TechNation Magazine - October 2018

1technation.com

Vol. 9

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL / HTM PROFESSIONAL

OCTOBER 2018

CYBER SECURITY UPDATE FLEXIBLE PLANS PROVIDE B E ST P R O T E C T I O N 14 Company Showcase

Versus Technology

22 Biomed Adventures

Helping the People of Ghana

26 Company Showcase

iMed Biomedical

56 Roundtable

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CONTENTS

FEATURED

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56

DEFIBRILLATORS There are many types of defibrillators, including AEDs. Each type is designed to perform a life-saving function. The men and women of HTM are vital when it comes to the maintenance and repair of these devices. We asked some experienced professionals to share their insights regarding these life-saving devices.

Next month’s Roundtable article: Digital Radiography

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CYBERSECURITY UPDATE The Internet is a powerful tool and in the hands of the wrong person it can become a powerful weapon. Cyberattacks impact every facet of society, from banking and retail to health care. Hackers and other cyber criminals have found ways to breach databases and networks as a means to acquire illicit gains from victims through ransomware or through the sale of personal data on the dark web. How can biomeds protect the devices under their care, including those connected to the Internet of Things?

Next month’s Feature article: DATA: It’s kind of a BIG deal

TechNation (Vol. 9, Issue #10) October 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

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNATION

9

CONTENTS

INSIDE

PUBLISHER

John M. Krieg

VICE PRESIDENT

Kristin Leavoy

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Jayme McKelvey Megan Cabot Nick Whitehead

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 Kennedy Krieg Travis Saylor

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: Versus Technology p.16 Professional of the Month: Kevin Heck, BMET p.20 Department of the Month: The Royal Melbourne Hospital Clinical Engineering Department p.22 Biomed Adventures: Helping the People of Ghana p.26 Company Showcase: iMed Biomedical P.29 p.29 p.36 p.38 p.40 p.42

INDUSTRY UPDATES News & Notes Ribbon Cutting: Genysys Solutions Welcome to TechNation AAMI Update ECRI Update

P.44 THE BENCH p.44 Biomed 101 p.47 Asimily: An Approach to Patching for Healthcare Providers p.50 Tools of the Trade p.52 Webinar Wednesday P.70 EXPERT ADVICE p.70 Career Center p.72 Ultrasound Expert p.74 The Future p.76 Cybersecurity p.79 The Other Side p.81 Roman Review P.84 BREAKROOM p.84 Did You Know? p.86 The Vault p.89 Trick Out Your Biomed Cart Winner p.91 Scrapbook: GBIS Conference p.94 MedWrench: Where in the World is Ben C.? p.96 Service Index p.102 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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OCTOBER 2018

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SPOTLIGHT

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

COMPANY SHOWCASE

Versus Becomes Midmark RTLS: The Next Chapter of Clinical Workflow Solutions

V

ersus Technology has long provided real-time locating system (RTLS) technology to health systems, beginning with its first asset tracking and patient flow customers in the early 1990s. In 2016, Midmark Corporation acquired Versus to create a unique offering of clinical workflow solutions. By adding RTLS technology to the Midmark portfolio of medical equipment, diagnostic devices and design services, customers have access to a comprehensive product line of health care solutions.

Last month, Versus embarked on a new chapter in the company’s long history, changing its name to Midmark RTLS, a move that showcases exceptional synergy with its parent company.

Together, there is an unwavering commitment to deliver innovative solutions that enhance caregiver efficiencies and improve the patient experience.

As an integral part of the Midmark family, Midmark RTLS improves patient-caregiver interactions with the same real-time locating applications that have positioned Versus as a market leader for nearly 30 years. Asset

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OCTOBER 2018

Tracking & Management, Staff Assist and Patient Flow Optimization are just a few of the RTLS-based solutions that significantly enrich how health care organizations manage equipment, increase staff safety, enhance caregiver communications and streamline productivity.

Although the Midmark RTLS name is new, its teammates will continue to deliver the same market-leading applications that support customer growth and protect ongoing infrastructure investments in both the acute care and ambulatory spaces. All of this is elevated with unrivaled

consulting expertise, bringing solution design, performance improvement, and best-practice implementation gained from health systems across the nation.

CUSTOMER HIGHLIGHTS: DRIVING REAL IMPROVEMENTS WITH RTLS The Johns Hopkins Hospital is the largest Midmark RTLS customer to date, managing over 14,000 assets and locating 4,000 staff at its Baltimore location. In just one ROI example, staff in the operating room use the Midmark RTLS asset tracking solution to eliminate last-minute searching for case carts and IV pumps, increasing on-time cardiac case starts by 25 percent. The seamless scalability of Midmark RTLS solutions is one of its greatest benefits, simplifying expansion to other units or facilities within a health care organization. Johns Hopkins Medicine has deployed asset tracking, staff assist, nurse call automation and patient flow solutions at multiple locations including

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SPOTLIGHT

Sibley Memorial Hospital, Johns Hopkins Bayview and the Skip Viragh Outpatient Cancer Center.

Montana-based Billings Clinic faced a different kind of asset management challenge: staff wanted to know where equipment was going but didn’t think they could afford to cover an entire 56-acre campus that included 9 buildings and a 304-bed hospital and trauma center. In 2013, Billings Clinic implemented the Midmark RTLS wired sensory network in patient care areas for nurse call automation – an application that requires precise, room-level location accuracy. When the hospital looked to expand RTLS for asset tracking, they reduced costs by leveraging the existing sensory network in patient care areas and used Midmark Wi-Fi Asset Tags to track the general location of assets campus-wide.

While nursing benefits from equipment availability, biomedical teams also experience improved workflow and time savings with preventive bed maintenance: what used to take three months can now be done in just one month.

RTLS AND PATIENT FLOW: MORE THAN JUST AN ASSET SOLUTION It’s important to note that RTLS isn’t just for assets. Within acute care environments there are many other ways to expand RTLS to support caregiver efficiencies. For example, Memorial Healthcare not only tracks assets campus-wide, they also optimize patient flow in the emergency department. Additionally, an RTLS-Epic integration reduces data entry throughout the hospital for bed management status and OR case times.

These same efficiency benefits extend throughout the health system: the ambulatory care environment is the fastest growing site of care, expected to accommodate 2 billion patient visits by 2020. At the University of Minnesota Clinics and

Surgery Center, staff believed so strongly in streamlining processes for operational efficiency and using RTLS to support change, they built a new facility with 122 fewer exam rooms as compared to the previous facility. Today, staff use Midmark RTLS to see exam room status, dynamically assign patients and providers to first-available rooms, and ensure that arriving patients wait no more than 15 minutes. Over 2,400 patients come through the doors each day, yet patients are spending less time waiting and visits are more efficient.

Highlighting the synergy between Midmark RTLS and Midmark Corporation, the new Brooklyn Health Center enhances patient flow with RTLS while caring for patients in state-of-the-art exam rooms featuring Midmark exam and procedure chairs. Registration staff use RTLS to immediately send patients to available exam rooms, eliminating the need for a traditional waiting room. RTLS is also used to support efficiencies throughout the patient visit, alerting staff to wait times, provider availability and patient location.

Physician productivity has increased by more than 30 percent, while physicians perceive that their day is more organized because they are not rushing to keep up.

BETTER TOGETHER Midmark RTLS and the larger Midmark Corporation offer a harmony of clinical workflow services, RTLS technology, medical equipment, diagnostic devices and design assistance ensuring greater efficiencies for health systems. Our mission is to improve the experience between the patient and the caregiver – it’s at the heart of everything we do.

For more information visit www.midmarkRTLS.com.

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNATION

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SPOTLIGHT

PROFESSIONAL OF THE MONTH Kevin Heck, BMET Creative Ideas

BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

H

olland, Michigan celebrates its Dutch heritage with an annual tulip festival. The city literally has millions of them. In addition to the May festival, the city offers white sandy beaches on Lake Michigan for visitors and residents alike.

Recently recognized by U.S. News and World Report for excellent care in hip replacement, Holland Hospital provides those in the greater Holland area with a full range of health care services. The hospital also serves those in Ottawa and Allegan counties.

Kevin Heck, BMET I, works for Aramark Healthcare Technologies in the healthcare technologies department at Holland Hospital.

Heck first learned about an available biomed job at the hospital through his wife.

“I always enjoyed repairing equipment and working with people. I have an associate’s degree in industrial maintenance. I wasn’t able to use my degree in my previous position and I was looking for a change,” he says.

“My wife, Kara Heck, who at that time was a nurse educator at the hospital, told me about a position open in biomedical engineering,” Heck says.

Entering biomed meant some additional training at the time.

“Yes, I had to go back to school for my biomedical engineering degree. I did

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this at Muskegon Community College; however several of my classes from my earlier degree did transfer over,” he says.

“I started at the entry level; equipment distribution. I was working 30-hours a week and going to school.

That was a very valuable time for me in mastering my client relationships, and communication skills. I have been promoted to BMET I now,” Heck says.

While not considering himself a specialist in any one area, Heck says that he gets good cross-training on the job.

“We try to cross train everyone with everything at our department. With that said, I am now starting to take over and be the main technician for all of surgery.

This includes the anesthesia machines and sterilizers. I also assist in radiology,” he says.

NETWORK COLOR CODING Heck has been involved in some special projects. His resourcefulness has helped make things work and also makes distinguishing networks easier for his colleagues.

“I was involved in bringing in Smith medical epidural and PCA pumps. I noted the power plug could not be attached and would keep falling on the ground. I contacted a local machine shop and had a custom bracket made to hold the power cord on it to prevent damage,” he says.

He was also on a team to deploy a

Massimo Root vital sign machine and a Rad 5 pulse-ox to every hospital room.

“I coordinated all testing to verify alarms traveling to our Vocera device, which is a communication device that our clinical staff wear – it allows for alarms to be sent from our devices to the end user,” Heck explains.

“At the same time that we were testing, I was also implementing the mounting arms from GCX into each room of the hospital. I made the network cables to connect into the network and I shortened the power plugs so all the cable management would be set right and we get no calls for loss of connection or no power,” he adds.

Another recent project he was a part of was deploying Nihon Kohden to ED, ICU, ATU, Stroke, TU, and Cath Lab departments.

“During this deployment, I have started a hospital color coding system for all the separate networks within the hospital. Example; all Massimo network cables are blue, Nihon Kohden is yellow, each network has its own color and we are starting to color the wall ports to prevent the wrong device plugging into the wrong network port,” Heck says.

“I also had to purchase different mounting arms from GCX to mount the new devices, and make the network cables and order 90-degree power plugs for the monitors,” he adds.

“I have also been involved with our

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

SPOTLIGHT

FAVORITE BOOK: Harry Potter books

FAVORITE MOVIE: “Tombstone”

FAVORITE FOOD: My wife’s cooking

HIDDEN TALENT: Stained glass work

FAVORITE PART OF BEING A BIOMED:

Kevin Heck, BMET

EMR and how our devices communicate and integrate into our medical systems.”

Heck says that whenever there is an update to the EMR, he verifies in their test domain that the communication with the devices is intact.

“We are the only hospital that is fully integrated with our Baxter IV pumps. I helped to set barcodes for scanning and association of these pumps to our EMR,” Heck says.

AWAY FROM WORK When not maintaining medical equipment, Heck enjoys working with a different set of tools as well as spending time outdoors.

“I do enjoy woodworking and stained glass,” he says. “Our family does lots of camping/traveling, geocaching and rockhounding.”

On the family front, Heck has been married to his wife, Kara, for 15 years.

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

They have three kids; Kaitlynn, 13 and a set of twins; Jenna and Justin who are 12 years old.

“All three kids are in sports, so we get to go to support them at soccer, volleyball and basketball games as well as dance competitions,” Heck says.

What would Heck want readers to know about him?

“I thoroughly enjoy this field of biomedical engineering. It allows me to be a part of the health care system that I find highly rewarding,” he says.

“I am able to help our patients and our staff in order to have the best outcomes possible. When our twins were born, our daughter had to spend some time in an incubator.

When she was able to come out, we were, of course, overjoyed that she was OK. Now that I work in the hospital, I look at every piece of equipment that I fix as if it has a potential that one of my family

“Seeing the satisfaction from the medical staff when I am able to fix something for them. This allows them to provide the best care to our patients.”

WHAT’S ON MY BENCH? • • • •

Picture of my family Dr Pepper TechNation magazine My wood candy dish that my dad hand carved • A Stanley multi-bit screwdriver, the first tool my boss gave me when I started

members were going to need to use it,” Heck adds.

He also enjoys creating and bringing new ideas to the table.

“I like to think outside of the box on how we can efficiently and effectively tackle new problems,” he says.

As a resourceful HTM pro, who comes up with some creative install solutions, he is a great resource to the Holland, Michigan community.

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNATION

17

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SPOTLIGHT

DEPARTMENT OF THE MONTH The Royal Melbourne Hospital Clinical Engineering Department

BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

A

ustralia is a land of contrasts; the outback with its venomous snakes and insects and the modern cities, like Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

Melbourne is the country’s second largest city and the state capital of Victoria with a population of 4.9 million. The city’s suburbs reach around Port Phillip Bay. The city is made up of modern and traditional buildings and a tramway system for the benefit of commuters.

Serving the health care needs in the city is the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH).

The hospital was established in 1848 and is Victoria’s first hospital and one of its largest. Services are offered through two primary campuses; a city campus and the Royal Park campus. The RMH has more than 9,000 staff employed across 32 sites.

In June, AAMI announced that the clinical engineering department at RMH had won its HTM Week Celebration Contest. At the time, AAMI said that the department won “for its unique, educational, and fun combination of events.”

The 10-member CE department at RMH includes a manager, two senior biomedical engineers, a clinical engineer supervisor (including a medical IT support role) and a quality engineer (responsible for management of ISO 9001 Quality Management System and coordination of PM program).

The remainder of the team consists of four biomedical engineers, two biomedical

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technologists and a support clerk.

“Clinical engineering celebrated 50 years of service in 2013 and have a dedicated team of biomedical engineers, technologists and support staff who provide patient-focused medical device support to Melbourne Health,” says Simon Cowley, acting manager of clinical engineering.

“The majority of our clinical engineering staff are trained to work on a wide range of medical devices, therefore are well equipped to respond to daily requests from our clinical departments,” Cowley says.

“However, we do have a biomedical technologist who primarily works on maintenance of hospital beds and trolleys,” he adds.

He also says that the team’s senior biomedical engineering staff is extensively trained and experienced with medical IT networks/systems, whose expertise is drawn upon if escalated from the biomedical engineers/technologists in the department.

TAKING ON CHALLENGES The department has brought its expertise to projects and has created greater efficiencies with computer equipment.

“Clinical engineering continually participates in projects across The Royal Melbourne Hospital. Our subject matter and project management experience are highly sought after by clinicians and key stakeholders,” Cowley says.

He says that the majority of projects involve the replacement and installation of

medical equipment.

“Many of these projects involve medical IT network and server infrastructure work, which we collaborate closely with the IT and T Services Department.”

Cowley says that in 2017-18, the clinical engineering team has participated in several major projects at RMH. He says that some of those projects include the redevelopment of a cardiac catherization laboratory, expansion of a coronary care unit, including patient monitoring system replacement and the medical IT network/ system upgrade of a patient monitoring system in the emergency department.

“The team was also instrumental in the completion of Pod D (10 beds) of the intensive care unit and completing a long-term project to build a 42-bed ICU servicing three hospitals (The Royal Melbourne Hospital, The Women’s Hospital, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Parkville) in Parkville,” he adds.

The CE department also is in the business of problem-solving.

“Clinical engineering endeavors to apply engineering principles to solve problems for our organization. One of our achievements includes a fleet of custombuilt cabinets that house the PCs for our central patient monitoring workstations throughout RMH,” Cowley says.

Cowley says that the cabinets have fans with filter media, minimizing dust ingress into the PCs and reducing their operating temperature.

“Clinical engineering has, for many years, not found it necessary to shutdown central patient monitoring workstations to

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SPOTLIGHT

Lakshmi Thiru works on a device.

Members of the Royal Melbourne Hospital Clinical Engineering Department include (Back row from left) Leschelle Tana, Simon Cowley, David Lierkamp, Nikki Donaldson, Ashrith Kumar, Shamalka Fernando, (Front row from left) Rachel Swain, Rebecca Bailey, Jack Davie, Lakshmi Thiru and Doris Forde.

vacuum out dust/lint and found an increase in reliability of these workstations following the implementation of these cabinets. AAMI wrote an article on this solution in 2014,” he adds.

Like many health care systems in the states, the CE team at RMH has joined forces with IT as more projects require a convergence of the knowledge of both departments.

“Clinical engineering and IT & T Services have a long standing collaboration at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Both departments regularly work together on projects which involve medical IT network and server infrastructure work,” Cowley says.

“Every month, senior staff from each department meet for the CE-IT meeting, where we discuss topical issues and upcoming projects which require the resources of each team. Medical device

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

(From left) Simon Cowley, Nikki Donaldson, Emma Strachan, Marina Alfons and Ashrith Kumar seen with equipment.

cybersecurity is a standing business item for these meetings,” he adds.

He says that Melbourne Health is undergoing a project to uplift IT network infrastructure in readiness for an EMR. “Clinical engineering has been heavily involved with the network design to support medical devices on the IT network and has a continuing involvement as new IT infrastructure is installed across the organization,” Cowley says.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP Away from the workplace, management and staff still contribute to the HTM community.

“Staff members participate in local biomedical engineering societies, such as the Society for Medical and Biological Engineering (Victoria),” Cowley says.

“In May 2018, I presented at the SMBE Vic Monthly Seminar on two topics; a medical IT training simulator used for staff training within clinical engineering (which won an industry award in 2018, see http://www.abeia. com.au/#/pages/winners), along with an overview of medical device cybersecurity,” Cowley adds.

He says that staff members also participate in interstate and national conferences, such as the Society for Medical and Biological Engineering (NSW) Conference and Australian Biomedical Engineering Conference (ABEC).

The department has garnered a lot of recognition for being innovative and efficient. That is good news for patients and clinicians in Melbourne, who benefit from their good work.

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SPOTLIGHT

BIOMED ADVENTURES Helping the People of Ghana

BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

Editor’s note: Francis Aduoffei is not a native English speaker.

A

esop once said; “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted” and the famous quote from the Book of Acts states; “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” There are some people who try to live up to these statements by donating clothing to a charitable organization or giving to their church weekly. Some buy gifts for underprivileged children at Christmas time.

On a bigger scale, some devote their lives to helping others in need and put events into action that help hundreds or thousands.

This is the case with BMET Francis Aduoffei. Aduoffei is originally from Ghana and serves in the U.S. Army as a sergeant. He created a not-for-profit called the Ceciyaa Foundation, named for his mom.

“I started Ceciyaa Foundation in Iraq during my 15 months rotation from 2007 to 2009. The mission is a calling upon my life. I went to Ghana on R and R from Iraq to support the maize farming I had started,” Aduoffei says.

“I hired 15 women one of the days, and as usual, we take videos and pictures of the ladies as they work with us. On the third day, I realized that they had the same clothes on. I sought from them how many clothes they have and the answer was disturbing and poor,” he says.

“So when I return to Iraq, and subsequently back home in USA, I

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decided to ask anybody I meet for clothes and shoes for just the 15 women.

However, I kept receiving many more clothes and shoes. I contact few friends and got together and official sought out all the necessary document to register Ceciyaa Foundation so we can do more for poor women and their kids in Ghana,” Aduoffei adds.

He says that initially, the challenges and obstacles were mainly logistical. He says that getting storage facilities for all of the donated clothes and shoes was challenging and tested his budget.

“I had no knowledge on how to raise funds or ask for help here in America.

In Ghana, much challenges were due to lack of communication and finding the right person with the right mindset about the whole vision,” he says.

He also says that communications were expensive at the time. He says that phone cards and direct calls were the only means of communication.

“That drained my pocket. I was more particular in building the organization in Ghana than in the USA,” Aduoffei says.

“I formed a centralized office using my resident in Ghana. However, in two years, I realized that we were not moving forward as much as we should. I therefore decentralized all operations and empowered whoever want to be part in the local communities to talk with me direct and get direct assistance from the organization,” he adds.

During this time also, Aduoffei says that his church, First Christian Church in Burkburnett, Texas and Pastor Judy

welcomed the organization and called it “The Ghana Mission.”

“I was given opportunity to share with the entire community on TV. The first 40-foot container was loaded from Wichita Falls, Texas with lots of support both financially and goods. I was a recipient of [the] TEXCOMA Media Community Award,” Aduoffei says.

He says that early donors were available, but as the need increased in Ghana, it became difficult because of concurrent military transfers, which required starting all over in new communities.

“So far, I have been through three cities in Texas (Wichita Falls and San Antonio), Newport News in Virginia and now back to Killeen, Texas,” he says.

REAL RESULTS Examples of what the foundation has been able to achieve during the past nine years are heartening.

“Joycelyn Elleamoh is a young beautiful lady in the capital of Ghana.

She had completed and graduated from a sewing program. Ceciyaa Foundation bought an electric sewing machine for her so she can sew effectively to expand her shop and become more independent.

Today, she is a master of her own with apprentices that are learning from her,” Aduoffei says.

“In the past nine years, Ceciyaa has purchased 105 sewing machines for 105 ladies throughout Ghana. Many are masters today and are training others.

Currently, one of our active shops is in Tamale, with 12 ladies. In September,

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SPOTLIGHT

Francis Aduoffei has helped farmers and many others in Ghana. the first six will graduate; to the glory of God. We supply the machines and match them with a master for three years before they graduate,” Aduoffei adds.

He says that some fail to stay but the majority are now doing well.

Aduoffei says that another unique story is the foundation’s community farming.

“Kofi Ogan was encouraged last year with financial support to lead his community to farm a 15-acre corn farm.

Today, with their harvest and some support from the USA, they have been able to construct their own school with roofing sheets that allows them to stay in school when it rains,” he explains.

“Kofi Ogan and staff are paid by Ceciyaa Foundation as we farm even more this year to expand and build more blocks for the children. Our mission is all over Ghana and is targeted at communities more so than individuals. Every member within the community is encouraged to join forces for each other. Our principle is called ‘with them for them,’ ” Aduoffei says.

Another great endeavor of the organization is its “Read to Fish and Farm” mission, which has given over 250,000 books to children, communities and schools in Ghana.

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

“Much can be seen on Facebook at National Readers Association. We seek to help all children; mostly in rural communities, to learn how to read.

These books are donated by Half Price Books Stores in Texas throughout the year,” Aduoffei says.

“Many of these kids can read now due to our various reading programs.

Read to Fish is where those kids who stay in the program are given coupons to go and catch fish from Ceciyaa Foundation fish farms. Read to Farm is where the kids in selected communities are given books so that their parents are encouraged to join the community farming,” he adds.

ALSO SERVING AMERICA With all of the work to help those less privileged, Aduoffei still has a primary job.

“I am the Platoon Leader for the 583rd Medical Logistic Company with 61st MMB, 1MED BDE. I supervise the great soldiers and NCOs to perform maintenance on medical equipment in [the] Ft. Hood area of operation,” he says.

“I don’t necessary get on any equipment, but I assumed responsible for mission assigned to the Company. There are over 2,000 pieces of medical equipment that are

scheduled and routinely maintained by my command,” Aduoffei adds.

What can other HTM professionals do to help? Aduoffei says that financial donations or medical equipment that is useable are appreciated. At some point, a “rescue” mission to service medical equipment in Ghana will be a reality.

“We are also planning to take a trip as HTM professionals to help service all the medical equipment we can gather in Ghana one day soon. Medical maintenance is zero to none in almost all the huge hospitals,” he says.

The name of the foundation came out of the medical shortcomings in the country and the sad consequence.

“My mother died in 2001. The X-ray unit that was used for over year could not capture anything for us to seek proper care. When I finally send her to a better and more expensive clinic for X-ray, it was too late since that sickness had reached a damaging point,” Aduoffei remembers.

“The X-rays in the formal hospital were never calibrated with require TMDE. I name this organization after her and so far I have many friends who are doctors and are helping me remind themselves to service these equipment.

HTM professionals can be entreated to join forces annually to send few on a mission trip to help the nation of Ghana,” Aduoffei adds.

Aduoffei says that the foundation “is a three-bundle treat.”

“Evangelism, education and economic empowerment. It is like a sandwich. Evangelism and economic empowerment is the loaf of bread.

Education is the meat and all the good stuff that makes it a real delicious sandwich,” he explains.

In his own words, Francis Aduoffei proves that the motivation of one BMET can change the lives of many people. The name of his foundation says it all; what more motivation would anyone need?

For more information, visit www.ceciyaafoundation.org.

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SPOTLIGHT

SPECIAL ADVERTISING ADVERTISING SECTION SPECIAL SECTION

COMPANY SHOWCASE iMed Biomedical

i

Med Biomedical launched in 2014 after noticing a gap in the medical service industry in the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) area of Texas. While on-site BMETs were able to service their equipment locally, there really wasn’t a higher level support for those engineers.

“Having been a biomedical technician myself in the United States Army, I was a little shocked to see the lack of support in the form of supplemental labor, quality replacement parts, specialized equipment services, project management, depot repairs and CMS/TJC consulting,” explains iMed Biomedical Inc. President and CEO Jake Powell. “Despite the need I saw, we understood that starting a biomedical services company in the highly saturated DFW market wouldn’t come easy, especially if iMed hoped to solve some of the commonly overlooked service issues that nobody else seemed to be addressing.”

“As a startup with virtually no reputation, we recognized that we would need to build a brand for our

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organization and bring an exceptional customer experience to the table if we were going to survive. I believed that if we could truly prioritize patient safety above all else, that the rest Jake Powell of the chips would iMed Biomedical fall into place,” President and CEO Powell adds.

“Four years later, we have expanded into a comprehensive biomedical solutions company with a wide range of capabilities. We are currently providing biomedical services in over 20 states stretching from California to Maine.

Our ability to listen to the customer, create a unique service package based on their needs, and deliver with precise, cost-effective solutions have earned us a reputation as a reliable partner for hospitals and clinics nationwide.”

TechNation quizzed Powell to find out more about iMed Biomedical.

Q

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

Powell: One of the advantages that we take pride in is our tailored approach to each individual project we take on. We like to meet our customers with a “blank canvas philosophy.” By taking into consideration the customer’s goals and concerns, whether they be the lowest-priced solution, the highestquality solution, or the happy median therein – we can provide an unrivaled service package that hits the bullseye for our customer.

Q

What are some challenges that your company faced last year?

Powell: The main challenge we’ve faced over the past year would have to be scalability. Last year, iMed not only took on more large-scale service projects than we ever had before; we also took on far more complex projects.

In order to execute our responsibilities properly, we had to expand our stable of qualified technicians. Almost

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SPOTLIGHT

iMed Biomedical

Leading the Industry in Biomedical Solutions

Left: iMed technician performs maintenance on a power supply assembly for dialysis.

Right: iMed technician examines an injector for depot repair.

immediately, this change presented us with another problem. While we now had the necessary staff in place to tackle the influx of new projects, we were very quickly outgrowing our real estate. We needed something bigger. In May of this year, we moved our base of operations into a new 7,000 square foot facility in Carrollton, Texas.

Q

Can you share the company’s core competencies and unique selling points?

Powell: Our business is divided into two facets: service and parts. On the service side, we specialize in dialysis, O2 blenders, injectors and CT/MRI. Our parts portfolio includes batteries for the Alaris 8015 and AIL sensors for the Alaris 8100, as well as top cases and batteries for the Medfusion 3500 and 4000. In addition, we manufacture an oxygen blender kit that is compatible with any Bird-style O2 blender. Every part iMed manufactures is done to strict OEM specification and comes with a 1-year warranty.

Q

What product or service are you most excited about right now?

Powell: The most exciting thing for me right now would have to be our oxygen blender repair service or the implementation of our new O2 blender kit. At our shop, we use an efficient assembly-line process for blender repairs

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

that affords us quicker turnaround times than any of our competitors. Our development team spent nearly half a year on various prototypes for an oxygen blender kit. The idea was to create a universal Bird-style blender kit that would meet OEM specifications for fit, form and functionality across the board. After a rigorous R&D process, we were finally able to roll out a kit that would be perfectly compatible for any “Bird-style” oxygen blender, whether it be Bird, Viasys, Siemens, Ohmeda, Omega Low Flow, or Select Ohio Medical Blenders. As a result of our hard work, we are now able to tackle oxygen blenders for our customers with the same approach we brought to infusion pumps in 2014 – both as a parts supplier and as a service provider.

Q

Can you tell us a little bit about your employees?

Powell: iMed Biomedical is proud to be a veteran-owned business. In fact, 75 percent of our current staff served, or are currently serving, in the United States military. The same virtues of respect, discipline and hard work that define this nation’s Armed Forces are

also an integral part of the culture at iMed Biomedical. As a business owner, I am frequently honored to receive unsolicited, positive customer feedback after an on-site dispatch praising the professionalism and politeness of our technicians. We only hire military trained or degree-certified technicians.

Thus, if one of our BMETs is working on a device of yours, you can rest assured that they have been trained on the machine and have the certification to back it up.

Q

What is most important to you about the way you do business?

Powell: We always put the customer first and pride ourselves on helping them in any capacity. If there is a competitor of ours who offers a specialization we do not, we will refer the customer to them every time. Furthermore, we are not here to replace your biomedical department. Rather, we focus on the task at hand with an emphasis for patient safety and an exceptional customer experience.

For more information call (888) 965-4633 or visit www.iMedBiomedical.com.

OCTOBER 2018

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iMed Biomedical

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STAFF REPORTS

NEWS & NOTES

Updates from the HTM Industry RIGEL MEDICAL HELPS SAVE LIVES IN AFRICA A manufacturer of biomedical test equipment is continuing to help a global charity deliver health care services on-board the world’s largest hospital ship.

Rigel Medical, part of Seaward Group, supplies biomedical test equipment to Mercy Ships, an international charity.

The voluntary organization delivers free medical care to some of the world’s poorest countries via a former passenger ship which has been converted into a hospital with five operating rooms, an intensive care unit and 80 ward beds.

The Africa Mercy has just returned from a 10-month field service to Cameroon – and is scheduled to arrive in Conakry, Guinea for its next service.

The ship is fitted with equipment to test the hospital’s syringe drivers, which deliver a consistent flow of injected medication, and its volumetric pumps for infusion of fluids – all manufactured at Rigel’s UK base.

The testers, Rigel’s Multi-Flo Infusion Pump Analyzers, provide an essential service on board as they ensure patients are administered the correct doses at all times. Without them, patients are put at serious risk of receiving the wrong levels of medication – which can be fatal.

Rigel also provided a suite of essential testing devices, including a 288+ Electrical Safety Analyser, a portable tester designed to perform routine tests on medical electrical equipment, and a UniPulse defibrillator analyzer which ensures defibrillators are working correctly.

Rigel Medical, soon to be rebranded as Seaward Medical, has a long standing commitment to supporting charitable organizations and overseas health care providers.

The firm has previously supplied equipment to be used in voluntary missions to Asia and Africa.

Jack Barrett, national business development manager at Rigel Medical, said: “We’re delighted to continue helping Mercy Ships carry out its important work. The work the team accomplishes is simply incredible and it’s a real honor to be able to contribute to the mission in such a vital way.” •

TECHNICAL PROSPECTS EXPANDS PRODUCT OFFERINGS Technical Prospects has announced the addition of Siemens MRI and ultrasound modalities to its suite of imaging parts.

The organization also continues to develop and expand its staff and offers a full support team for all Siemens models currently in stock, including the new additions.

Technical Prospects’ decision to introduce MRI and ultrasound parts comes as a direct response to current customer needs and the growing medical imaging market. With the addition of these modalities, the organization continues its dedication to quality-tested parts and support, holding more than a 99 percent on-time delivery rate and DOA rate of only 1.3 percent.

“No matter which Siemens part you order, customers can expect the quality, care and expertise Technical Prospects has

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

provided for more than 20 years,” Jeremy Probst, president and CEO for Technical Prospects, said. “We are dedicated to providing our current and future customers with the best parts and support possible, and the addition of Siemens MRI and ultrasound modalities further enables us to do so.”

Technical Prospects’ quality-tested parts and support are available now for both MRI and ultrasound modalities. In addition, Technical Prospects can support a variety of parts’ needs and support requests for Siemens Definition AS, YSIO, Luminos Agile, Artis Zee and Multix Fusion models, and they offer more than 42,000 Siemens parts currently in stock. • For more information, visit TechnicalProspects.com.

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

STAFF REPORTS

US MED-EQUIP RECIEVES HEALTHTRUST AWARD US Med-Equip, a company that specializes in serving hospitals with 24/7 rental, sales and asset management of moveable medical equipment, announced that HealthTrust has awarded the company its 2018 Supplier Excellence Award. US Med-Equip was chosen from among hundreds of HealthTrust vendors in the medical/surgical category to receive this honor.

According to HealthTrust, award recipients were chosen based on a variety of factors including product quality, on-time delivery, billing accuracy, customer service and overall price/value.

HealthTrust serves over 1,500 hospitals and health systems and more than 31,000 other member locations. The award was presented to US Med-Equip executives by Michael Berryhill, HealthTrust chief operating officer, at the recent HealthTrust University Conference in Nashville, Tennessee (see photo).

In his letter of congratulations to US Med-Equip, Berryhill noted that “this award is in appreciation for outstanding performance on the metrics that matter most to our members and your customers.” • For more information, visit usmedequip.com.

HTMA-MW ANNOUNCES 2018 SYMPOSIUM AND VENDOR FAIR REGISTRATION The HTMA-MW 2018 Symposium and Vendor Fair will be held October 19-20 beginning at 8:30 a.m. CDT at 10401 S. Ridgeview Road in Olathe, Kansas.

The HTMA-MW is holding an Education Day (Friday, Oct. 19) and Educational Symposium & Vendor Exhibition on Saturday (Oct. 20) at the Embassy Suites Kansas City/Olathe Hotel and Conference Center. The event offers educational classes for technicians and managers, a lunchtime keynote speaker, a Friday evening meet & greet and ample opportunities

to socialize with other HTM professionals from the Greater Kansas City area. AAMI pre-approved CEUs are eligible for all classes and the keynote session.

The exhibit space will feature a wide variety of healthcare technology vendors showing off their newest and greatest products and services. • For more information, visit www.htma-mw.org/event-2882756.

RICHARDSON HEALTHCARE ANNOUNCES ISO 13485:2016 CERTIFICATION Richardson Healthcare, a Division of Richardson Electronics Ltd., has been awarded ISO 13485:2016 certification. This certification is an international standard that outlines the requirements for a quality management system specific to the medical devices industry.

This certification validates the consistent design, development, production and delivery of medical devices that are safe for their intended purpose. To be certified, Richardson demonstrated the ability to provide medical devices and related services that consistently meet customer and regulatory requirements.

“Quality is at the core of Richardson’s long history, and

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this ISO certification represents our continued commitment to that tradition,” said Pat Fitzgerald, executive vice president and general manager of Richardson Healthcare.

As part of the ISO certification process, Richardson participated in a thorough audit of its quality system processes, as well as product quality requirements. The company follows these standards throughout all departments such as customer service, design, manufacturing, assembly and distribution. • For more information, visit www.rell.com.

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

MD EXPO EDUCATION EARNS ACI APPROVAL

For more than a decade, MD Expo has set the bar for biomedical, clinical engineering and imaging service conferences.

The MD Expo – to be held October 5-7 in Seattle, Washington – has been pre-approved for a total of 10.5 CEUs. The course will be listed on the AAMI Credentials Institute (ACI) pre-approved webpage.

“Please feel free to inform all attendees that this course has been preapproved and if they are claiming it on their ACI journals, it will be accepted for a maximum of 10.5 CEUs,”

McLaughlin wrote in an email.

The MD Expo-CBET Review Course to be held October 5 in Seattle, Washington has been pre-approved for a total of 6.5 CEUs, according to AAMI Program Manager Certification Martin J McLaughlin. The course is listed on the AAMI Pre-Approved webpage.

MD Expo attendees will gain extensive knowledge with AAMI Credentials Institute-accredited educational seminars as well as participate in several networking events. They will also learn about the latest technology and cost-saving resources from more than 100 industry leaders stationed throughout the exhibit hall. Best of all, admission is free for hospital employees with a VIP pass available from one of the exhibitors! • For more information or to register, visit MDExpoShow.com.

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

STAFF REPORTS

HEALTHMED360 ANNOUNCES SUPPORT SERVICES COMPANY HealthMed360 LLC has announced the launch of its new national company, specializing in system sales, services, parts and mobile rentals of CT, MRI, PET/CT and ultrasound.

HealthMed360 LLC was formed by Robert Dakessian, the founder and former president/CEO of Genesis Medical Imaging.

In July, HealthMed360 moved into its 40,000-square-foot technical facility that includes system staging bays, a paint booth for cosmetic refurbishment, fully functional CT/MRIs for training and parts testing and several electronics labs for coil, board, RF, computer and other in-house repair capabilities.

“Our approach in starting Healthmed360 is to be the one-stop solution to all your imaging needs. We know how important lowering the cost of ownership has become, so we

came up with solutions to provide a well-rounded program to support you in doing so,” says HealthMed360 President Robert Dakessian.

HealthMed360’s focus is equipment sales, installation/ deinstallation, system upgrades and refurbishment, replacement parts and in-house parts repair, cold head replacements and the company has a mobile fleet for interim mobile rentals. HealthMed360 works with hospitals, imaging centers, clinics, asset management companies and independent service organizations. • For additional information, visit www.HealthMed360.com

ISS ANNOUNCES NEW FACILITY Injector Support & Service (ISS) serves customers by providing support and service for medical contrast injectors from its new facility in Winter Garden, Florida.

The facility was completed last year and allows business owners, Ryan and Jennifer Clarke, to bring their team together under one roof.

The ISS team is known in the medical equipment industry for its biomedical technical support, preventative maintenance with calibration verifications, parts identification and sales,

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depot service and loaner injectors, according to a press release.

“ISS is dedicated to providing only the very best in contrast injector support and service,” according to the press release. • For more information, visit injectorsupport.com.

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

MME & RENEW BIOMEDICAL TRIPLE IN SIZE Seven years ago, Master Medical Equipment (MME) opened its doors in Jackson, Tennessee to provide quality, life-saving equipment at an affordable price to caregivers around the globe. Despite the initial growing pains, nothing could prepare them for the growth that has occurred since inception in 2011.

MME is a supplier of new and recertified defibrillators, patient monitors, EKG/ECG systems, ventilators, ESUs, pumps and sensors to the professional medical community.

“Since its inception in 2011, Master Medical Equipment sales have increased by 30 percent each year. That growth has been a direct reflection of business from repeat customers,”

according to a press release.

MME’s sister company, ReNew Biomedical, provides service and maintenance for defibrillators, AEDs, patient monitors, ECG/EKGs, ventilators, ESUs and IV pumps.

ReNew has shown 325 percent growth since 2015, according to the press release.

ReNew and MME operate under one roof to provide fast turnaround time and flexible service options, according to the release. • For more information, visit MMEMed.com or ReNewBiomedical.com.

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

STAFF REPORTS

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ECHONOUS UNVEILS AI STATION FOR EMERGING NURSING TOOLS EchoNous has released the AI Station, a new docking system especially designed for emerging nursing tools, aimed at raising convenience for nurses and lowering costs for health systems. With the goal of reinventing what has historically been an afterthought medical device element, EchoNous commissioned an industrial designer and listened to clinicians and biomedical leaders at one of the nation’s top health systems.

“Everything from colors, to selection of materials, to the most minute of daily functions were reconsidered from a blank sheet of paper and through a fresh set of eyes,” said Niko Pagoulatos, COO of EchoNous. “Quite importantly we have integrated a ‘flexible electronic hub’ into the AI Station, aimed at both current and newly emerging AI functionality tasks.”

The AI station is a uniquely expandable platform that integrates EchoNous’ current intelligent tools, the Uscan bladder scanner and recently released EchoNous Vein, as well as devices currently in development. •

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RENOVO SOLUTIONS ON INC. 5000, AGAIN Renovo Solutions announced that Inc. magazine ranked Renovo as No. 4,136 on its annual Inc. 5000 list, a ranking of the nation’s fastestgrowing private companies. The list represents successful companies within the American economy’s independent small business segment.

This is the third consecutive year that Renovo Solutions has appeared on the Inc. 5000 list.

The entire 2018 Inc. 5000 list is available online at www.Inc.com.

“RENOVO’S strategy to deliver innovative and cost-effective service solutions to the health care and life science market has positioned us for continued exponential growth. It’s a very exciting time for Renovo at this point in our company’s history. This incredible achievement would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of our employees, as well as through great relationships with our clients,” says Sandy Morford, CEO of Renovo Solutions. •

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

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GENYSYS SOLUTIONS Website: www.genysyssolutions.com Contact: Steve Campbell Phone: 844-436-9797 Email: scampbell@genysyssolutions.com

Introducing Genysys Solutions

BY ERIN REGISTER

A

fter more than 12 years in the HTM industry at a software company, Genysys Solutions Founder Steve Campbell decided to start a company of his own.

“It became obvious that clinical engineering departments lacked the resources and understanding to properly track certain information that would otherwise allow them to make informed decisions regarding healthcare technology management,” Campbell said. “Doing so would allow them to reduce costs, improve efficiency and improve overall patient care and safety.”

Q: WHAT IS THE MAIN FOCUS OF GENYSYS SOLUTIONS? A: Our main focus is to provide a data management solution for the

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entire HTM community that addresses the need for an industrywide standardized database.

Q. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE SERVICES GENYSYS SOLUTIONS OFFERS? A: We assist with data management, consistency and accuracy. Our company can then help hospitals run the appropriate reports to make informed decisions on how to run their department and improve efficiency with device management.

Q: HOW DOES GENYSYS SOLUTIONS STAND OUT IN THE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT FIELD? A: No one else provides a website that is public-facing and that provides an affordable means to find equipment types, manufacturers, model naming conventions along with user manuals, PM schedules and

AEM recommendations. In addition, we provide a means for users to submit requests for missing or wrong information, allowing the community as a whole to contribute to a peerdriven source of information.

Q: DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIFIC GOALS THAT YOU WANT GENYSYS SOLUTIONS TO ACHIEVE IN THE NEAR FUTURE? A: We would like to get a large number of health care institutions “speaking the same language,” so to speak, and begin making informed decisions based on comparative data across multiple hospital organizations. This, in turn, could contribute to decreased costs in equipment acquisition and maintenance costs, while increasing equipment up-time and overall patient care.

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TELL US ABOUT YOUR COMPANY: Medical Equipment Doctor, said the company purchases medical equipment from hospitals, surgery centers and third-party providers, offering comprehensive documentation and full-disclosure of how the equipment is to be disbursed and utilized. Negron’s ALBERT NEGRON, company is based in Anaheim, FOUNDER AND CEO California (home of Disneyland) and is able to support customers globally with their equipment needs.

WHAT IS THE ONE QUALITY THAT DIFFERENTIATES YOUR COMPANY? We like to say “Big. Small. We buy it all.” Acquiring equipment has aided us to sell refurbished equipment to facilities that cannot afford to purchase new or sell to other third-party companies that have a bigger footprint to resell in the market. It has also created an inventory of equipment for our rental fleet.

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GENYSYS SOLUTIONS

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TELL US ABOUT YOUR COMPANY: A web-based source for information to help the HTM community manage their data management efforts as well as data quality and accuracy. In cases where they may not otherwise have the resources to do so, we also provide affordable assistance in lieu of hiring a BRANDON WAYNE, PRESIDENT/CEO full time equivalent.

WHAT IS THE ONE QUALITY THAT DIFFERENTIATES YOUR COMPANY? We provide access to the key data elements necessary for the HTM community to properly assess the condition of their healthcare environment. This would typically only be accessible through multiple resources. Having a single source for this information cuts down on time and resources that can otherwise be utilized in other ways.

Finally, even in the few instances where some of this information is accessible, it’s often only as a one-time situation, and not on-going. Genysys, on the other hand, provides a long-term partnership with our customers guaranteeing long term success.

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WHAT IS THE ONE QUALITY THAT DIFFERENTIATES YOUR COMPANY? CyberMDX brings together digital health, medical devices, and cybersecurity into a solution that addresses unique challenges that hospitals face today by protecting their connected medical devices. Our solution is tailored to healthcare and clinical networks and understands the needs of healthcare IT teams and their workflows. As opposed to generic IoT security solutions, CyberMDX’s solution was built from the ground up for the healthcare industry.

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

BY AAMI

AAMI UPDATE PRESENTATION PROPOSALS SOUGHT FOR NEW AAMI EXCHANGE AAMI has launched its call for proposals for presentations at the first AAMI Exchange, the new name for the reimagined AAMI Annual Conference & Expo. The Exchange will be held June 7-10, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio.

“The AAMI Exchange is more than a healthcare technology management (HTM) conference,” said Sherrie Schulte, AAMI’s senior director of certification and the annual conference. “To help expand the education program, we have complied a list of suggested topics based on feedback from past attendees. We are looking forward to receiving proposals from industry professionals who might not have thought about presenting at the conference in the past.”

Suggested session topics include: • Artificial intelligence • Changes in point of care • Cybersecurity • Data analytics • Home health • Impact of declining reimbursement • Internet of Things • Meeting regulatory/accreditation requirements • Impact of declining reimbursement • Sterilization • Virtual reality Presenting at the AAMI Exchange can be a great way for professionals to elevate their profiles in the field and showcase their skills and value. Presenters also can earn CEUs. Proposals may be submitted by individuals or groups working in or serving the health technology field. AAMI membership is not required to submit a proposal or to present at the AAMI Exchange.

For more information, visit www.aami.org/aamiexchange.

AAMI JOURNAL SHEDS LIGHT ON CHALLENGES, TRENDS WITH PEDIATRIC TECHNOLOGY The field of pediatric healthcare technology faces profound challenges to overcoming a smaller market, a smaller

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patient and an ever-changing physiological landscape.

Those challenges – and opportunities – are the focus of a recent cover story in BI&T (Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology), AAMI’s award-winning journal.

Developing pediatric medical devices is not a smooth road for many companies; locating funding is onerous because the market, and potential return on investment, for pediatric technology is far smaller than that for devices used by adults or those for general use.

The pediatric market crunch is further obfuscated by a variety of other factors. For example, pediatric illnesses tend to be more variable than adult illnesses, and children are constantly changing (e.g., in terms of physical size and heart rate). The inherent lack of constants in the pediatric population makes developing technology particularly challenging.

Despite these obstacles, those who work in the field are moving into the future guided by the enormous amount of passion, empathy and ingenuity that pediatric patients deserve.

“The challenges are not insurmountable, but there is additional complexity, effort, time and cost,” said Eric Stone, cofounder and CEO of Velano Vascular, one of the experts quoted in the article.

AAMI FOUNDATION AWARDS FRESH ROUND OF RESEARCH GRANTS The AAMI Foundation has named the recipients of funding from the Mary K. Logan Research Awards Program for 2018.

The two grants, worth a total of $79,950, will go to researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Ohio for projects focused on reducing pediatric medication errors.

This awards program, which was named in honor of AAMI’s former president and CEO, was established in 2016 with a gift from the association’s board of directors.

It is intended to support research and initiatives that focus on improving patient safety and eliminating morbidity and mortality associated with the use of health technology.

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“The AAMI Foundation is extremely proud to support the vital pediatric research being conducted at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine,” said Christine V. Emery, executive director of the AAMI Foundation. “Patient safety is at the heart of our mission, and it is through well-designed scientific studies such as these that we hope to provide enhanced tools and promote systemic changes that will improve the protection of even the most vulnerable patients.”

The AAMI Foundation awarded $39,950 to a Brigham and Women’s Hospital research team, led by Kumiko O. Schnock, RN, PhD, a research associate in the department of medicine. The group will focus on refining an existing data collection tool that has been tested with adults to determine the frequency and type of intravenous (IV) medication administration errors that occur when using smart pumps in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Such errors can have potentially severe consequences.

Another pediatric patient safety challenge is inaccurate body weight data. This issue is significant because of the frequent use of weight-based dosing of medications and errors propagated by electronic health record (EHR) systems.

“In a pediatric environment, where many medication doses are based on weight, a medication error is possible if a wrong weight is entered for a patient. Yet, kids with severe conditions can have unusual growth patterns, so automated identification of weight errors is difficult,” said Danny T.Y. Wu, PhD, assistant professor of biomedical informatics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. “We have developed a computerized medication safety system that can detect weight errors and stop the medication ordering process to prevent errors, but at this point we need to improve the system’s positive predictive value.”

Wu and his research team were awarded $40,000 by the AAMI Foundation to help conduct this additional research.

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

BY ECRI

ECRI UPDATE

Five Organizations Demonstrating Exceptional Health Technology Management

A

s detailed in last month’s issue, a team from Boston Medical Center (Boston, Massachusetts) earned ECRI Institute’s 2018 Health Devices Achievement Award for its development of a mobile app that guides postsurgical patients through the pulmonary care protocol. That project was not the only one to gain recognition, however.

ECRI Institute honored five additional groups as finalists for the 2018 Award.

The projects from these organizations – described below in alphabetical order – demonstrate the innovative ways that ECRI Institute member organizations are improving patient safety, reducing costs or otherwise facilitating better strategic management of health technology.

BOSTON MEDICAL CENTER In addition to the winning initiative, a second Boston Medical Center project was judged to be one of the year’s top submissions. That project team implemented an early warning system (EWS) to reduce clinical deterioration and preventable death among hospitalized patients.

The warning system leverages the capabilities of the electronic medical record to (1) identify clinically decompensating patients through the capture and analysis of rapidly changing patient physiologic and laboratory variables, (2) alert frontline clinicians when a patient’s condition is beginning to deteriorate, and (3) trigger interventions from critical-care-trained

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nurses who can implement measures to prevent further clinical deterioration and reduce preventable mortality.

The Boston Medical Center team determined that for an EWS to be effective, the health care facility first must select clinical variables and thresholds that will accurately reflect clinical deterioration in the facility’s specific patient population. Then, the facility must reliably and swiftly direct appropriate clinical resources toward decompensating patients. The organization configured its EWS to trigger a standardized response protocol, activating a multidisciplinary response team to attend to affected patients.

A retrospective comparison of cases suggests that the efforts have led to reductions in the length of stay, the number of ICU transfers, the time to resuscitative efforts and unexpected mortality.

EINSTEIN HEALTHCARE NETWORK Researchers at Einstein Healthcare Network (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) studied ways to reduce IV contrast extravasations that occur during contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) examinations.

Specifically, researchers assessed whether injecting a test bolus of saline using a power injector, instead of injecting it by hand, can decrease the number of subsequent IV contrast extravasations that occur.

Previously, a pre-contrast test bolus of normal saline was injected by hand for most examinations. If no extravasation was observed, the

iodinated contrast would be injected using a power injector. The team hypothesized that using a power injector to also deliver the test bolus, rather than

injecting it by hand, would more closely reproduce the force and pressure of the iodinated contrast injection. This, they reasoned, would provide a more reliable assessment of the viability of the IV injection prior to administering IV iodinated contrast.

To test this hypothesis, Einstein instituted a new protocol specifying that the saline test bolus be power-injected for all IV-contrast-enhanced studies.

The team then compared extravasation rates for the periods before and after the change. The review of data from more than 34,000 exams showed that the intervention reduced extravasation rates by 54 percent.

ST. LUKE’S MEDICAL CENTER, PHILIPPINES A program that helped a hospital in the Philippines overcome local challenges to obtaining original equipment manufacturer (OEM) supplies earned recognition for St. Luke’s Medical Center (Quezon City, Metro Manila).

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

Faced with delivery delays of up to a few months for some medical equipment accessories, the St. Luke’s clinical engineering team instituted a program to identify and evaluate third-party alternatives to certain OEM products.

OEMs dominate the market for medical equipment accessories in the Philippines, yet their distribution channels in the region are not always extensive enough, and their local inventory of supplies is not always large enough, to meet demand in a timely manner. In the absence of trusted third-party alternatives, health care facilities may have to wait for OEM products to become available.

Rather than accepting the status quo, the St. Luke’s team instituted a process for finding functionally equivalent products for several types of medical device accessories that require frequent replacement. The program focused on ECG cables, pulse oximetry sensors, batteries and a handful of other products. Over four years, the program achieved savings of more than PHP8,348,350 ($160,000).

VA HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM OFFICE To effectively respond to cybersecurity threats, a health care organization must be able to quickly retrieve technical attribute information for the medical devices that are connected to its network. For a large, national organization like the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), recording and retrieving this information can be a tall order. In fact, the organization did not have a standardized or centralized means for doing so, relying instead on individual biomedical engineering departments to develop their own approaches for maintaining inventory listings.

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To address that shortcoming, the VA National Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) Program Office (Bedford, Masachusetts) developed and deployed its own application. The resulting solution – named the Networked Medical Device Database – was developed by VA biomedical engineers using only existing resources.

The only direct cost for the project was for the engineers’ time.

The database provides central access to data about network-connected medical devices across the VA. As such, it allows the HTM Program Office to monitor several key performance indicators nationally to verify that the inventory data is accurate. In addition, the database enhances vulnerability management and other medical device security activities across all VA medical centers.

VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION Upon learning that a particular blood glucose monitor (BGM) model had been associated with treatment errors – one of them fatal – researchers representing several U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration (VHA) organizations established a rigorous process for investigating the cause of the errors and recommending corrective actions.

Because that same model of BGM is used in many VHA facilities, guidance to prevent adverse events would have far-reaching patient safety implications.

The team identified that certain results screen configurations on the BGM were prone to being misinterpreted. The team researched possible solutions, then tested the various alternatives to identify a configuration that minimized the risk of future adverse events.

To put its findings into action, the VHA team developed configuration recommendations for this BGM model, communicated its recommendations throughout the VHA, and discussed the findings with FDA and the device’s manufacturer. The manufacturer has already released a firmware upgrade that addresses some of the issues raised by the VHA study.

ECRI Institute honored representatives from the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS), the VA National Center for Patient Safety (NCPS) and the VA Hudson Valley Health Care System (VAHVHCS) for their collective efforts.

ALSO DESERVING RECOGNITION . . .

Next year, the winner could be you.

ECRI Institute presents its annual Health Devices Achievement Award to the member health care institution that has carried out the most exceptional initiative to improve patient safety, reduce costs or otherwise facilitate better strategic management of health technology.

If your organization has engaged in a health technology management project that deserves recognition, ECRI Institute wants to hear about it. The nonprofit research institute will be accepting submissions for next year’s Award from October through January.

For additional information, visit https://www.ecri.org/Pages/HealthDevices-Award-Rules.aspx.

This article was excerpted from ECRI Institute’s membership website.

The full article features additional details about the projects outlined above.

For more information, visit www.ecri.org/ HDAwardwinner; or e-mail communications@ ecri.org.

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THE BENCH

BY TOMMY LEE

BIOMED 101

Cybersecurity Tips for HTM

BY TOMMY LEE

T

he landscape of intelligent devices and equipment in health care facilities is changing rapidly because devices are increasingly intelligent and interconnected.

And it’s going to get more difficult to grasp, as Accenture research reports that the Internet of healthcare things (IoHT) is projected to grow by more than 38 percent annually between 2015 and 2020. Additionally, according to a Cybersecurity Ventures report, cybercriminal activity is expected to cause $6 trillion in damages and in response, cybersecurity spend is expected to exceed $1 trillion by 2021.

What are all these devices? Anything foreign that’s connected to the network including medical devices, support systems, medical robots, intelligent assistants, embedded software systems (i.e., monitoring and control systems), and wearable devices. And some of these IoT devices have further layers of IoT within or between them. The industry has already taken large steps to move from RFID to newer solutions using less expensive sensors and advanced communication methods like mesh networks or the pervasively deployed Wi-Fi. This device ecosystem is evolving and poses clear security risks. As a result, customers are paying large sums to security providers like GE and MacAfee to add a protection layer and gather data. But is that enough?

I WANT WHAT THEY’RE HAVING The first question I get in nearly all of my interactions across the healthcare technology management (HTM) industry around securing medical devices through the CMMS is “What is everyone else doing?

Because I want to do that.” Truth is, this is a rapidly changing space and there isn’t yet an established industry framework or best

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practice, though this will surely change in the near future. What I most commonly see is most organizations putting a process into place within procurement to gather medical device security information for new equipment, with a separate effort within HTM to gather as much information (e.g.

MDS2 documentation) about existing equipment as possible.

IS MDS2 ENOUGH? The Manufacturers Disclosure Statement of Medical Device Security (MDS2) is an increasingly common, but ultimately optional, set of information provided by vendors that communicates the security specifications and protection layers provided within a device model and/or software revision. While this information is currently optional for manufacturers, many health care organizations won’t even consider buying new equipment without the manufacturer providing this data. Now, although this documentation provides a tremendous amount of information around security capabilities, it doesn’t take into account an organization’s specific configuration or use of a particular device model. This is where the intersection of the CMMS and manufacturer-provided information exists.

SHOULD I BE BUDGETING FOR A CYBERSECURITY ANALYST? The hiring of HTM cybersecurity analysts is picking up steam as the responsibilities for securing medical equipment grow in volume and complexity. These individuals typically have a unique hybrid HTM and IT skillset in order to effectively bridge the gap between these departments. These individuals quickly provide a high return on investment as they shoulder the bulk of the burden around cybersecurity while minimally increasing the workload for those around them.

Tommy Lee

THREE STEPS TO INCREASING HTM SECURITY THROUGH THE CMMS So, let’s assume that many organizations are gathering a significant amount of cybersecurity information for their devices and they’ve hired individuals to shoulder the growing cybersecurity burden. How does an organization tie all of this together within their CMMS? Accruent’s Medical Device Security Analyzer provides the following capabilities to do just this and to help evolve a health care organization’s cybersecurity program: PREPARE: The prepare capabilities are designed to enable organizations to gather as much information as possible that contribute to the device or system’s cybersecurity risk, including vulnerabilities and connectivity mechanisms within each element. It is also architected to ensure that equipment is being secured/hardened according to each organizations’ security policies. Then, allowing organizations to construct risk profile(s) to evaluate against target equipment in order to: • Identify significant risks or gaps, and track the remediation or mitigation • Create or update standard operating procedures (SOPs) for technicians onboarding, maintaining and retiring equipment • Automate the calculation of cybersecurity risk per device taking into account attributes such as the type of information handled by the device, connectivity types (e.g. WiFi more suspect than cable connection), unique roles-based user accounts, capability to be updated, etc.

PROTECT: The key to the best protection is bringing in the right runtime data from

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monitoring solutions. When your monitoring notes an alert or event of significance, your protection should evaluate and prioritize based on severity and the calculated risk of the equipment. Your solution should consume that data and evaluate severity and risk, then allow you to develop a workflow that’s suited to your organization and usage. For the best protection you need to predetermine who is alerted or involved for each type of problem, how much time that person has to respond, and what happens if they don’t.

PROGRESS: Get on an overall fitness regimen.

As your program is running, there should be a continual effort to evaluate your organization’s ongoing effectiveness in preparing and protecting. Generate reports on which types of equipment are more prone to attacks. Evolve standard operating procedures. This more sophisticated approach will put you on the path.

– Tommy Lee is the senior director of product strategy at Accruent.

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AN APPROACH TO PATCHING for Health Care Providers

BY SHANKAR SOMASUNDARAM

A

s cybersecurity problems grow, and new vulnerabilities are published daily, timely and efficient patching has become a key problem for health care providers.

While in the world of IT, patching is important to protect against security threats, in the world of medical devices, patching poses numerous challenges: 1. Patching is challenging with the heterogeneity of devices and manufacturers.

2. Many vulnerabilities don’t even have an approved patch since manufacturers cannot always keep up with the volume of vulnerabilities released by the third-party vendors.

With delayed patch release by manufacturers and slow deployment by providers, medical device’s security posture is less than ideal. To address the above issues, some providers resort to security measures outside of the device. Examples include firewalls or anomaly detection solutions that monitor and block any issues at the network. While monitoring is an important tool, past cyberattacks have shown us that many might bypass even the best monitoring tools.

To address the problem within the constraints posed in the health care world, providers have to take a different approach.

The first step in solving this problem is to understand that medical devices, unlike IT systems, are configured to perform only a specific set of actions on the network. What this means is that, unlike IT systems where every vulnerability poses an entry point for an attacker, with medical devices only a small set of vulnerabilities could potentially be exploited. This automatically reduces the number of vulnerabilities that the providers must address. Example: Spectre allows hackers to steal private and confidential data and so is seen as a critical vulnerability. But to exploit Spectre remotely, a device would need to use specific versions of specific web browsers. So, unless the device is using an affected browser version, the device will not be at risk due to the vulnerability.

For the vulnerabilities which do pose a risk, the second step is to understand the level of risk the vulnerability poses

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in the network. Every vulnerability poses a different level of threat to availability, confidentiality and integrity of the device. Therefore, mapping these different vectors to the device risks can help understand how critical the vulnerability is to the device.

Going back to the above example: Vulnerabilities related to Spectre affect confidentiality of data on the device. For example: if there are 2 devices using the affected version of a browser, the device transmitting private data or connecting to another device which has private data would have a much higher risk than a second device which might not be transmitting private data or might not be connected to a device with private data. Although both have the Spectre vulnerability, their risk levels are quite different.

As a final and third step, for the remaining list of high risk vulnerabilities, understanding the ways in which the vulnerabilities can be exploited allows the provider to mitigate them either by hardening the device or by implementing additional focused security controls on the network.

The net outcome would be a shorter list of vulnerabilities that need to be addressed as a priority allowing providers to focus their scarce resources where it is most beneficial and, through the mitigation process, minimize their overall risk posture.

Asimily through its detailed patch and prioritization module provides such a capability in an automated manner by combining network discovery, vulnerability research, device context and other parameters. Providers can now focus only on what matters in their environment to minimize their risk while continuing to focus on their job of providing high-quality patient care.

Shankar Somasundaram is the CEO of Asimily (www.asimily.com). He has been involved with medical device cyber-security and cyber-risk for many years having contributed to the FDA draft guidelines as well as the recent book by AAMI on medical device cyber-security. He previously ran the connected device business at Symantec with a focus on health care and held leadership positions at other companies before that.

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Asimily is a healthcare focused connected device lifecycle management solution offering healthcare providers with a number of benefits

✔ Inventory

Solution discovers devices and their parameters including IT, device and cyber-security parameters.

✔ Device Relationships

Solution represents how every device is connected and how the data is flowing

✔ Asset Utilization

Solution provides a detailed utilization view for every device with the ability to set different kinds of alerts

✔ Patch and Mitigation Prioritization

Solution answers 3 questions for the provider: ◆ What are the vulnerabilities on the device? ◆ Which vulnerabilities are potentially high risk? ◆ How can the vulnerabilities be remediated?

✔ Risk Monitoring

Solution uses a combination of signatures, pre-built models, and unsupervised learning to detect a spectrum of attack scenarios for device, security and operational problems while maintaining low false positive rates.

✔ Prevention and Remediation

Solution through integration with network devices can help with network segmentation and can block or quarantine devices if any anomalies or security issues are detected.

✔ Integration with different systems

Solution can integrate and exchange information with different systems like CMMS, Network appliances, SIEMS, scanners to provide a central view to the provider

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT Website: www.asimily.com | Email: info@asimily.com | Phone: 408-627-4097

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THE BENCH

STAFF REPORT

MORE THAN 5,000 REGISTER FOR FREE WEBINARS STAFF REPORT

T

he 2018 Webinar Wednesday series is a huge success with more than 5,000 registrations logged and an average of 235 attendees per webinar. The webinars have covered a wide range of topics with many offering ACI-approved continuing education credit. The three webinars presented in August received high marks and met the high expectations of participants.

RTLS FROM A NURSE’S PERSPECTIVE The August 22 Webinar Wednesday presentation, sponsored by Sonitor, explored features of RTLS systems.

“Nurse Administrators Lead and Leverage RTLS Systems” drew 166 attendees for the live presentation and a recording of the webinar is online.

This 60-minute webinar featured Stamford Hospital (Stamford, Connecticut) Clinical Informatics Officer Kelly Jones, RN, and Altru Health System Administrative Director of Orthopedics, Sports Medicine & Regional Operations Jill Wilson, MBA, BS. Jones discussed her experience deploying RTLS at a large facility, including dealing with various department questions, needs and concerns, and articulating benefits from her perspective as a nurse and administrator. Wilson presented about her experiences with RTLS and how it has improved workflow and the patient experience at Altru.

Attendees praised the session and encouraged other HTM professionals to attend Webinar Wednesday.

“Webinar Wednesdays – best thing

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since sliced bread,” Clinical Engineer M. Mappes said.

“Interested to hear how these systems are currently being used. We were an early adopter and the paradigm has certainly changed from equipment management/inventory to patient locator and bed utilization,” said D. Motherway, CBET. “I’ve received a lot of value from the techniques you’ve taught me. Everything you’ve taught me has been very, very helpful. Hands-down your webinar was one of the best received sessions we have had in quite some time. Thank you for your tremendous support and wisdom. I feel I’ve grown a lot, and I’ve got a clear path with regard to my work as a clinical engineer,” V. Sumarkoff, BMET, shared.

“Great information about process and outcome! Real-time data is where health care is in great need,” Biomed M. Pritchett said.

“I am a biomedical technician and I am lucky to know the work of nurses through the webinars,” Biomed W. De Guzman said.

PRODUCT PROCUREMENT STUDY The PartsSource-sponsored presentation “The Time it Takes: A Study of Medical Equipment Product Procurement” delivered valuable content to 174 Webinar Wednesday participants.

The 60-minute webinar featured Ted Courtemanche, principal, Courtemanche Health Advisors, and Dan Brenner, PMP, director of strategic programs for PartsSource.

The webinar delivered the results of time motion studies from top hospitals and how to conduct a time motion study

to understand your team’s true costs of parts sourcing. Attendees also learned the impact integration of systems can have to lower the overall cost of procurement.

Attendees shared positive comments in a post-webinar survey.

“This webinar was educational. With this I can assist my procurement team on how we can be more efficient,” Biomed S. Chand said.

“Excellent review of the company and the services they provide. Insightful information about the different types of purchase orders,” Clinical Engineering Manager P. Brown said.

“This webinar was extremely relevant to the parts procurement that many facilities are dealing with” said E. Willocks, BMET. COST-SAVING TIPS The Conquest Imaging-sponsored webinar “Why Do Ultrasound Probes Cost So Much?” was well attended and received positive reviews.

Bob Broschart, senior director of technical operations at Conquest Imaging, educated attendees regarding the high cost of ultrasound probes and how they can protect themselves and their organizations from these costs.

The webinar attracted 196 attendees.

“I enjoy most webinars that TechNation hosts but this session was particularly informative and relevant to my work. I appreciate the fact that the questions I sometimes muse over can finally be answered, especially the all-to-obvious query of ‘Why does it cost so much for ultrasound probe repair?’ that seems to always blindside us at the most inconvenient of times. Now I

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Physician’s Resource Network

know,” Biomed D. Mishchuk said.

“This Webinar Wednesday was a great in-depth look into how the transducers we work with everyday are designed, constructed and why it costs so much to make/repair them. As usual, the presenter was very knowledgeable on the subject with background experience on several different sides of healthcare technology management. We can’t wait for another great Webinar Wednesday,” said Image Specialist R. Marek.

“The webinar provided valuable information which I can apply in my current role. Thank you so much,” said Biomedical Service & Support Manager G. Myers.

“Very convenient to receive in-depth training at my jobsite. I hope that I can pass on this information to nursing staff,” Biomed Engineer M. Brunemeier said.

The Webinar Wednesday series continues to receive high marks from attendees.

“Webinar Wednesday is a great way to bring your department together after lunch to gain knowledge and wind down,” Corporate Director of Clinical Engineering B. Gould said.

“The topics discussed in the Webinar Wednesday sessions are always well done, informative and useful,” Imaging Manager D. Parker said.

“I am grateful for the training facilitated by the TechNation team, you guys provide us with a great source for keeping current with changes in technology,” said Equipment Specialist L. Mezquia.

“This is the best way to stay on top of the industry’s ever-changing pieces. If you want to stay in the loop get on the webinars,” said

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Senior Biomed Engineer G. Haungs.

“This is the best source for CE credits I have found! Webinar Wednesday helps keep me current and provides new knowledge,” said K. Walker, Advanced Imaging Service Engineer.

“The Webinar Wednesday series is a great resource for biomed techs that have a difficult time attending vendor schools. This provides an avenue for staying up on the resources out there,” Biomed M. Glover said.

“Webinar Wednesday is the ‘glue’ for HTM professionals that holds together the academic thirst for information and the ability to apply the knowledge to enhance the patient experience,” Senior Director C. Nowak said.

“Webinar Wednesdays help me keep up to date with what’s happening in the HTM field. I recommend these webinars to all my co-workers and biomed students,” said C. Villafane.

“Webinar Wednesday – an hour-long presentation on various topics that provide information to various hospital staff giving new information, tools and ideas for the improvement of various facility mission goals,” explained Biomed Department Manager K. Ongchango.

For information about future webinars and recordings of previous webinars, visit WebinarWednesday.live.

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ROUNDTABLE

STAFF REPORT

ROUNDTABLE Defibrillators

There are many types of defibrillators, including AEDs seen at many public places like shopping malls, community centers, churches, airports and even grocery stores. The more advanced defibrillators can be found in health care facilities. Each type is designed to perform a life-saving function.

The men and women of HTM are vital when it comes to the maintenance and repair of these devices. We asked some experienced professionals to share their insights regarding these life-saving devices.

For this roundtable discussion on defibrillators, TechNation reached out to Soma Technology’s Ashish “Ash” Dhammam, RepairMED CEO Diane Geddes and Tenacore Holding’s Juan Ortiz.

Q: WHAT ARE THE BASIC FUNCTIONS OR FEATURES EVERY DEFIBRILLATOR SHOULD HAVE?

Ashish “Ash” Dhammam, SOMA Technology Dhammam: Defibrillators today should have the ability to pace and if your facility hasn’t updated already, it is time to discard monophasic technology for bipasic units. We are also seeing an increase in facilities considering defibrillators which can monitor end tidal CO2.

Geddes: A defibrillator should have an automated feature – AED. It should be easy to use and lightweight. It should have protective cases to prevent physical damage when dropped. It should have the capability to connect to the network for patient data recording.

Ortiz: The basic functions should at least include two things, capability to deliver a consistent shock, and to monitor the heart rate. These are important because it is a matter of life and death and these devices need to be reliable.

Q: WHAT TYPES OF CHECKS AND REGULAR MAINTENANCE DO DEFIBRILLATORS REQUIRE? Dhammam: Most units manufactured in the last 5-10 years

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ROUNDTABLE

have a self-test function, this is not to be confused with maintenance of the unit. All defibrillators should have their preventative maintenance done every six months, including battery life checks. In order to be prepared for every situation, every facility should stock a few extra batteries and supplies, like pads, at all times. Defibrillator simulators should always be calibrated per manufacturer specs.

Diane Geddes, RepairMED Geddes: Defibrillators should be maintained regularly to ensure integrity of the device by following at least the recommended preventive maintenance set by the manufacturer. Accessories such as the paddles, leads and sensors need to be checked as frequently as possible.

Ortiz: Types of checks to do with every defibrillator to make sure they are functioning properly are: make sure the batteries are fully charged and when you disconnect the power that the unit still works, always ensure the shock delivery output is good and run a user test to ensure it can deliver shock. Check that all necessary supplies and accessories are present (for example, gel, electrodes, ECG paper, etc.).

Q: WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN A DEFIBRILLATOR?

pads are in date and sealed and accessory equipment is present. Also, there should be a log of when the last time it was inspected or serviced. This is important to know if the device is functional to avoid any unusable devices.

Q: HOW CAN A HTM PROFESSIONAL EXTEND THE LIFE OF DEFIBRILLATORS? Dhammam: Ensure that the staff using the defibrillator is properly trained on handling, cleaning and storage of the device. It is also important to conduct regular PMs and inspections while maintaining a proper log of records/ maintenance and supplies.

Geddes: Set a preventive maintenance schedule that fits to the needs of the health care facility. Train appropriate personnel on the proper use and maintenance of the device.

Ortiz: Biomeds can extend the life of defibrillators by doing a routine inspection and sending the unit in for a preventative maintenance check. We recommend defibrillators be inspected monthly, and sent in for preventative maintenance every six months. This will ensure that the device is always functioning.

Q: WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU LIKE TO ADD OR DO YOU THINK IS IMPORTANT IN REGARD TO THE PURCHASE AND/OR PROPER MAINTENANCE OF DEFIBRILLATORS?

Dhammam: It depends on the facility that is purchasing the unit(s). Standardization is important to keep clinical training and supplies the same across the facility. Given how many FDA recalls have been issued on some products lately, it is a good idea to ensure that the model being considered for purchase has a good track record. If you are a smaller facility, like an ambulatory surgery center, it is a good idea to have an AED function on the defibrillator which can be used by BLS trained staff.

Dhammam: HTM professionals should keep track of all FDA and manufacturer recalls and updates.

Geddes: User friendly. Long-life backup battery.

Ortiz: Always remember to do a thorough check of the defibrillators. We all have a common goal and that is to keep our patients safe.

Ortiz: A few important things to look for in a defibrillator are: make sure there are no visual damages, check the battery,

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Geddes: Availability of field replaceable parts. Software upgrades/updates should be accessible to the end user.

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CYBER SECURITY UPDATE FLEXIBLE PLANS P R O V I D E B E ST PROTECTION

BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

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Cyberattacks impact every facet of society, from banking and retail to health care and every computer user. Hackers and other cyber criminals have found myriad ways to breach databases and networks as a means to acquire illicit gains from victims through ransomware or through the sale of personal data on the dark web.

“Criminal terrorists, foreign adversaries constantly prowling this digital domain represent a threat to this nation. And America’s digital infrastructure is under constant cyberattack,” said Vice President Mike Pence, while speaking at the recent National Cybersecurity Summit in New York City.

“The federal government alone experiences hundreds of thousands of digital assaults every day. And across the entire country, the number of attacks on our digital infrastructure is impossible to calculate. Our digital foes are targeting every facet of our society,” Pence said.

The level of threat that online criminals and hackers pose is a national and international concern. It has been found in breaches of information in the federal government, breaches of a major credit bureau and incursions into retailer networks and health care systems.

OUR CONNECTED WORLD For most people, thinking about the Internet means thinking about a system that connects their computer to sources of information. They may also think about their smartphones or tablets. The truth is, the Internet connects us to much more than these computer interfaces; it connects homes and businesses to many things. And, those things can be interconnected as well.

This is the basis for the term, “the Internet of Things,” or IoT, which describes all of the devices that access the Internet beyond a household or business computer.

Appliances in your kitchen or laundry room, security systems or even your thermostat are all potentially connected to the Internet.

“Latest innovations have fueled the development of new IoT devices. Unfortunately, the focus on security of these devices continues to lag behind and are even losing ground in some cases compared to the growing list of devices in use,” says Xu Zou, CEO of Zingbox.

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IoT IN HEALTH CARE Zou says that while you can’t expect consumers to become experts in all things IoT, they should be aware of two key areas when it comes to IoT. The IoT is not only in homes and businesses but health care as well.

“Consumers should be cognizant of the cost of service disruption. What can happen if IoT unexpectedly malfunctions or must be taken offline? The cost of malfunction during critical care or an operation is clear, leading to a discussion of life or death. However, many overlook the cost of service disruption as a precaution,” he says.

“Without clear visibility of the state of IoTs and the confidence to rely on such a device during critical care, procedures are often postponed. While not appearing as urgent as malfunctioning IoTs in real-time, postponing or canceling an appointment can have a similar outcome,” Zou says.

“Security of PHI information continues to be synonymous with health care security. However, many overlook the devices that contributed to one’s PHIs. They are in fact IoT or connected medical devices. When an X-ray machine creates an image and transfers that image along with the associated patient details, it is contributing to his/her PHI. When an IV pump is programmed to dispense accurate dosage of medicine, the device houses the information of the associated patient.

When/if these devices are tampered with or hackers gain unauthorized access, the PHI information in addition to the device functionality are at risk,” Zou adds.

He says that Zingbox released a threat report on connected medical devices earlier this year.

“While we uncovered many insights for the creation of the report, one glaring issue was the lack of encryption used in the device traffic,” he says.

“Virtually no devices, even the ones equipped with encryption capability, were configured to encrypt traffic. This is the simplest safeguard that can be employed with very little or no additional spend,” Zou says.

HEALTH CARE’S VULNERABILITIES In hospitals, and other health care settings, the network may connect to a plethora of

medical devices. There are connections between clinicians’ smartphones and other systems.

In 2015, one hacker group was identified that specifically targets the health care sector. The group’s malware was found on X-ray and MRI machines as well as on devices used to assist patients in completing consent forms for required procedures, according to Symantec.

What may be worse for the health care sector are some of the results of a report coming out of a survey done by Verizon.

The 2018 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) found that “the health care industry was the only sector surveyed that had more internal actors (56 percent) behind cyber incidents than external (43 percent).”

According to Verizon, “The health care industry is rife with error and misuse. In fact, it is the only industry that has more internal actors behind breaches than external. In addition to these problem areas, ransomware is endemic in the industry.”

Some of the reports other findings include: • Top Three Patterns: privilege misuse, miscellaneous errors and physical theft and loss represent 80 percent of breaches within health care; • Threat Actors: 68 percent internal, 32 percent external, six percent partner (breaches); • Actor Motives: 64 percent financial, 23 percent fun, seven percent grudge (breaches); and • Data Compromised: 69 percent medical, 33 percent personal and four percent payment.

The report also offers insights on how to combat attacks and found that ransomware attacks had doubled since 2017 across businesses. The report states; “Ransomware is the most prevalent variety of malicious software.”

HIPAA rules dictate the safe handling of patient information in health care. With ePHI, the access of this information to hackers has to be safeguarded. Locking a paper file folder in a locked cabinet, in a locked room, in a locked building, provides safeguards that can be easily visualized.

“The most commonly used strategies and successful breaches of cybersecurity are based on low-tech and attributable to

Xu Zou, CEO, Zingbox

Tom Hui, CEO & Founder, HSTpathways

George Gray, CTO & VP of Research and Development, Invex Inc.

Salim Kai, MSPSL, CBET, ABET PEV, Biomedical Engineering Manager, Kettering Health Network

Terry Boyles, Biomed, Parkview Health ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

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“THE QUESTION NO LONGER E X IS T S WHE THER H T M IS A ID IN G I T; HTM AND IT SHOULD BE W O R K IN G TOGE THER. I T IS A M US T F O R E V E RY H O S P I TA L .”

— S A L IM K A I,

MSPSL, CBET, ABET PEV

CYBER SECURITY UPDATE

bad behavioral practices,” says Tom Hui, CEO and founder of HSTpathways in Lafayette, California.

“A practical and low-cost remediation involves (1) a review, (2) education, and (3) compliance with cybersecurity policies and procedures. Many health care organizations are behind in one or all three of these areas,” he says.

Hui says that some of the “low-tech dangers” include: firewall – needs to be maintained and updated. Professional hackers constantly trick firewalls and get through them. Also, nurses’ access to computers is not well managed and interfaces are ripe for improvement.

“People rely on the network to be secure and protected. If a hacker gains access to network security, then everything is wide open. The vulnerabilities are around how data gets from the devices to the EHR database,” Hui says.

“When transmitting data by WiFi or cable, the data is not encrypted most of the time. I’ve not encountered a device that is natively encrypted. A lot of these devices or monitors are designed to be self-contained and sold independently from EHRs. That implies that these devices contain patient demographics and patient information, so there is an added risk of exposure. That device now sends data set, patient information – and it’s not in people’s consciousness. The protection goes down,” he says.

Hui says that once a hacker gets into a network, it’s all there and available. Hacks that can cause patient harm are related to the IoT. A hacker could gain access to the network and change the data stream being displayed on the monitors.

He also points to personnel changes and the vulnerability of LAN servers as other areas that can be zipped up for protection.

“As a general rule, quarterly reviews of personnel changes along with user roles and access should be part of the operating HR and IT departments should be coupled whenever personnel job titles and duties change that require modifications to an application’s access,” Hui says.

He says that there is a misconception about local area network (LAN) servers.

“A LAN server and application deployment is no more secured from hackers than an application operating in the cloud. They have different risk profiles.

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A good argument can be made that cloud platforms are better protected because of more extensive cybersecurity tools, redundancies and resources,” Hui adds.

RECURRENT THEMES Across the industries that have a vested interest in protecting data and bolstering cybersecurity, a number of recurring themes are heard. While the types of incursions are many, there are some preferred methods employed by hackers.

“There are two main cybersecurity dangers in health care today. The first is an attacker’s ability to gain access (and control) a medical device in the hospital environment. The risk here is primarily that this leads directly to a demand for ransom. This is a significant vulnerability because many devices are not secure and present a significant threat to health care institutions,” says George Gray who is the CTO and vice president of research and development for Ivenix Inc. He says that the second danger is around gaining access to protected health information (ePHI).

“Attackers can use this patient information to steal a user’s identity or attack them financially. This threat is primarily a concern for EMR systems. But as device vendors, we need to do our part by not being that doorway onto the hospital network,” Gray says.

It is a ransomware concern shared by other professionals who focus on cybersecurity.

“Ransomware isn’t going away. It is cheap, easy and profitable. Most health care systems are only a phishing email away from a breach,” says Rich Curtiss, chief information security officer, cybersecurity and risk management, at Clearwater Compliance.

“However, the threat landscape has changed and a new actor is crypto mining.

This is a form of malware that resides on a computer, usually undetected, which uses the computer cycles to execute complex mathematical computations to generate computer currency such as ‘bitcoin.’ While a dissertation unto itself, crypto mining is considered a breach and must be assessed for probability of compromise. A far more insidious threat is the unmanaged IoT landscape across a health care system. This is still largely untreated and isn’t centrally managed,” Curtiss says.

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HTM’S ROLE If every medical device operated in a stand-alone environment and none required software, then HTM would have no interest in cybersecurity. That is far from being the case. As technology has advanced in recent decades, the reality of the connected device, operating on software and often storing ePHI, has required HTM to be keenly aware of threats and to remain vigilant.

“The question no longer exists whether HTM is aiding IT; HTM and IT should be working together. It is a must for every hospital,” says Salim Kai, MSPSL, CBET, ABET PEV, biomedical engineering manager for Kettering Health Network in Kettering, Ohio.

Kai says that the traditional CMMS is limited in aiding HTM professionals to quantify risks and use data to drive daily decision making. He says that beyond inventorying the connected assets and cataloging their network parameters, quantifying the risks, etc, the CMMS needs to interface with other applications to be able to determine in near real-time what is normal for any medical device connected on the IT network and take action.

“For example, quarantine the device in question, open a work order [and] quantify the type of threat,” Kai says. “The traditional CMMS is not designed for networked medical devices. There is a need for the CMMS to interface with IT configuration management databases to track hardware and software and their relationships in near real time.”

Further, he says that hospitals need to focus on their critical devices and the devices’ daily activities to ensure they are secure.

“Critical devices and medical device systems are a smaller percentage of the overall connected device fleet within an organization. Critical devices and systems like the electronic health record and any medical device that can bring clinical operations to a halt in the event it becomes compromised,” Kai says.

“Hospitals should engage vendors about what they are doing to secure/patch their devices and ensure they receive the latest patches within a reasonable time. For a while, we were concerned about Windows XP systems, connected to the IT

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

network,” he says.

“Many medical devices today operate on Windows 7 and Microsoft announced that it no longer supports Windows 7 after 1/14/2020. In less than two years, we will be having the same conversation about Windows 7 as we did with Windows XP,” Kai adds.

He says that today, many manufactures are not ready to upgrade to Windows 10.

Hospitals need to include a clause in their service agreements for new medical equipment that specifies the upgrade to Windows 10.

He recommends that IT, HTM, facilities engineering, supply chain, value analysis professionals and others who can provide insights should be meeting on a regular basis to collaborate and plan ahead.

“We have seen significant transformation in the past few years in which IT and biomed/clinical engineers continue to work closer together. There is still much work to be done. One area in which biomedical/clinical engineering departments can help IT is to provide additional device context,” Zou says.

“Many IT-based devices are welldefined general-purpose devices that can be characterized by IP addresses.

Connected medical devices are not. IV pumps, X-ray machines and ultrasound machines all have IP addresses, but they perform vastly different functions, range in device count from a hand-full to several hundreds and are associated with different levels of criticality. The lack of device context has historically hindered the effectiveness of the IT department,” Zou adds.

Sharing real-time device inventory, discussing the ramification of quarantining or off-lining a device, and reviewing abnormal behavior of connected medical devices with the IT department can go a long ways to block hackers.

He says that another opportunity for collaboration is the deployment of tools that interoperate with traditional IT tools.

“Traditional IT security tools such as firewall and NACs have been ineffective in securing connected medical devices due to the lack of context. One IP address is the same as another IP address. Tools that can provide insight into the device itself, including the identify, category and critical

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“POOR NE T WORK P L A N NIN G C O N T R IB U T E S SI G NIF I C A N T LY T O A M P L IF Y IN G T H E VULNER ABIL I T IE S O F CONNECTED MEDICAL D E V I C E S .”

— X U Z O U, CEO, ZINGBOX

CYBER SECURITY UPDATE

ACCORDING TO V ERIZON, “ THE HE A LTH CA RE INDUS TRY IS RIFE WITH ERROR A ND MISUSE . IN FAC T, IT IS THE ONLY INDUS TRY TH AT H A S MORE INTERN A L AC TORS BEHIND BRE ACHE S TH A N E X TERN A L .

IN A DDITION TO THE SE PROBLEM A RE A S, R A NSOMWA RE IS ENDEMIC IN THE INDUS TRY.”

CYBER SECURITY UPDATE

nature of the devices and interoperate with traditional IT tools can leverage that intelligence to terminate connections, quarantine a device and segment the network effectively,” Zou says.

There may be some areas where biomed is restricted in doing all that can be done.

“Clinical engineering or biomedical services are largely in a ‘cybersecurity vacuum’ when it comes to managing medical devices. Couple that with the vendor ‘lock down’ on device maintenance and you have a recipe for a compromise,” Curtiss says.

“Technical scanning of devices is usually prohibited by clinical engineering because of the potential to unintentionally disable a device. This leaves the status of the device in an unknown state and security vulnerabilities may be unpatched and vulnerable to exploitation,” he says.

As Kai suggested, Curtiss says that it is critical that health care systems establish a governance strategy which includes IT, information security and clinical engineering working in a collaborative process to identify and respond to medical device vulnerabilities.

“This is a clinical and patient safety issue. Some of the more progressive health care systems have recognized this and are employing a quality response to more effective management of medical devices,” he adds.

“Inventory all medical devices and work with vendors to assess the security risks related to each. Then put the proper mitigations in place to reduce that risk.

For those devices where vulnerabilities cannot be addressed adequately, make these risks known and consider plans to replace these devices over the long term,” Gray says.

Knowing what is in the inventory of connected devices and segmenting can help with risks as well, says Zou. “Poor network planning contributes significantly to amplifying the vulnerabilities of connected medical devices. Our research has found that the leading device on network segmented for medical devices is not medical devices,” he says.

“In fact, PCs make up more than 40 percent of the devices. The connected medical devices in this network is then exposed to all the malware, ransomware 66

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and viruses that can be downloaded by the PC and target the connected medical devices. Careful network planning and accurate micro segmentation can alleviate much of the issues connected medical devices face,” Zou says.

He says that many organizations unfortunately, do not maintain a real-time accurate inventory of their connected medical devices.

“This is one of the main reasons why organizations are challenged to plan their networks effectively. How can you set up your network well to house devices you don’t know you have?” he asks.

TRAINING FOR THE BATTLE One route that would allow an HTM professional to be more prepared to address cybersecurity concerns is additional training. Several professional designations and programs of study exist to that end.

“Comptia A+ is a good one to start with, then if you know a little about networking you can go straight to the Comptia Security,” says Terry Boyles, who works in biomed at Parkview Health in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and who is in a hybrid position because of his training.

“I did the A+ and network and am working on the security now. Another good one is the CCNA. I have not tried that one yet. I have heard that it’s hard and it is recommended to take it in the two parts and not the single big test,” Boyles says.

Boyles adds that luckily most medical devices reside inside the hospital firewall.

“It is very helpful to try and keep them on their own VLANs. Depending on the size of the institution, if you can have your network instead of being on the hospital backbone, that helps,” he says.

With no let-up in the rate of cyber attacks and the prospect of making money via hacking, the work of IT, biomed and third-party providers wages on. A hardened defense will only be possible with information, preparation and a thorough assessment of all connected devices.

There are benefits to interoperability in the health care setting and then there are bad people who think the benefit is to allow them to prosper.

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EXPERT ADVICE

TIM HOPKINS

CAREER CENTER

Avoid These Pitfalls on the Job Search Trail

BY TIM HOPKINS

T

o advance in any profession, it is critical that you standout in your job search. However, all too often job seekers standout for all the wrong reasons. Frequently, I am asked what it takes to land a new position. The answer is a combination of the right experience, education, timing, personality and the quality of the first impression.

Of all these components, first impressions are frequently overlooked, yet one of the most critical. Many quality job applicants are ruled out by simple mistakes without even being aware of it. The bottom line is, you cannot land a job in ten seconds, but you can certainly be ruled out in five.

Regardless of the field you are in, writing a resume is the beginning of the job search. Typically, the chronological resume (with the most recent date listed first) is standard.

Your resume is the first impression that a potential employer has. On a regular basis, hiring authorities see a large quantity of resumes. The reality is they do not spend a lot of time reading every resume because they simply do not have the time. It is imperative that your resume is easy to read and clearly communicates that you are qualified and competent. Take advantage and utilize resources such as published books and articles to provide resume writing tips. Anything longer than a two-page resume will get lost in the shuffle and not read.

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TIM HOPKINS Stephens International Recruiting, Inc.

The most common mistake I encounter on resumes is misspelled words or typographical errors. We all make mistakes. However, when submitting your resume, a simple error in spelling can cost you. Proof it yourself by reading it out loud. Then, have someone you trust read over the resume and look for spelling or grammatical errors. Using the “spell checker� is helpful but it will not find a misused word if it is spelled correctly (i.e., their or there). A fresh set of eyes will go a long way.

Believe it or not, a very common mistake is to include incomplete or incorrect contact information. What does this say about the applicant? It could have been a simple mistake, or it could appear that the candidate is not organized. It is not uncommon for people to keep old resumes on file and update them over time. If you

have moved, or changed your telephone number or e-mail address, make sure it is up to date.

Additionally, ensure your email address is professional and appropriate in a business environment.

When it comes time to submit your resume, email it and follow any directions the company provides. If the resume is well written and the qualifications are a match, the next first impression will be a telephone interview. It is a good idea to make sure your voicemail message reflects professionalism. If you have a song, funny message, or unique response, consider changing it during the time you are interviewing. At least once a month I will make a call and cannot leave a voicemail. Make sure your voicemail box is set up and cleared out. Respond to any messages as soon as possible.

When you do speak with potential employers, always remain positive and never bad mouth former employers. Remember, we work in a very small industry. The person you speak negatively about might be connected to the hiring decision. It is very important to be energetic and upbeat. If you do not make a positive impression at this point, you will not make it to the face-to-face interview.

Social networking sites are a great way keep up with old friends and network within the biomed field.

They are also used by human resource departments to discover

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more about potential new hires. Keep your accounts private unless you want them to become part of the decision process. Better yet, do not put anything out there you would not want your mother to see.

Additionally, ensure your LinkedIn profile matches your resume and is up-to-date.

The most critical part of the hiring process is the face-to-face interview. Always be on time and dress professional. I suggest wearing a suit or at least slacks and a professional shirt. It is better to be over dressed than under dressed. If you walk into an interview and are over dressed, you can always take a jacket off. If you show up under dressed, there is no turning back.

Be aware of your body language and eye contact with those you meet. Candidates often believe the hiring decision is made in the interview room.

Remember everyone is in on the hiring decision, including office administrators. Candidates have lost job opportunities by being simply being rude to the receptionist.

During an interview, the hiring team has set aside time during busy schedules to focus their attention on you. Your body language and how you react during an interview is an enormous indicator of your interest and willingness to fit in. For example, if you cross your arms after being introduced to someone, it could be construed that you are not open to communicating. Never bring your phone, or other device, into the interview and certainly do not accept any calls. Yes, this actually happened, and that candidate was quickly dismissed from the interview process.

Expect that a complete criminal background and reference check will be performed before an offer letter is presented. During this process, be honest and disclose any potential issues.

Do not overlook the simple things. It’s your turn to stand out for the right reasons.

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W

hen we first began servicing ultrasound systems, software was burned onto EPROMS, which meant the software would never become corrupted but also meant when you performed a software upgrade/update, you had to replace dozens of chips on several circuit boards.

MICHAEL DAVIS Technical Support Specialist

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Then, systems began to run the OEM application software layered on top of the Windows and UNIX installed on the hard drive. With this came the dreaded “blue screen of death,” lockups, corruption and hard drive failures.

Nowadays, a clear majority of ultrasound systems have at least one hard drive, sometimes including a RAID drive.

These systems experience regular failures.

How do we prevent these failures or perform rapid repairs when failures occur?

First, we want to ensure we have the software that the system is currently running. Some OEMs supply the software with the systems and some require a purchase. If you are in a purchasing cycle for systems, ensure the software (and service manuals, training, etc.) are included in the negotiations. If you do not currently have it, make an inventory of all the different revisions of software you do have and purchase what you need from the OEM and keep it all in a central location for team members to access. GE will usually ship the systems with the software attached to the BEP. Next, backup as much as possible on your system. The bare essentials are the presets and options, but you can also create a backup of the entire hard disk to restore the system at a later date. You can also

create a cloned hard drive. For both technical and legal reasons, this must be performed for each system. These steps can be time consuming but in the event of a failure, these backups are a lifesaver. A cloned drive will allow you to simply swap out the drive and you’re up and running.

You can completely restore a system from a backup in as little as an hour. Also, by having these backups, you do not have to complete all the steps for a software reload or worry about options files or presets since they are all in your complete backup.

Please keep in mind that when a software reload is required, always perform on a new drive and preserve the old one.

This way if the load does not take or you need vital data from the old drive later, you can retrieve it. If a drive has failed once, it is likely to fail again.

Software issues seem complicated, but if you prepare ahead of time you can minimize downtime and maximize savings.

For ultrasound Technical Tips and Tricks visit www.conquestimaging.com, our blog section or visit our online Technical Support Video library for installation and removal instructions and much, much more.

Conquest Imaging Technical Support is available 24/7/365 at 866-900-9404.

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STEVEN J. YELTON

THE FUTURE

Using Available Resources for Staff Development

BY STEVEN J. YELTON

I

recently attended the Ohio HTM association meeting. Many passionate HTM professionals attended this meeting. I have to say that this is a very impressive group and they shared lots of great ideas. I left the meeting inspired and proud to be in the HTM field.

A lot of the discussion revolved around the lack of qualified HTM professionals and how to recruit new ones into the field. Another part of the discussion was promoting the field to the C-Suite and others. Finally, something that stuck out to me was a discussion about how a technician-level professional can take advantage of an AAMI membership and other professional resources.

I have written in the past about recruiting quality persons into the field and promoting the field to the C-Suite, so I thought I would give my thoughts as to how we can use available resources to improve ourselves and co-workers.

I’ll focus on AAMI, but there are many resources out there.

For many departments, travel and training budgets are tight and are likely going to be spent on sending technicians to service schools rather than the annual AAMI conference. Many technicians are able to attend, but what about the ones who aren’t able to attend and still want to learn and grow professionally?

One of the groups within AAMI that I had the opportunity to work with for many years is the Technology Management Council (TMC). This is a group of highly qualified and experienced HTM professionals from around the country who come together to help promote, grow, educate and

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STEVEN J. YELTON, P.E., CHTM

represent the HTM field nationally and internationally.

One document that I feel is a great resource for a large number of people is the core competencies guide for the entry-level HTM technician. According to AAMI’s website, it has released an updated guide to the functional and personal competencies – and related academic topics – that HTM graduates need to master to be fully prepared for employment in the HTM field. These skills were compiled by a committee of experts from academia, health care delivery organizations, independent service organizations, industry, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and others.

This document is very helpful in regards to educational programs to guide the development of curriculum and for students to gauge their understanding of relevant HTM topics.

I also feel that this is a great resource for seasoned professionals to use to determine their level of understanding.

Many have been out of school for a

while and may want to see if there are any gaps in their knowledge base.

Many HTM departments are trying to determine if potential hires are receiving the training required to do the job. I feel that they could also use this guide to evaluate the educational programs from which they are receiving graduates as well as the graduates themselves.

The second edition of “Core Competencies for the HTM Entry-Level Technician: A Guide for Curriculum Development in Academic Institutions” is available as a free PDF at www.aami. org/corecompetencies.

Another document free to AAMI members is AAMI’s Career Planning Handbook. According to AAMI’s website, this handbook was designed by the Job Descriptions Taskforce to foster the development and advancement of AAMI members. Many AAMI members work in institutions where they are part of a small staff of HTM professionals.

Finding good guidance on career advancement can be challenging. This guide will give you the information you need to have conversations with your organization’s leaders about your future career objectives. This is available online at AAMI.org in the AAMI store.

I find AAMI’s Leadership Development Guide to be very helpful for staff members moving into leadership positions. AAMI’s website says: Being promoted from an individual contributor role to being in charge of other staff can be a daunting career move. Leading others can be challenging; not only do you need to be concerned about your own performance, you also need to coach and guide other employees. The rewards

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EXPERT ADVICE

of supervision and leadership outweigh the additional effort when you consider how much more you will get done and how much more your work, directing others, will benefit your organization.

AAMI’s goal in creating this guide is to provide healthcare technology management (HTM) professionals with the information needed to advance their career into leadership positions. The information in this guide is designed to inspire advancement into team leadership and on through the senior leader levels in your organization.

In addition to the print documents, AAMI offers courses through AAMI

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

University, webinars, workshops and forums all of which are available to AAMI members without traveling.

These are just a few of the resources that my students and colleagues at hospitals find useful in career planning.

There are many additional resources available online at AAMI.org as well as many other websites. I find that you can get great value out of your AAMI membership – even if you can’t attend the annual conference.

Another benefit is that AAMI membership is free to full-time students.

Steven J. Yelton, P.E., CHTM; is a senior HTM engineer for The Christ Hospital Health Network in Cincinnati, Ohio and is a professor at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College where he teaches biomedical instrumentation courses. He is the chair-elect of AAMI’s board of directors, chair of the AAMI Foundation board of directors, past chair of AAMI’s Technology Management Council (TMC), chair of AAMI’s HTAC Committee and is a member of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), board of delegates.

OCTOBER 2018

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75

EXPERT ADVICE

DANNY MOBLEY

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DANNY MOBLEY The InterMed Group

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TECHNATION

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When it comes to their inventory management responsibilities, the following are common experiences and contemplations: • Importance of accuracy, and keeping up with and tracking new data fields (i.e. for cybersecurity) • Does your hospital leadership assume the CE department has the staff and technology to keep up with an accurate and up-to-date inventory?

• Under that assumption, the conversation with administration can be uncomfortable. Advice: Be prepared with a solution.

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Since health care organizations can’t afford to stockpile personnel in preparation for the future, what’s your strategy?

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THE OTHER SIDE

OEMs Working Hard to Keep Biomeds from Servicing Equipment

BY JIM FEDELE

I

feel like after almost 30 years in the industry I would have seen every trick OEMs use to make it difficult for us to service our own equipment. From software keys to service “subscriptions”, their creativity to make it hard for us is quite impressive. Recently we purchased a device that the OEM has added a new twist to, making it difficult for us to service the unit and I would like to tell you about it.

Our story begins with a monthly PM list. My technician had received his PM list for the month and was going through it to group his PMs by method of completion. Equipment under contract and warranty need to have their PMs completed by the OEM or the company providing the contract. I like my team to check with the vendors to ensure our equipment is on the schedule and they intend to get the PMs completed before the month ends. This also ensures we have time to sort out any issues there may be with getting the PM completed. As my technician was examining the list he found a heart pump that was under warranty and due for inspection. He contacted the company to schedule the PM and was surprised when the company stated they do not provide PMs under warranty and they offered a PM contract on the unit.

At this point my technician told me about the situation and we went to work to try to remedy it. They sent me a PM contract for two years that was priced at $16,000. Considering the unit cost is $12,000, I felt this was excessive. My technician then tried to get the service manual so we could perform the PM

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

JIM FEDELE, CBET Director of Clinical Engineering for Susquehanna Health Systems

ourselves. The company stated that we could not get the service manual unless we were trained on the unit. We requested training information so we could send someone to school, even though we only have one unit we figured the price of the school should be around $5,000, and the ROI would work out in about a year. When we got the quote for the school we were shocked. The school cost came in at almost $10,000 which we would have considered attending. However, the company requires the purchase of special tools from them at a cost of $34,000 in addition to the tuition.

Because we only have one unit it is hard to justify that expense. Personally, I feel like this is all very purposeful.

I contacted our supply chain team to see if they had any leverage to assist us in solving this issue. Unfortunately, they were not able to help, because the unit is so specialized and we have not

purchased enough of them as a system to have any leverage. The purchase amount is also small enough that it doesn’t really attract attention to worry about service and manuals. Essentially this unit was selected because it meets our cardiac program’s needs, and it is inexpensive to purchase. Because of the latter it got missed by all our controls that are in place to ensure we get manuals and PMs under warranty.

I would agree to some extent that the unit provides life support and the company is trying to protect its liability.

However, having on-site trained people is always safer than waiting for the OEM to call you back. The reality of this situation is when there is a problem with the unit, my team will be called and they will do the best they can to solve the problem, but without the manual or even rudimentary training, failure is almost certain. Which means a patient may not get the treatment they need, and possibly expire.

Unfortunately it may only be a situation like this that will get the company’s attention and prompt them to partner with the local team. I understand that companies are in business to make a profit, but this feels well outside normal business practices.

The company that provides this unit also sells other products, but because of this situation I will do everything in my power to ensure we do not patronize them.

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.

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNATION

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THE ROMAN REVIEW

Conscious Communication

BY MANNY ROMAN

I

f you actually read my pompous words of wisdom, you may have noticed that many come from things I have heard or noticed from normal life. Part of my normal life is to mindlessly watch television. Occasionally an actor says something that is so profound that I must write it down, analyze it and bore you with my analysis. This is one of those times.

MANNY ROMAN, CRES AMSP Business Operation Manager

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

The quote: “Well … generally, a key part of good communication is that both parties are conscious.”

What a great statement! I wish I had thought of that. The context does not matter nor does the show where it was said, however, if you are interested, Google the quote.

In my presentations I speak on communication a great deal. I mention that one must ensure to ask for feedback and demand the ability to provide feedback. I speak on the need to minimize internal and external noise. I even cover nonverbal body language to a great extent.

I never once said explicitly that a requirement is that both parties be conscious in such an elegant way. Quite often, we are speaking with others and their body language indicates that they have become unconscious. I don’t mean that they faint. I mean that the other individual gets that glazed look in the eyes, or suddenly turns the feet toward the door indicating that they are no longer listening. This is a form of communication unconsciousness because the body language is, in fact, an unconscious act.

Listening is hard work, and active listening is even harder. We all have had instances when we become unconscious during a conversation. Not just distracted by external happenings or internal thoughts about what the individual is saying. I’m talking about a total disengaging from the conversation where the speaker would do just as well by spontaneously disappearing.

To prevent ourselves from becoming unconscious participants we must be active listeners. To do that, we must ask genuine questions and provide good feedback often.

This will demonstrate that we are actively listening and are fully engaged in the conversation. Yes, I am proposing that we interrupt the speaker at appropriate times.

What about when we are the main presenter? First, it helps if you are a great, knowledgeable, and interesting speaker, just like me. Otherwise you must ask genuine questions and ask for good feedback often.

Yes, I am proposing that you stop making your main point to be sure that each argument toward that point is understood and accepted. Don’t just accept a head nod as it may only indicate a nodding off to sleep response. Ensure that you ask questions that require explanation rather than a yes or no. If this does not prompt consciousness then I offer these other, more dangerous actions.

When someone is literally unconscious some of the actions that are often taken include taking of the pulse, checking for breathing and elevating the feet and calling 911. If the person is standing and breathing then other actions may be required. I again caution that these actions may be detrimental to your own health. You can employ the use of smelling salts, slapping of the face, shaking by the shoulders and yelling in the face.

If you employ the above actions, be prepared to employ the ducking of your head and your swift evacuation of the room.

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNATION

81

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DID YOU KNOW? Science Matters

Aging brain’s plumbing wears out New research on the vessels that drain wastes from the brain show that when they break down, Alzheimer's and age-related memory loss result – and the problem can be fixed.

A previously unknown system The brain’s lymphatic vessels were long thought not to exist; medical and anatomical texts did not mention them In 2015, neuroscientists discovered channels on the brain’s surface, draining into lymph nodes in the neck

Aging, failure ... and repair

Immune cells

1 Vessel wall

Lymph vessel

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Stained microscopic view of lymph vessel in brain’s meninges and immune cells inside it

Narrowed vessel

3 Vessel size increased

2

They drain large waste molecules from the brain’s cerebrospinal fluid and carry them into the lymphatic system As the brain ages, the vessels shrink, and the system becomes less efficient

Experiment reversed brain aging Researchers gave aging mice a growth factor chemical that improves lymph circulation in the brain – and the mice showed improved learning and memory

Source: Sandro Da Mesquito, Antoine Louveau and Jonathan Kipnis of University of Virginia School of Medicine; Nature (journal); micro image by TJK Graphic: Helen Lee McComas, Tribune News Service

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From left to right: Eric Partchey - Technician, Matthew Reczynski - Technician, John Snyder - Director, James Yohe - Technician , James Horton - Senior Technician, Anthony Pellman - Technician

“WE HAD A HUGE STROKE OF LUCK

OF TOOLS AS WELL AS A PULL OUT

FINDING AN OLD MOTORIZED CART IN THE

- BRENT SILVIUS

ABANDONED BY ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES.”

WORK TABLE/SURFACE.”

BASEMENT THAT HAD BEEN — JAMES HORTON

SPONSORED BY

iMed Biomedical

Leading the Industry in Biomedical Solutions ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

i M e d B i o m e d i c a l i s d e d i c a t e d t o h e l p i n g B M E T ’s c o m m u n i c a t e a n d s h a r e c r e a t i v e i d e a s t h a t i m p r o v e p r o c e s s e ff i c i e n c y.

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OCTOBER 2018

TECHNATION

89

Sales, Service, Repair & Rentals

Unrivaled service, quality & experrse Call us @ 877-789-9903 or visit www.integritybiomed.com

BOOTH 506

90

TECHNATION

OCTOBER 2018

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

BREAKROOM

STAFF REPORT

SCRAPBOOK GBIS Conference

T

he 2018 Georgia Biomedical Instrumentation Society (GBIS) Technical Conference & Expo was held in Atlanta, Georgia on August 10-11. Exhibitors displayed their wares to biomeds from Georgia and throughout the Southeast. Also, a Meet N Greet event was held at the Wellstar Development Center and continued at the Courtyard Marietta down the hill with drinks, snacks and social hour. The conference started Saturday morning with a welcoming from Wellstar and GBIS. The conference also included educational talks, networking opportunities and awards.

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNATION

91

800-323-4282

www.alcosales.com

Bed & Stretcher Parts - Wheelchair Parts - Casters NEW - RECONDITIONED - REPAIR

Scan this QR code or go to our website to join our email list and receive a FREE gift!

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www.x-raybatteries.com 92

TECHNATION

OCTOBER 2018

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

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BREAKROOM

STAFF REPORT

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS BEN C.?

SPONSORED BY

Show us what Ben Calibrating has been up to for a chance to win lunch for your department. Follow MedWrench on twitter @medwrench facebook.com/medwrench

g ngin t ha re you s u j A n C. r day. oo? e t Be t ok a summ mmer o l u a m Get n a war great s a o out having

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TECHNATION

OCTOBER 2018

Step 1: Like the MedWrench Facebook or Twitter company page.

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BREAKROOM

s C. ha e Ben iends! k li s Look some fr made

Thanks to Matt Duvall, our winner for the Technation Gift Basket sent to one lucky MD Expo Seattle 2018 attendee for sending in this photo. Included in the basket was this plush orca, which Ben C. seems to be able to tame!

Ev er S w ch ome ish B an ce time en C to s, h . co frie mee e is! uld b nd t up He e l s fo w ev ife r a ith s en g size ski om ot ? trip e o a fh ! is

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VISIT W W W.MEDWRENCH.COM ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNATION

95

51 11

P P P

58 7

P P

Asset Management Asset Services 913-383-2738 • assetservices.com Technical Life Care Medical Co. 800-989-8949 • technicallifecare.com

ReMedPar 800-624-3994 • remedpar.com Retrieve Medical Equipment 330-963-0277 • retrievemedicalequipment.com Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • technicalprospects.com/

77

P P

34 46

P

P

45

3 45

P

35

P

Cardiac Monitoring Soaring Hearts Inc (855) 438-7744 • soaringheartsinc.com/

67

Cardiology

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

92 18

P

Biomedical 626 Holdings 800-516-0990 • weare626.com ALCO Sales & Service Co. 800-323-4282 • alcosales.com BC Group International, Inc 314-638-3800 • BCGroupStore.com Biomedical Repair & Consulting Services, Inc. 844-656-9418 • brcsrepair.com Crothall Healthcare Technology Solutions 800-447-4476 • crothall.com D.A. Surgical 800-261-9953 • da-surgical.com Health Tech Talent Management, Inc. 757-563-0448 • HealthTechTM.com iMed Biomedical 817-378-4613 • imedbiomedical.com Master Medical Equipment 866-468-9558 • masterfitmedical.com Medical Equipment Doctor, INC. 800-285-9918 • medicalequipdoc.com Multimedical Systems 888-532-8056 • multimedicalsystems.com oneSOURCE 1-800-701-3560 • oneSOURCEdocs.com oneSOURCE 1-800-701-3560 • oneSOURCEdocs.com PRN/ Physician's Resource Network 508-679-6185 • prnwebsite.com ReNew Biomedical 844-425-0987 • ReNewBiomedical.com ReMedPar 800-624-3994 • remedpar.com RepairMED 855-813-8100 • repairmed.net Retrieve Medical Equipment 330-963-0277 • retrievemedicalequipment.com TECHNATION

C-Arm

Rigel Medical, Seaward Group 813-886-2775 • seaward-groupusa.com Technical Life Care Medical Co. 800-989-8949 • technicallifecare.com

45

Batteries

96

33

P P P P P

Calibration

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

41

TRAINING

A.M. Bickford 800-795-3062 • ambickford.com Gopher Medical 844-246-7437 • gophermedical.com RepairMED 855-813-8100 • repairmed.net USOC Bio-Medical Services 855-888-8762 • usocmedical.com

45

SERVICE

Anesthesia

Technical Life Care Medical Co. 800-989-8949 • technicallifecare.com Total Scope, Inc (800) 471-2255 • totalscopeinc.com/ Tripp Lite 773-869-1111 • tripplite.com

PARTS

TRAINING

SERVICE

PARTS

AD PAGE

Company Info

Company Info

AD PAGE

SERVICE INDEX

OCTOBER 2018

6

P

92 104 69 45 31

P P P P P P

35 24 25

P P P

73 73 53 69 77 58 34

11 77 93 80 46

P P P P P

P P P P

Cardiovascular

54 26-28, 89

Gopher Medical 844-246-7437 • gophermedical.com ReMedPar 800-624-3994 • remedpar.com Southeastern Biomedical, Inc 828-396-6010 • sebiomedical.com/ Southwestern Biomedical Electronics, Inc. 800-880-7231 • swbiomed.com/ Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • technicalprospects.com/

P P P P P P P

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

46

P

83

P P P P P P P

P

Computed Tomography Altima 844-548-4540 • altimadis.com Exclusive Medical Solutions 866.676.3671 • emedicalsol.com Injector Support and Service 888-667-1062 • injectorsupport.com International Medical Equipment and Service 704-739-3597 • IMESimaging.com International X-Ray Brokers internationalxraybrokers.com/ Retrieve Medical Equipment 330-963-0277 • retrievemedicalequipment.com RSTI 800-229-7784 • rsti-training.com RTI Electronics 800-222-7537 • rtigroup.com Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • technicalprospects.com/ Tri-Imaging Solutions 855-401-4888 • triimaging.com

75 87 71 98 34 INS

P P P

51 46 49

P P P P P P

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

87 88

P P P

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

Diagnostic Imaging Advanced Ultrasound Electronics, Inc. 1-866-620-2831 • auetulsa.com Avante Health Solutions avantehs.com International X-Ray Brokers internationalxraybrokers.com/ ReMedPar 800-624-3994 • remedpar.com Retrieve Medical Equipment 330-963-0277 • retrievemedicalequipment.com

39 19

P P P P P

98 77

P P

34

25 53 41

P P P P P P P

Fetal Monitoring Multimedical Systems 888-532-8056 • multimedicalsystems.com

P

25

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

69

P P

General ALCO Sales & Service Co. 800-323-4282 • alcosales.com Tripp Lite 773-869-1111 • tripplite.com

92 33

P

6

P

54

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

59

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 Multimedical Systems 888-532-8056 • multimedicalsystems.com

55 COV, 68

35 25

P P P P P P P

Infusion Therapy AIV 888-656-0755 • aiv-inc.com Elite Biomedical Solutions 855-291-6701 • elitebiomedicalsolutions.com FOBI 888-231-3624 • FOBI.us

55 COV, 68

37

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

101 7

P P P

Ozark Biomedical 800-457-7576 • ozarkbiomedical.com

78

P P

Ampronix, Inc. 800-400-7972 • ampronix.com Exclusive Medical Solutions 866.676.3671 • emedicalsol.com International X-Ray Brokers internationalxraybrokers.com/ ReMedPar 800-624-3994 • remedpar.com RSTI 800-229-7784 • rsti-training.com

4

P P P

75 98 77 INS

P P P P P

Monitors/CRTs Ampronix, Inc. 800-400-7972 • ampronix.com BMES 888-828-2637 • bmesco.com Integrity Biomedical Services 877-789-9903 • integritybiomed.com Select BioMedical 866-559-3500 • selectpos.com Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • technicalprospects.com/ USOC Bio-Medical Services 855-888-8762 • usocmedical.com

4 58 90 101 46 7

P P P P P P P P P

MRI

Imaging 626 Holdings 800-516-0990 • weare626.com Health Tech Talent Management, Inc. 757-563-0448 • HealthTechTM.com

58

Mammography

59 67

35

P P P P

Laboratory

Endoscopy Healthmark Industries 800-521-6224 • HMARK.COM J2S Medical 844-342-5527 • j2smedical.com Multimedical Systems 888-532-8056 • multimedicalsystems.com PRN/ Physician's Resource Network 508-679-6185 • prnwebsite.com Total Scope, Inc (800) 471-2255 • totalscopeinc.com/

67

TRAINING

4748

SERVICE

Asimily 408-627-4097 • Asimily.com

J2S Medical 844-342-5527 • j2smedical.com Master Medical Equipment 866-468-9558 • masterfitmedical.com RepairMED 855-813-8100 • repairmed.net Select BioMedical 866-559-3500 • selectpos.com USOC Bio-Medical Services 855-888-8762 • usocmedical.com

PARTS

Cyber Security

Company Info

AD PAGE

TRAINING

SERVICE

PARTS

AD PAGE

Company Info

P P P P P P

Altima 844-548-4540 • altimadis.com Exclusive Medical Solutions 866.676.3671 • emedicalsol.com Innovatus Imaging 1-844-MVS-5100 • mvs.bayer.com International Medical Equipment and Service 704-739-3597 • IMESimaging.com PartsSource 877-497-6412 • partssource.com/shop ReMedPar 800-624-3994 • remedpar.com

83 75

P P P P

INS 71 18 77

P P P P P P

Nuclear Medicine E.L. Parts 847-421-1656 • nuclearmedimaging.com Global Medical Imaging 800-958-9986 • gmi3.com

101 2

P P P P P

Online Resource Adel Lawrence Associates 866-252-5621 • adel-lawrence.com J2S Medical 844-342-5527 • j2smedical.com MedWrench 866-989-7057 • MedWrench.com

98 67 100

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNATION

97

Oxygen Blender FOBI 888-231-3624 • FOBI.us

37

P P

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

P

INS

Patient Monitoring AIV 888-656-0755 • aiv-inc.com Ampronix, Inc. 800-400-7972 • ampronix.com Avante Health Solutions avantehs.com BETA Biomed Services 800-315-7551 • betabiomed.com/ Biomedical Repair & Consulting Services, Inc. 844-656-9418 • brcsrepair.com BMES 888-828-2637 • bmesco.com Gopher Medical 844-246-7437 • gophermedical.com

55 4 19 54 69 58 11

P P P P P P P

P P P P P P P

90 67 35 46, 85

18 53

P P P P P P

69 58 93 80 7

P P P P

TRAINING

P

52

Integrity Biomedical Services 877-789-9903 • integritybiomed.com J2S Medical 844-342-5527 • j2smedical.com Master Medical Equipment 866-468-9558 • masterfitmedical.com Pacific Medical 800-449-5328 • pacificmedicalsupply.com PartsSource 877-497-6412 • partssource.com/shop PRN/ Physician's Resource Network 508-679-6185 • prnwebsite.com ReNew Biomedical 844-425-0987 • ReNewBiomedical.com RepairMED 855-813-8100 • repairmed.net Southeastern Biomedical, Inc 828-396-6010 • sebiomedical.com/ Southwestern Biomedical Electronics, Inc. 800-880-7231 • swbiomed.com/ USOC Bio-Medical Services 855-888-8762 • usocmedical.com

SERVICE

73

PARTS

Company Info

AD PAGE

TRAINING

SERVICE

PARTS

oneSOURCE 1-800-701-3560 • oneSOURCEdocs.com Webinar Wednesday 800-906-3373 • 1technation.com/webinars

AD PAGE

Company Info

P P P P P P P P P P

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

BUYING & SELLING pre-owned diagnostic imaging equipment doesn’t have to be a...

PAIN IN THE NECK

Since 1987 IXB has been relieving the pain of buying and selling pre-owned diagnostic imaging equipment.

TOSHIBA • G.E • PHILIPS • SIEMENS AND MORE!

46

P

P

GET THE

POSITION YOU DESERVE Nationwide Opportunities •Biomedical

•Tech Support

•Medical Imaging

•Management

•Field Support

•Instructors

•In-house

•Service Sales

Adel-Lawrence Assoc., Inc. All Manufactures & Modalities www.InternationalXrayBrokers.com admin@intxray.com • 508.730.9544 or 508.559.9441

98

TECHNATION

OCTOBER 2018

CALL LARRY RADZELY 866-252-5621 info@alajobs.com | www.adel-lawrence.com

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

4

P P

92 INS 46

P P P P P P

98 54 88

Refurbish AIV 888-656-0755 • aiv-inc.com

55

Rental/Leasing Avante Health Solutions avantehs.com Elite Biomedical Solutions 855-291-6701 • elitebiomedicalsolutions.com Technical Life Care Medical Co. 800-989-8949 • technicallifecare.com

19 COV, 68

45

P P

Repair ALCO Sales & Service Co. 800-323-4282 • alcosales.com Elite Biomedical Solutions 855-291-6701 • elitebiomedicalsolutions.com

92 COV, 68

P P

Replacement Parts Advanced Ultrasound Electronics, Inc. 1-866-620-2831 • auetulsa.com Elite Biomedical Solutions 855-291-6701 • elitebiomedicalsolutions.com Engineering Services, KCS Inc 888-364-7782x11 • eng-services.com Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • technicalprospects.com/

39 COV, 68

12 46

P P P P P P P

Respiratory A.M. Bickford 800-795-3062 • ambickford.com FOBI 888-231-3624 • FOBI.us J2S Medical 844-342-5527 • j2smedical.com

51 37

P P P

67

1415

Software Asimily 408-627-4097 • Asimily.com Medinas Health 650-762-5031 • medinashealth.com/ Phoenix Data Systems 800-541-2467 • goaims.com

4748

13

59 90

P P

AIV 888-656-0755 • aiv-inc.com Biomedical Repair & Consulting Services, Inc. 844-656-9418 • brcsrepair.com BMES 888-828-2637 • bmesco.com Elite Biomedical Solutions 855-291-6701 • elitebiomedicalsolutions.com Gopher Medical 844-246-7437 • gophermedical.com Integrity Biomedical Services 877-789-9903 • integritybiomed.com J2S Medical 844-342-5527 • j2smedical.com Master Medical Equipment 866-468-9558 • masterfitmedical.com Multimedical Systems 888-532-8056 • multimedicalsystems.com Pacific Medical 800-449-5328 • pacificmedicalsupply.com ReNew Biomedical 844-425-0987 • ReNewBiomedical.com RepairMED 855-813-8100 • repairmed.net Southwestern Biomedical Electronics, Inc. 800-880-7231 • swbiomed.com/ USOC Bio-Medical Services 855-888-8762 • usocmedical.com

55

P P P P P P

69 58 COV, 68

11 90

P P P P P P

67 35 25 46, 85

69 58 80 7

P P P P P P P P P P P

Test Equipment A.M. Bickford 800-795-3062 • ambickford.com BC Group International, Inc 314-638-3800 • BCGroupStore.com PRN/ Physician's Resource Network 508-679-6185 • prnwebsite.com Pronk Technologies, Inc. 800-609-9802 • pronktech.com Radcal Corporation 800-423-7169 • radcal.com Rigel Medical, Seaward Group 813-886-2775 • seaward-groupusa.com RTI Electronics 800-222-7537 • rtigroup.com Southeastern Biomedical, Inc 828-396-6010 • sebiomedical.com/

51 104 53

P P P P

5 78 3 51 93

P P

Training

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

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

Telemetry

Recruiting Adel Lawrence Associates 866-252-5621 • adel-lawrence.com Health Tech Talent Management, Inc. 757-563-0448 • HealthTechTM.com Stephens International Recruiting Inc. 870-431-5485 • bmets-usa.com/

1415

Surgical

Radiology Ampronix, Inc. 800-400-7972 • ampronix.com Holden Battery Services, LLC 800-594-9257 • x-raybatteries.com RSTI 800-229-7784 • rsti-training.com Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • technicalprospects.com/

TRAINING

P

SERVICE

103

PARTS

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

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

Company Info

AD PAGE

TRAINING

SERVICE

PARTS

AD PAGE

Company Info

P

Adel Lawrence Associates 866-252-5621 • adel-lawrence.com Advanced Ultrasound Electronics, Inc. 1-866-620-2831 • auetulsa.com ECRI Institute 1-610-825-6000. • ecri.org International Medical Equipment and Service 704-739-3597 • IMESimaging.com

98 39 82

P P P P

71

87

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNATION

99

Tubes/Bulbs PartsSource 877-497-6412 • partssource.com/shop ReMedPar 800-624-3994 • remedpar.com Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • technicalprospects.com/ Tri-Imaging Solutions 855-401-4888 • triimaging.com

18 77 46 49

P P P P P P P P

Ultrasound Advanced Ultrasound Electronics, Inc. 1-866-620-2831 • auetulsa.com Ampronix, Inc. 800-400-7972 • ampronix.com ATS Laboratories

39 4

atslaboratories@yahoo.com • atslaboratories-phantoms.com

Avante Health Solutions avantehs.com

58 19

P P P P P P P P

Exclusive Medical Solutions 866.676.3671 • emedicalsol.com

75

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

2

TRAINING

49

8

SERVICE

46

Conquest Imaging 866-900-9404 • conquestimaging.com

PARTS

P P P

INS

Company Info

AD PAGE

TRAINING

SERVICE

RSTI 800-229-7784 • rsti-training.com Technical Prospects 877-604-6583 • technicalprospects.com/ Tri-Imaging Solutions 855-401-4888 • triimaging.com

PARTS

AD PAGE

Company Info

P P P P P P P P

Innovatus Imaging 1-844-MVS-5100 • mvs.bayer.com

INS

J2S Medical 844-342-5527 • j2smedical.com

67

ReMedPar 800-624-3994 • remedpar.com

77

Retrieve Medical Equipment 330-963-0277 • retrievemedicalequipment.com

34

Summit Imaging 866-586-3744 • mysummitimaging.com

60

P P P

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

12

Exclusive Medical Solutions 866.676.3671 • emedicalsol.com

75

P P P

P P

X-Ray

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

100

TECHNATION

OCTOBER 2018

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

Innovatus Imaging 1-844-MVS-5100 • mvs.bayer.com

INS

International X-Ray Brokers internationalxraybrokers.com/

98

ReMedPar 800-624-3994 • remedpar.com

77

Retrieve Medical Equipment 330-963-0277 • retrievemedicalequipment.com

34

RSTI 800-229-7784 • rsti-training.com

INS

RTI Electronics 800-222-7537 • rtigroup.com

51

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

46

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

49

TRAINING

92

SERVICE

Holden Battery Services, LLC 800-594-9257 • x-raybatteries.com

PARTS

AD PAGE

ROVED

Company Info

We ONLY use OEM Parts!

Providing support services and quality rebuilt equipment for over 17 years!

P P P P P

P P P P P PROOFBIOMED SHEET DEPARTMENTS…

CHANGES NEEDED

OFF:

CONFIRM THAT THE FOLLOWING ARE CORRECT PHONE NUMBER WEBSITE ADDRESS

SPELLING

GRAMMAR

TRIM 3.25”

• We sell and rent the highest quality refurbished infusion pumps available.

IN NUCLEAR MEDICINE PARTS *

• We work with you to provide tailored solutions specific to your equipment needs.

TRIM 4.5”

SAVE

1

• Look to Select for BEST IN CLASS Pricing, Quality and Turnaround Time.

EQUIPMENT PURCHASERS…

THE LEADER We have one of the largest inventories of Philips, Siemens, and GE equipment.

• Our technicians repair circuit boards, pump mechanisms and LCD screens at the component level.

• Our IOT experience ensures we can help with your M2M connectivity issues.

We provide excellent pricing & quality parts to customers worldwide with representatives available 24/7.

SEND US AN EMAIL e_langsfeld@yahoo.com

GIVE US A CALL 847.421.1656

VISIT OUR WEBSITE nuclearmedimaging.com

6126 Paul Factory Crystal Lake, IL 60014 1110 Ct. •Rd. Fox River Grove, IL 60021 USA *10 % OFF first purchase when mentioning this ad. ($250 max value)

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Contact us today! www.selectbiomedical.com | 866.559.3500 Information@selectpos.com Select also buys equipment. Call us if you have surplus pumps or monitors to sell. We offer top dollar!

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNATION

101

ALPHABETICAL INDEX 626 Holdings…………………………… 6

Global Medical Imaging………………… 2

PRN/ Physician’s Resource Network… 53

A.M. Bickford…………………………

51

Gopher Medical………………………

Pronk Technologies, Inc. ……………… 5

Adel Lawrence Associates……………

98

Health Tech Talent Management, Inc.… 54

Radcal Corporation……………………

78

Advanced Ultrasound Electronics, Inc.…39

Healthmark Industries………………

59

ReMedPar……………………………

77

AIV……………………………………

55

Holden Battery Services, LLC…………

92

ReNew Biomedical……………………

69

ALCO Sales & Service Co.……………

92

iMed Biomedical………………

26-28, 89

RepairMED……………………………

58

Altima…………………………………

83

Injector Support and Service…………

Retrieve Medical Equipment …………

34

11

87

Ampronix, Inc.…………………………… 4

Innovatus Imaging…………………… INS

Rigel Medical, Seaward Group………… 3

Asimily……………………………… 47, 48

Integrity Biomedical Services…………

RSTI…………………………………… INS

Asset Services…………………………

45

International Medical Equipment

ATS Laboratories………………………

58

and Service……………………………

71

Select BioMedical…………………… 101

Avante Health Solutions………………

19

International X-Ray Brokers…………

98

Soaring Hearts Inc……………………

35

BC Group International, Inc………… 104

Interpower…………………………… 103

Southeastern Biomedical, Inc………

93

BETA Biomed Services………………

J2S Medical…………………………

67

Southwestern Biomedical

Master Medical Equipment…………

35

Electronics, Inc.………………………

54

Biomedical Repair & Consulting

90

RTI Electronics………………………

51

80

Services, Inc.…………………………

69

Maull Biomedical Training……………

88

Stephens International Recruiting Inc.… 88

BMES…………………………………

58

Medical Equipment Doctor, INC.……

24

Summit Imaging………………………

60

Conquest Imaging……………………… 8

Medinas Health………………………

13

Technical Life Care Medical Co.………

45

Crothall Healthcare Technology Solutions…45

MedWrench………………………… 100

Technical Prospects…………………

46

D.A. Surgical…………………………

31

Multimedical Systems………………

25

Total Scope, Inc………………………

41

E.L. Parts……………………………… 101

oneSOURCE Document Site…………

73

Tri-Imaging Solutions…………………

49

ECRI Institute…………………………

Ozark Biomedical……………………

78

Tripp Lite………………………………

33

82

Elite Biomedical Solutions……… COV, 68

Pacific Medical …………………… 46, 85

USOC Bio-Medical Services…………… 7

Engineering Services, KCS Inc………

12

PartsSource…………………………

18

Versus……………………………… 14-15

Exclusive Medical Solutions…………

75

Phoenix Data Systems………………

87

Webinar Wednesday…………………

FOBI…………………………………

37

Prescotts………………………………

90

102

TECHNATION

OCTOBER 2018

52

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

The Interpower Solution

®

The Interpower Solution for North American Hospital-Grade Replacement Cords: If you just need one, order just one.

We have no minimum order or dollar amount requirements, which empowers you to order just what you need—whether it’s 1, 5, 100, or more.

Interpower manufactured hospital-grade cords are made in Iowa and are electrically tested for safety. They carry UL and CSA approvals.

We offer both replacement cords and special orders. Value-added options, such as labeling and packaging, are available upon request.

For example, you can mark your cords with labels that contain your specific information, such as identifying a certain location (e.g. Operating Room 1, ER 2, etc.). With your cords specially labeled, hopefully they will stay in the correct location. And if you need to replace one, you only have to order one.

Interpower offers a wide selection of clear, black, and gray North American hospital-grade plugs on power cords, cord sets, and replacement cords.

• Made in Iowa, U.S.A. • No minimum order or dollar requirements • Same day shipments on in-stock products • 1-week U.S. manufacturing lead-time on non-stock Interpower products • Lock in your price with blanket or scheduled orders • Free technical support available

Secure Your Connection

Interpower connector locks can help prevent accidental power interruption.

Before you select your connector components, you should consult the appropriate medical equipment standards for connection security requirements.

Contact Customer Service for more information. sales@interpower.com

®

®

Order Online! www.interpower.com

Business Hours: 7 a.m.–6 p.m. Central Time

INTERPOWER | P.O. Box 115 | 100 Interpower Ave | Oskaloosa, IA 52577 | Toll-Free Phone: (800) 662-2290 | Toll-Free Fax: (800) 645-5360 | sales@interpower.com

NEW AA-8000 Anesthetic A g e n t A n a ly z e r The AA-8000 is the latest in portable anesthetic agent analyzers.

It was designed to meet the demand for a small, easy to use unit with high reliability and accuracy. Utilizing proprietary stateof-the-art digital NDIR (Non-Dispersive Infrared) Technology it provides a low cost, high function, microprocessorbased analyzer that is simple to operate while maintaining high performance and accuracy.

Measures 4 Anesthetic Agent Gases:  Sevoflurane  Isoflurane  Desflurane  Halothane

User Friendly Interface:

 One Button Agent Select  One Button Sample (Pump) Control

AA-8000

The AA-8000 has a slanted display and adjustable handle that make it portable and accessible.

BC Group is Your One-Stop Biomed Shop BC Group Can Cover all Your Biomedical Test Equipment Needs ✓ DESIGN Our in-house engineering team designs our complete line of biomedical test equipment, including the IPA-3400 and ESU-2400H. Coming soon is the newest addition to our line of test equipment, the AA-8000 Anesthetic Agent Analyzer.

✓ M A N U FA C T U R I N G We manufacture a complete line of Biomedical Test Equipment under our brand BC Biomedical.

Most BC Biomedical products are offered in a series, giving you multiple options to fit your exact needs.

✓ SERVICE Our BC Service calibration laboratory is ISO 9001-2015, ANSI Z540-1 Certified and ISO/IEC 17025-2005 Accredited. We provide on-site calibration services for over hundreds of hospitals and healthcare facilities nationwide, and in-house calibration laboratory provides metrology services for some of the top U.S. and International healthcare providers.

✓ MARKETPLACE Shop over 75 different product lines, including our own line, BC Biomedical, in our BC Marketplace.

You can shop online, view pricing, datasheets, videos and more at BCGroupStore.com.

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