!

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EXPERT ADVICE

BY MICHAEL DAVIS

Sponsored by Because Quality Matters ISO 9001:2015 CERTIFIED

ULTRASOUND EXPERT When and How to Perform Preventative Maintenance

BY MICHAEL DAVIS

W

hen and how to perform reventative maintenance (PM) may seem like a straight-forward topic; however, it can be very confusing.

Let’s begin by looking at what procedures the OEM requires during a PM and at what intervals. Which OEM, you may ask? That is the question as the PM procedures and intervals will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Each manufacturer has specific tests and procedures that are recommended to be completed during a PM. The intervals will also vary from manufacturer to manufacturer as well as whether the PM is suggested or mandatory. As an example, GE Healthcare states that for its premier platforms (the Logiq E9 and Vivid E9) no PM inspections are mandatory and defers to the customer’s discretion for PM frequency.

So, what is the PM frequency of your in-house program? This is often dictated by accreditation organizations such as the American College of Radiology (ACR) which mandates semi-annual PMs on all ultrasound systems within an accredited department. Since there are many departments within a facility that utilize ultrasound (OB, labor and delivery, urology, cardiology, vascular, radiology, breast centers, etc.), it is imperative that the systems within accredited departments are inspected twice per year using the ACR standards and tests.

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We recommend using a standard PM procedure that encompasses all the safety and performance tests of the OEMs as well as ACR when performing PMs to eliminate any margin for error and maintain uniformity. We also recommend performing two PMs per year on all ultrasound systems to ensure safety, performance, reliability and compliance. These PMs take around two hours and will satisfy all accreditation organization’s standards.

A standard PM will consist of cleaning, testing and inspection. You will want to test and inspect all portions of the systems including the transducers.

ACR standards include anything that can touch a patient.

INSPECTING THE SYSTEM Look at all portions of the system and transducers for any cracks, discoloration, loose hardware and possible cuts/breaks in the cable housing. Document anything out of the ordinary. Cables are extremely important as a bad cable can lead to a misdiagnosis.

CLEANING THE SYSTEM Begin by using only approved cleaners for the plastic and the LCD panels.

When performing a PM, you will want to remove cosmetics that allow access to the card cage and back end processor.

You will want to vacuum all the dust form the cards in the system. Be sure to use an approved electronics vacuum to prevent any static buildup from

MICHAEL DAVIS Technical Support Specialist

damaging the cards. Also, use extreme care when removing and reinserting the cards to ensure that no pins are bent.

TESTING This is one of the most critical parts of the PM. Not only are you checking to ensure that the system is functioning correctly, you are checking to see what the electrical leakage is on the system.

Use an approved and calibrated meter for these steps. Remember to document all the results. ACR can randomly check to insure these steps are done.

For more ultrasound technical tips and tricks, or to view technical support videos, visit www.conquestimaging.com. Conquest Imaging Technical Support is available 24/7/365 at 866-900-9404.

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BY INHEL REKIK

TECH TIPS

Myths Around Medical Device Patching

BY INHEL REKIK

E

ven today, after WannaCry and Not Petya, there are myths and misunderstandings around patching of medical devices. Patching is paramount to reduce cybersecurity risks.

Patching of medical devices is a shared responsibility between a healthcare delivery organization (HDO) and medical device manufacturer. The biggest misconception out there is that a HDO can’t perform cybersecurity updates and patch medical devices.

The FDA states that health care organizations can patch, change devices or infrastructure to reduce cybersecurity risks. The FDA encourages HDOs to perform risk assessments and work with medical device manufacturers to implement the above changes. This means patching devices before manufacturer validation. Installing a patching agent that can monitor patch level and push needed patches on a scheduled basis is a risk-based decision for each HDO. I recommend that you get familiar with the FDA fact sheet. i Medical device manufacturers don’t need to notify the FDA of any changes or updates that are applied to a medical device solely to address cybersecurity risks. In fact, they are encouraged to do so. If a cybersecurity fix modifies the function of the device or if it is

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

released to address a cybersecurity vulnerability that poses a risk to health, they are required to notify the agency.

The FDA post market guidance ii mentions that there are two types of risks: controlled and uncontrolled.

Controlled risks are described as acceptable low-residual risk. The medical device manufacturer can release the fix for it whether it’s a patch, software update, firmware update or modification of settings.

All you need to do is contact the medical device manufacturer to get the cybersecurity fix when it’s available. An uncontrolled risk is a risk where there is unacceptable patient harm. Medical device manufacturers need to notify customers within 30 days about the vulnerability, provide HDOs with compensating controls and residual risk information. They will need to provide the vulnerability fix within 60 days. Manufacturers must report the uncontrolled risks of products.

Two major points to consider when addressing medical device patching: Do you have a detailed process for patching your medical device? How are you validating that vendor supported equipment is being patched and is there a clear understanding of who will perform the patch?

Every HTM professional will need to be proactive in making sure that they receive communication about cybersecurity vulnerabilities and

INHEL REKIK Director of health technology security MedStar Health

patches in a timely manner. This information can be gathered from multiple sources. They can be received from the medical device manufacturer or via membership in the medical device security group MDSISC that was created by NHISAC. i https://www.fda.gov/downloads/ MedicalDevices/DigitalHealth/ UCM544684.pdf ii https://www.fda.gov/downloads/ medicaldevices/ deviceregulationandguidance/ guidancedocuments/ucm482022.pdf Inhel Rekik is director of health technology security at MedStar Health.

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EXPERT ADVICE

BY JIM FEDELE

THE OTHER SIDE Intermittent Problems, the Biomedical Technician’s Nemesis

BY JIM FEDELE

T

here isn’t anything that will strain customer relations more than an intermittent problem. Customers often feel like they are getting the run around or that the technician doesn’t have the necessary skills to solve their problem. However, by practicing some simple strategies you can minimize the fallout from intermittent problems and sometimes even build a stronger relationship with the customer.

You receive a stat call; the customer has a piece of equipment that is malfunctioning.

You drop what you’re doing and head for the department. The equipment has been pulled from service and is waiting for you to do your magic. You try to recreate the problem and the device works perfectly.

You then follow up with a complete functional check and the unit still performs flawlessly. You then try to find the user that had the problem so they can recreate it for you. This is the point were relationships are either built or torn down.

The interchange that follows can mean all the difference in keeping the relationship in good standing. You should phrase your next question very carefully. It is best to try to put yourself in the customer’s shoes when formulating what you are going to ask them. My point is this, if your mindset is “These people are idiots and don’t even know how to use their own equipment” it will show. Your non-verbal cues will give you away, and this will strain the relationship. The ideal situation is to build the relationship and be perceived as a reliable problem solver. The latter approach is counter-productive to that mission. The proper mindset would be one that recognizes that the customer

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obviously had some kind of problem.

Either the equipment malfunctioned during use or there is an education problem, each is a problem that needs to be resolved in a way that illustrates empathy and caring.

Too often it is the less than desirable mindset that is assumed when solving the problem. Telling the customer “I can’t make it malfunction. Are you sure you know how to use it?” is all too common in this industry. There are many reasons that contribute to this mindset. Each problem should be viewed in a new light every time, without regard to any past experience or your own premises of the customer. A better way to ask is “I am having a hard time recreating the problem, can you please show me what you was doing when the error occurred?” By taking the responsibility for not being able to reproduce the problem you are less likely to put the customer on the defensive. The goal is to move in the right direction to solve the problem in a positive way.

Hopefully, once the customer recreates the situation that produced the problem, it will reoccur and you can fix it. If you observe the customer operating the equipment incorrectly, you must suggest the solution with tact and care. Inferring they are stupid for not knowing how to use the equipment will not foster a good working relationship. People do not like to feel stupid (even if they know they goofed).

Offer to show them the way to get the equipment to operate in the manner they were expecting. You show them, you have them do it and you thank them for their time and enjoy the feeling that comes from solving another problem.

However, if neither you nor the customer can recreate the problem, then it

JIM FEDELE, CBET Director of clinical engineering for Susquehanna Health Systems

is time for a different course of action.

Again, base your assumptions knowing that the customer did experience a problem. Because medical equipment malfunctions can effect patients in one way or another, due diligence is necessary.

Explain to the customer that because you could not duplicate the problem, you are going to take the equipment and check it out in extensively. I recommend that you check the equipment’s failure history for any like problems, perform a preventative maintenance check and perform a visual check of internal boards and components for evidence of overheating. If the device does have a history of problems that have not been solved, call the OEM for some advice.

The hope is that one of these steps will net you a solution. If it doesn’t, tell the customer everything you have done. Ask him/her if they are comfortable putting the device back into service. Alternatively, you may want to explore external factors like the line voltage at the outlet or cellphone usage. Some intermittent problems are never solved, but your customer will feel confident that you have done everything you can to solve their problem – because you have.

Jim Fedele, CBET, is the director of clinical engineering for Susquehanna Health Systems in Williamsport, Pa. He can be reached for questions and/or comments via email at info@mdpublishing.com.

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EXPERT ADVICE

BY MANNY ROMAN

ROMAN REVIEW Should I Stay or Should I Go?

BY MANNY ROMAN

S

o you are unhappy with your job.

Why do you stay, then?

You often hear “People don’t quit their jobs, they quit their bosses.”

This implies that employee turnover is the result of poor leadership, not the fit between the person and the organization. Before you decide to run to “greener pastures” ask yourself a few questions.

Is this a job from which you can get satisfaction? Ask this without thinking of the work environment. In other words, if conditions were different, new boss, more pay, better work area, would I feel satisfaction from my actual work? For example, if you are a healthcare technology service professional, does the fact that you are helping to improve health care give you satisfaction by itself, yet the lack of proper tools bothers you?

If your dissatisfaction is with the actual work that you do, you must find a way to change careers. Do it now before it gets worse.

If you are satisfied with the wok that you do, are the conditions that minimize your satisfaction people issues or environment issues? This will clarify the major cause of your dissatisfaction. For example, do you perceive your boss as an insensitive

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

slave driver whose only motivation is making money, or is the equipment on which you work old and antiquated thus difficult to maintain?

Once you have identified the major cause of dissatisfaction – people or environment – can you reasonably expect that you can effect a change?

If people, is it a deficiency in knowledge or a deficiency in execution? Do you, or the other person, not have the appropriate knowledge of the situation to change the conditions? In this case, you will need to figure out how to get and transfer the knowledge that is lacking. Often an honest and open conversation is all that is needed to begin the process of acquiring the requisite knowledge.

If the issue is a deficiency in execution, you both may have the requisite knowledge to correct the situation but have not done so. Again, an honest, open, sincere conversation is the key.

I find that communication is the key to most issues. Communication is critical, both with yourself and with others. Lack of good communication often results in misunderstanding and unrealistic expectations.

Communication is not the telling to others, it is an open exchange of information and feelings in a nonthreatening way.

Only when you have determined

MANNY ROMAN, CRES AMSP Business Operation Manager

the true cause of you dissatisfaction with your job, and unsuccessfully attempted to correct the issues, should you be considering departing for “better opportunities.” Many find that changing jobs due to people and environment, leads them to just different people and environments, not to greater satisfaction.

Changing the location where you work and the people you work with is a big decision. Most people I speak with proclaim two issues: money and boss. I think that if they would give a true and honest evaluation of the present circumstances, they may find that things are not that simple nor are they that bad.

Practice good communication with yourself and others and you may find that people and environment can indeed change. Then, you won’t have to sell your house and move your family and your dog to a strange place where you don’t know anyone and the crime rate is higher than expected and your next door neighbor is a nuisance and taxes are higher as is the price of gasoline and groceries and your kids don’t like the school and …

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BREAKROOM

DID YOU KNOW? Science Matters LIDAR image of buildings and roads (left) hidden by jungle (right)

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Count photons New system uses green light laser, counts single returning photons; accurate to the width of a pencil Source: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; Carnegie Institution for Science; Caracol Archaeological Project, Benjamin Mackey Graphic: Helen Lee McComas, © 2018 TNS Tribune News Service

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LIDAR reveals tallest trees (red) in Borneo, the habitat of orangutans

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P P P

13 11

P P

69 92 7

P P P

38 75

Batteries Holden Battery Services, LLC 800-594-9257 • www.x-raybatteries.com PartsSource 877-497-6412 • www.partssource.com/shop

48

P

84 51

P P P P P P P P

39 44 44 43 69 69 101 52

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

51

P

P

3

Cardiology Gopher Medical 844-246-7437 • gophermedical.com InterMed Group 386-462-5220 • www.intermed1.com Southeastern Biomedical, Inc 828-396-6010 • sebiomedical.com/ Southwestern Biomedical Electronics, Inc. 800-880-7231 • www.swbiomed.com/ Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • www.technicalprospects.com

EQ2 888-312-4367 • www.eq2llc.com Nuvolo 844-468-8656 • eam.nuvolo.com/clinical

71 85

101

11 67 58 30 51

P P P P P P P P

51

P

P

CMMS

BC

88

P

94

Calibration

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

66

66

MIT 800-729-4776 • www.mit-tech.com Retrieve Medical Equipment 330-963-0277 • retrievemedicalequipment.com Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • www.technicalprospects.com

Cardiovascular

75

Biomedical ALCO Sales & Service Co. 800-323-4282 • www.alcosales.com BC Group International, Inc 314-638-3800 • www.BCGroupStore.com Biomedical Repair & Consulting Services, Inc. 844-656-9418 • www.brcsrepair.com Coast2Coast 774-888-1000 • www.c2cmed.com Crothall Healthcare Technology Solutions (800) 447-4476 • www.crothall.com D.A. Surgical 800-261-9953 • www.da-surgical.com Health Tech Talent Management, Inc. 757-563-0448 • www.HealthTechTM.com iMed Biomedical 817-378-4613 • www.imedbiomedical.com Master Medical Equipment 866-468-9558 • masterfitmedical.com oneSOURCE 1-800-701-3560 • oneSOURCEdocs.com oneSOURCE 1-800-701-3560 • oneSOURCEdocs.com PRN/ Physician's Resource Network 508-679-6185 • www.prnwebsite.com ReNew Biomedical 844-425-0987 • www.ReNewBiomedical.com RepairMED 855-813-8100 • www.repairmed.net Retrieve Medical Equipment 330-963-0277 • retrievemedicalequipment.com Sodexo CTM 1-888-Sodexo7 • www.sodexousa.com

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C-Arm

Asset Management Asset Services 913-383-2738 • www.assetservices.com EQ2 888-312-4367 • www.eq2llc.com

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Anesthesia

Company Info

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TRAINING

SERVICE

PARTS

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Company Info

P P P P P

75 41

Computed Tomography Altima 844-548-4540 • www.altimadis.com Exclusive Medical Solutions 866.676.3671 • emedicalsol.com Injector Support and Service 888-667-1062 • www.injectorsupport.com International X-Ray Brokers internationalxraybrokers.com/ JDIS Group 800-974-9729 • www.jdis.com MIT 800-729-4776 • www.mit-tech.com Retrieve Medical Equipment 330-963-0277 • retrievemedicalequipment.com RSTI 800-229-7784 • www.rsti-training.com RTI Electronics 800-222-7537 • www.rtigroup.com Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • www.technicalprospects.com Tri-Imaging Solutions 855-401-4888 • www.triimaging.com

43 81 76

P P P P P

89 12 94

P P P

101 59

P P P

71 51 72

P P P P P P

Contrast Media Injectors Injector Support and Service 888-667-1062 • www.injectorsupport.com Maull Biomedical Training 440-724-7511 • maullbiomedicaltraining.com

76

P P P

76

JUNE 2018

TECHNATION

95

31 88

P P P P P P P

89 12

P P

101

Education Minnesota State College southeastmn.edu/bio18

P

87

Endoscopy Cadmet 800-543-7282 • www.cadmet.com Coast2Coast 774-888-1000 • www.c2cmed.com Healthmark Industries 800-521-6224 • HMARK.COM PRN/ Physician's Resource Network 508-679-6185 • www.prnwebsite.com

81 88

P P P P P

Gas Monitors Biomedical Repair & Consulting Services, Inc. 844-656-9418 • www.brcsrepair.com

66

P P

General ALCO Sales & Service Co. 800-323-4282 • www.alcosales.com

66

Imaging Health Tech Talent Management, Inc. 757-563-0448 • www.HealthTechTM.com JDIS Group 800-974-9729 • www.jdis.com

P P

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

19

Infusion Pumps AIV 888-656-0755 • aiv-inc.com Elite Biomedical Solutions 855-291-6701 • elitebiomedicalsolutions.com Master Medical Equipment 866-468-9558 • masterfitmedical.com

22 25 39

P P P P P P

Infusion Therapy AIV 888-656-0755 • aiv-inc.com Elite Biomedical Solutions 855-291-6702 • elitebiomedicalsolutions. com FOBI 888-231-3624 • www.FOBI.us Master Medical Equipment 866-468-9558 • masterfitmedical.com RepairMED 855-813-8100 • www.repairmed.net Select BioMedical 866-559-3500 • www.selectpos.com Soma Technolgoy, Inc 1-800-438-7662 • www.somatechnology.com 96

TECHNATION

JUNE 2018

22

P P

25

P P

6

P P P P

39 69

P

72 92

78

P P

4

P P P

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

Mammography Ampronix, Inc. 800-400-7972 • www.ampronix.com Exclusive Medical Solutions 866.676.3671 • emedicalsol.com International X-Ray Brokers internationalxraybrokers.com/ RSTI 800-229-7784 • www.rsti-training.com

81 89 59

P P P

Monitors Drager Medical Systems 215-721-5404 • www.draeger.com Select BioMedical 866-559-3500 • www.selectpos.com Soma Technolgoy, Inc 1-800-438-7662 • www.somatechnology.com

13

P

72 92

Ampronix, Inc. 800-400-7972 • www.ampronix.com BMES 888-828-2637 • www.bmesco.com Integrity Biomedical Services 877-789-9903 • www.integritybiomed.com Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • www.technicalprospects.com USOC Bio-Medical Services 855-888-8762 • www.usocmedical.com

4 103 84 51 7

P P P P P P P P

MRI

71 12

P P

Monitors/CRTs

19 43

7

TRAINING

37

SERVICE

Advanced Ultrasound Electronics, Inc. 1-866-620-2831 • www.auetulsa.com Avante Health Solutions avantehs.com Coast2Coast 774-888-1000 • www.c2cmed.com International X-Ray Brokers internationalxraybrokers.com/ JDIS Group 800-974-9729 • www.jdis.com Retrieve Medical Equipment 330-963-0277 • retrievemedicalequipment.com

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

PARTS

Diagnostic Imaging

Company Info

AD PAGE

TRAINING

SERVICE

PARTS

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Company Info

P

Altima 844-548-4540 • www.altimadis.com Exclusive Medical Solutions 866.676.3671 • emedicalsol.com JDIS Group 800-974-9729 • www.jdis.com PartsSource 877-497-6412 • www.partssource.com/shop

43 81 12 48

P P P P

P P P P P

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

13

Nuclear Medicine E.L. Parts 847-421-1656 • nuclearmedimaging.com Global Medical Imaging 800-958-9986 • www.gmi3.com InterMed Group 386-462-5220 • www.intermed1.com

72 2 67

P P P P P P

Online Resource Fluke Biomedical 800-850-4608 • www.flukebiomedical.com MedWrench 866-989-7057 • www.MedWrench.com Minnesota State College southeastmn.edu/bio18 oneSOURCE 1-800-701-3560 • oneSOURCEdocs.com Webinar Wednesday 800-906-3373 • webinarwednesday.live

83

P

99 87

P

44 100

P

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

P P

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

P

59

Patient Monitoring AIV 888-656-0755 • aiv-inc.com Ampronix, Inc. 800-400-7972 • www.ampronix.com Avante Health Solutions avantehs.com BETA Biomed Services 800-315-7551 • www.betabiomed.com/ Biomedical Repair & Consulting Services, Inc. 844-656-9418 • www.brcsrepair.com BMES 888-828-2637 • www.bmesco.com Gopher Medical 844-246-7437 • gophermedical.com Integrity Biomedical Services 877-789-9903 • www.integritybiomed.com Master Medical Equipment 866-468-9558 • masterfitmedical.com Pacific Medical 800-449-5328 • pacificmedicalsupply.com PartsSource 877-497-6412 • www.partssource.com/shop PRN/ Physician's Resource Network 508-679-6185 • www.prnwebsite.com ReNew Biomedical 844-425-0987 • www.ReNewBiomedical.com RepairMED 855-813-8100 • www.repairmed.net Southeastern Biomedical, Inc 828-396-6010 • sebiomedical.com/ Southwestern Biomedical Electronics, Inc. 800-880-7231 • www.swbiomed.com/ USOC Bio-Medical Services 855-888-8762 • www.usocmedical.com

22 4 31 36 66 103 11 84 39 79, 87

48 43

P P P P P P P P P P P P

69 69 58 30 7

P P P P

P P P P P P P P P P

51

ALCO Sales & Service Co. 800-323-4282 • www.alcosales.com Elite Biomedical Solutions 855-291-6701 • elitebiomedicalsolutions.com Elite Biomedical Solutions 855-291-6701 • elitebiomedicalsolutions.com Advanced Ultrasound Electronics, Inc. 1-866-620-2831 • www.auetulsa.com Engineering Services, KCS Inc 888-364-7782x11 • www.eng-services.com Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • www.technicalprospects.com

65

A.M. Bickford 800-795-3062 • www.ambickford.com Coast2Coast 774-888-1000 • www.c2cmed.com FOBI 888-231-3624 • www.FOBI.us

4 88

92 51

P

25

66 25

P P

25

P P P P P P P

37 18 51

75 88 6

Versus 1-877-9VERSUS • versustech.com/nowait

P P P P P

34

Software

P

P P P P P

75 59

31

RTLS

Radiology Ampronix, Inc. 800-400-7972 • www.ampronix.com Coast2Coast 774-888-1000 • www.c2cmed.com Holden Battery Services, LLC 800-594-9257 • www.x-raybatteries.com RSTI 800-229-7784 • www.rsti-training.com Soma Technolgoy, Inc 1-800-438-7662 • www.somatechnology.com Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • www.technicalprospects.com Health Tech Talent Management, Inc. 757-563-0448 • www.HealthTechTM.com

22

Respiratory

Power System Components Interpower 800-662-2290 • www.interpower.com

78

Replacement Parts

P P P P P P

P

52

Repair

Portable X-ray Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • www.technicalprospects.com

TRAINING

6

Sodexo CTM 1-888-Sodexo7 • www.sodexousa.com Stephens International Recruiting Inc. 870-431-5485 • www.bmets-usa.com/ AIV 888-656-0755 • aiv-inc.com Avante Health Solutions avantehs.com Elite Biomedical Solutions 855-291-6703 • elitebiomedicalsolutions. com

SERVICE

FOBI 888-231-3624 • www.FOBI.us

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Oxygen Blender

Company Info

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TRAINING

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PARTS

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Company Info

P P P P P P P

EQ2 888-312-4367 • www.eq2llc.com MediMizer Inc. 888-838-4440 • www.MediMizer.com Nuvolo 844-468-8656 • eam.nuvolo.com/clinical Probe Hunters/BBS Medical info@probehunter.com • probehunter.com Versus 1-877-9VERSUS • versustech.com/nowait

75 89 41

P

47 34

Surgical Healthmark Industries 800-521-6224 • HMARK.COM Prescotts 800-438-3937 • surgicalmicroscopes.com

19 94

P P

22

P P P P

Telemetry AIV 888-656-0755 • aiv-inc.com Biomedical Repair & Consulting Services, Inc. 844-656-9418 • www.brcsrepair.com BMES 888-828-2637 • www.bmesco.com Coast2Coast 774-888-1000 • www.c2cmed.com

66 103 88

P P P P

71

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

JUNE 2018

TECHNATION

97

69 30 7

Advanced Ultrasound Electronics, Inc. 1-866-620-2831 • www.auetulsa.com ECRI Institute 1-610-825-6000. • www.ecri.org Fluke Biomedical 800-850-4608 • www.flukebiomedical.com RSTI 800-229-7784 • www.rsti-training.com Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • www.technicalprospects.com Tri-Imaging Solutions 855-401-4888 • www.triimaging.com

75 BC

43

3 71 58

P P

37

P P P P P P P P

86 83 59 51 72

Tubes/Bulbs

P P P

83

92

Training

Test Equipment A.M. Bickford 800-795-3062 • www.ambickford.com BC Group International, Inc 314-638-3800 • www.BCGroupStore.com Fluke Biomedical 800-850-4608 • www.flukebiomedical.com PRN/ Physician's Resource Network 508-679-6185 • www.prnwebsite.com Pronk Technologies, Inc. 800-609-9802 • www.pronktech.com

TRAINING

69

P P P P P P P P P P P P

SERVICE

79, 87

Radcal Corporation 800-423-7169 • www.radcal.com Rigel Medical, Seaward Group 813-886-2775 • www.seaward-groupusa.com RTI Electronics 800-222-7537 • www.rtigroup.com Southeastern Biomedical, Inc 828-396-6010 • sebiomedical.com/

P P P P

PARTS

39

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84

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11

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25

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Elite Biomedical Solutions 855-291-6701 • elitebiomedicalsolutions.com Gopher Medical 844-246-7437 • gophermedical.com Integrity Biomedical Services 877-789-9903 • www.integritybiomed.com Master Medical Equipment 866-468-9558 • masterfitmedical.com Pacific Medical 800-449-5328 • pacificmedicalsupply.com ReNew Biomedical 844-425-0987 • www.ReNewBiomedical.com RepairMED 855-813-8100 • www.repairmed.net Southwestern Biomedical Electronics, Inc. 800-880-7231 • www.swbiomed.com/ USOC Bio-Medical Services 855-888-8762 • www.usocmedical.com

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P P

Cadmet 800-543-7282 • www.cadmet.com PartsSource 877-497-6412 • www.partssource.com/shop

81 48

P P P P

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47 101 93 72

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TRAINING

Advanced Ultrasound Electronics, Inc. 1-866-620-2831 • www.auetulsa.com Ampronix, Inc. 800-400-7972 • www.ampronix.com ATS Laboratories atslaboratories@yahoo.com atslaboratories-phantoms.com Avante Health Solutions avantehs.com Conquest Imaging 866-900-9404 • www.conquestimaging.com Exclusive Medical Solutions 866.676.3671 • emedicalsol.com Global Medical Imaging 800-958-9986 • www.gmi3.com Probe Hunters/BBS Medical info@probehunter.com • probehunter.com Retrieve Medical Equipment 330-963-0277 • retrievemedicalequipment.com Summit Imaging 866-586-3744 • www.mysummitimaging.com Trisonics 877-876-6427 • www.trisonics.com

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Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • www.technicalprospects.com Tri-Imaging Solutions 855-401-4888 • www.triimaging.com

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

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X-Ray Engineering Services, KCS Inc 888-364-7782x11 • www.eng-services.com Exclusive Medical Solutions 866.676.3671 • emedicalsol.com Holden Battery Services, LLC 800-594-9257 • www.x-raybatteries.com InterMed Group 386-462-5220 • www.intermed1.com International X-Ray Brokers internationalxraybrokers.com/ MIT 800-729-4776 • www.mit-tech.com Retrieve Medical Equipment 330-963-0277 • retrievemedicalequipment.com RSTI 800-229-7784 • www.rsti-training.com RTI Electronics 800-222-7537 • www.rtigroup.com Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • www.technicalprospects.com Tri-Imaging Solutions 855-401-4888 • www.triimaging.com

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the medical product support network “MedWrench connects a wide range of biomed engineers, helping them to share knowledge and experiences.”

–Fadi Ali, RSS

“MedWrench has proven to be an invaluable resource in servicing medical technology.

“An excellent resource.

It’s my first stop when I have a question or need information. An asset to any technician’s toolbox.”

–Mark Cooper, Legacy Medical Imaging

–Sam Morgan, Kaleida Health

www.MedWrench.com DISCUSSION FORUMS // FREE TO JOIN // BUY & SELL EQUIPMENT

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

JUNE 2018

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expand your knowledge and earn CEUs

right from your desk!

Right information, right format, right time.

Webinar Wednesdays are all-right!

Webinar Wednesday series is a great way to expand your education and earn CEUs in a convenient format.

- D. Minke, BMET

- C. Nieland, Operations Manager

View upcoming webinars at webinarwednesday.live!

ALPHABETICAL NEXT GEN INDEX EQUIPMENT AFFORD

We purchase retired imaging & biomedical equipment – helping you turn the old into new.

A.M. Bickford........................................... 75

Interpower............................................... 65

Advanced Ultrasound Electronics, Inc...... 37

JDIS Group.............................................. 12

AIV.......................................................... 22

Master Medical Equipment...................... 39

ALCO Sales & Service Co.......................... 66

Maull Biomedical Training........................ 76

Altima...................................................... 43

MediMizer Inc.......................................... 89

Ampronix, Inc............................................ 4

MedWrench............................................. 99

Asset Services......................................... 38

Minnesota State College........................... 87

ATS Laboratories...................................... 69

MIT.......................................................... 94

Avante Health Solutions........................... 31

Nuvolo..................................................... 41

BC Group International, Inc......................BC

oneSOURCE............................................ 44

BETA Biomed Services............................. 36

Ozark Biomedical..................................... 78

Biomedical Repair & Consulting Services, Inc....................... 66

Pacific Medical ................................. 79, 87

BMES.................................................... 103 Cadmet................................................... 81 Coast2Coast............................................ 88 Conquest Imaging...................................... 8 Crothall Healthcare Technology Solutions.84 D.A. Surgical............................................ 51 Drager Medical Systems.......................... 13

Visit us at

AAMI Booth #902

E.L. Parts................................................. 72 ECRI Institute........................................... 86 Elite Biomedical Solutions........................ 25 Engineering Services, KCS Inc.................. 18 EQ2......................................................... 75 Exclusive Medical Solutions..................... 81 Fluke Biomedical..................................... 83 FOBI.......................................................... 6 Global Medical Imaging.............................. 2 Gopher Medical....................................... 11

SE RVI CE T HA T O UTPER F O R M S

Health Tech Talent Management, Inc....... 71 Healthmark Industries............................. 19

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330.963.0277

www.retrievemedicalequipment.com

Holden Battery Services, LLC................... 75 iMed Biomedical...................................... 85 Injector Support and Service.................... 76 Integrity Biomedical Services................... 84

Quick Offers & Generous Valuation

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

InterMed Group....................................... 67 International X-Ray Brokers...................... 89

PartsSource............................................. 48 Prescotts, Inc........................................... 94 PRN/ Physician’s Resource Network........ 43 Probe Hunters/BBS Medical.................... 47 Pronk Technologies, Inc. ........................... 5 Radcal Corporation.................................. 92 ReNew Biomedical.................................. 69 RepairMED.............................................. 69 Retrieve Medical Equipment ................. 101 Rigel Medical, Seaward Group.................... 3 RSTI........................................................ 59 RTI Electronics........................................ 71 Select BioMedical.................................... 72 Sodexo CTM............................................ 52 Soma Technolgoy, Inc.............................. 92 Southeastern Biomedical, Inc.................. 58 Southwestern Biomedical Electronics, Inc... 30 Stephens International Recruiting Inc....... 78 Summit Imaging...................................... 93 Technical Prospects................................ 51 Tri-Imaging Solutions............................... 40 Trisonics.................................................. 72 USOC Bio-Medical Services....................... 7 Versus..................................................... 34 Webinar Wednesday.............................. 100

JUNE 2018

TECHNATION

101

BREAKROOM

PARTING SHOT

“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.”

– Jim Valvano

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www.bmesco.com 888.828.2637 *BMES offers pick up services in all major metropolitan areas. *BMES offers pick up services in all major metropolitan areas.

Introducing THE NEW IPA-3400 INFUSION PUMP ANALYZER

The High Accuracy, Easy-to-Use System with Full Touch Screen Control of All Processes

The IPA-3400 is the most compact, fully featured four channel analyzer on the market. The IPA-3400 has a dual syringe stepper motor driven system that offers continuous monitoring of the fluid flow, providing a more realistic flow path for the infusion device under test and more accurate readings.

The independent stepper motor control of the custom designed, ceramic valving allows the system to run quietly and smoothly, with a bidirectional powered fluid flow for use in the built in cleaning cycle.

The Next Generation in Infusion Pump Analyzers is here!          

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

Smooth Dual Syringe System Eliminates Drain Cycle Inconsistencies Whisper Quiet Operation Auto Start Built-in Auto Test Sequences Built-in Data Collection Built-in Reports

Screenshots from the IPA-3400

Easy access to modules for expansion and calibration.

Each module is calibrated with up to four channels in each IPA-3400. Stagger the calibration time for modules to prevent downtime.

Users can also run specific test routines specified by various manufacturers using built in autosequences. Advanced features in the autosequences even allows the inclusion of pictures to aid with the setup and configuration of each step.

IPA-3400 with Swappable Modules

Phone: 1-888-223-6763 Email: sales@bcgroupintl.com Website: www.bcgroupintl.com ISO 9001 & 13485 Certified ISO 17025 Accredited