TechNation Magazine July 2020 by MD Publishing

1technation.com

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL / HTM PROFESSIONAL

JULY 2020

Disposition K N O W Y O U R O P T I O N S

PG 54

33 MD Expo (Irvine)

Transitions to HTM Mixers

14 Company Showcase

ZRG Medical

51 Roundtable Address Service Requested MD Publishing 1015 Tyrone Rd., Ste. 120 Tyrone, GA 30290

PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID MD Publishing

Vol. 11

IV Pumps

63 The Future

The New Future?

Interpower® Hospital-Grade Cords

Power Made Priceless Whether a city hospital or a small-town clinic, reliable power is critical to medical facility patients, families and staff. Interpower manufactures hospital-grade power cords and cord sets to medical facility specifications with 1-Week Lead-Times on all manufactured non-stock products. Made in the U.S.A., our cords and cord sets are available in a variety of colors and lengths. Value-Added options • • • •

can be added such as specialized labeling and packaging. Questions? Interpower offers free technical support. When designing, building, and maintaining hospital-grade products to be used worldwide, it is important to know the medical requirements of the country of export. In addition, select hospitals have proprietary requirements. Special consideration is needed for products used in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Japan, and the United States.

1-Week U.S. manufacturing Lead-Time on non-stock Interpower products Same Day Shipping on in-stock products Quantity price breaks available with blanket or scheduled orders No minimum order or dollar requirements

Order Online! www.interpower.com

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

Always Keep Track of Your Medical Devices GET THE MOST FROM YOUR ASSETS Know exactly what devices are connecting to your network, when and where. Put this information to work for you to improve procurement, maximize deployment, and streamline management to extend the life and value of your assets.

Improve Procurement Don’t waste capital on devices you don’t need – optimize when to purchase and replace assets. Maximize Deployment Understand device utilization to deploy devices to where they are needed most.

Keep Track of Your Keep Track of Your Medical Devices Medical Devices

Let us help you make the most of your assets

Streamline Management Determine optimal timing for updates, upgrades, and preventative maintenance.

Get the most from your assets Know exactly what devices are connecting to your network, when and where. Put this information to work for you to improve procurement, maximize deployment, and streamline management to extend the life and value of your assets.

THE FUTURE, WITHIN REACH On-screen images are simulated.

Sony delivers HDR with four times the resolution at virtually the same price as HD.

The future of surgery has just arrived with our 4K HDR monitor. With four times the pixels of Full HD, the 4K screen is a revelation in tissue detail – while Sony’s advanced upscaling delivers sharp, natural rendering of HD sources in 4K resolution. High Dynamic Range elicits more information from strong highlights and deep shadows. The 27-inch diagonal size is just right for drop-in replacement. There are multiple inputs including DisplayPort™. Even the price is a welcome sight. Thanks to Sony, the future has never looked brighter. LMD-X2705MD 4K Surgical Display, 27” (diagonally)

See more at ampronix.com/sony

PREMIER PRICING AVAILABLE 15 Whatney Irvine, CA 92618

Toll Free: (800) 400-7972

Intl: +1-949-273-8000

www.ampronix.com

SUPPLYING YOUR

GE AT&AOEC Cables PRICE YOU CAN AFFORD Kenneth Saltrick, President of Engineering Services in Twinsburg, Ohio, knows from his long experience that C-arm machines themselves are absolute workhorses.

9900, 9800 R E C E P TA C L E CABLES

For customers looking to blend the gap between expensive OEM and unreliable used assemblies, WE have your solution. Our complete repair contains a new cable assembly, utilizing all OEM cable and components with a harvested plate and connector housing as they are proprietary items. These completely repaired products will have a significant cost savings with build quality above new OEM products and carry a warranty of 180 days, which is untouchable in the market.

9900, 9800 INTERCONNECT CABLES

We want your HV Cable Cores! Call or email us the condition of the cable(s) and we will submit an offer to purchase the part. We will then inspect and test the part to see if it can be repaired. If it is deemed repairable, we will process the transaction and mail you a check the next day. Email photos and requests to: info@eng-services.com

Buying Repaira ble 9800 / 990 0 HV Cable Cores

SIMPLE SOLUTIONS FOR

COMPLEX DEVICES

PATIENT MONITORING PARTS • PATIENT CABLES

MANUFACTURERS

PHILIPS • GE • COROMETRICS SPACELABS • MINDRAY • DATEX-OHMEDA WELCH ALLYN • MASIMO • NELLCOR

20 MORGAN • IRVINE, CA 92618 CALL: 1.855.888.8762

CARE FUSION • SECHRIST

VISIT: USOCMEDICAL.COM ISO 9001:2015 Certified

WORKING AT THE SPEED OF LIFE H

ospital staff moves at the speed of life, across all areas of healthcare. Racing patients to the technology, services, care they need. Yet when critical diagnostic products are not operating to their OEM performance standards, the race for help, healing or life can hit a brick wall.

At Innovatus Imaging, we know how critical speed is to getting your ultrasound probes repaired or replaced. It is why we are investing millions in improving infrastructure and staff, accelerating our training programs, increasing efficiencies and developing proprietary processes that get the most popular makes and models of probes into our Ultrasound Center of Excellence and back to your technologists and patients faster than ever before. We call it Rapid Repair. You can call it Life. For information on our Rapid Repair programs and loaner inventory, email us today at TedL@innovatusimaging.com.

| CONTACT US |

www.innovatusimaging.com Call us at 844-687-5100 Pittsburgh | Tulsa | Denver

CONTENTS

FEATURED

HE ROUNDTABLE: T IV PUMPS It is time once gain for TechNation’s monthly roundtable feature article to focus on IV pumps. Experts share their thoughts regarding the knowledge HTM professionals need, share cost-savings tips and more in this look at IV pumps.

EQUIPMENT DISPOSITION: KNOW YOUR OPTIONS Disposing of medical equipment can be costly. There are a number of considerations when disposing of used medical equipment and a number of choices as to how a particular piece of equipment is taken out of service and out of inventory. Next month’s Feature article: Review HTM Standards

Next month’s Roundtable article: Asset Tracking (RTLS, RFID, etc.)

TechNation (Vol. 11, Issue #7) JULY 2020 is published monthly by MD Publishing, 1015 Tyrone Rd., Ste. 120, Tyrone, GA 30290. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to TechNation at 1015 Tyrone Rd., Ste. 120, Tyrone, GA 30290. TechNation magazine is dedicated to providing medical equipment service professionals with comprehensive, reliable, information concerning medical equipment, parts, service and supplies. It is published monthly by MD Publishing, Inc. Subscriptions are available free of charge to qualified individuals within the United States. Publisher reserves the right to determine qualification for a free subscriptions. Every precaution is taken to ensure accuracy of content; however, the information, opinions, and statements expressed in the articles and advertisements herein are those of the writer and/or advertiser, and not necessarily those of the publisher. ©2020

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

JULY 2020

TECHNATION

INSIDE Departments

CONTENTS

PUBLISHER

John M. Krieg

VICE PRESIDENT

Kristin Leavoy

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Jayme McKelvey Megan Cabot

ART DEPARTMENT Jonathan Riley Karlee Gower Amanda Purser EDITORIAL

John Wallace Erin Register

CONTRIBUTORS

Roger Bowles Jenifer Brown K. Richard Douglas Jim Fedele Joe Fishel Manny Roman Cindy Stephens Steven J. Yelton

DIGITAL SERVICES

Cindy Galindo Kennedy Krieg

CIRCULATION

Lisa Lisle Jennifer Godwin

WEBINARS

Linda Hasluem

ACCOUNTING

Diane Costea

EDITORIAL BOARD

Manny Roman, CRES, Business Operations Manager, Association of Medical Service Providers Jim Fedele, CBET, Senior Director of Clinical Engineering, UPMC Carol Davis-Smith, CCE, FACCE, AAMIF, Owner/ President of Carol Davis-Smith & Associates, LLC David Francoeur, CBET, CHTM, Senior Vice President Marketing and Sales, Tech Know Associates - TKA Jennifer DeFrancesco, DHA, MS, CHTM, System Director, Clinical Engineering, Crothall Healthcare Rob Bundick, Director HTM & Biomedical Engineering, ProHealth Care

P.12 SPOTLIGHT p.12 Department of the Month: Texas Health Central Region HTM Department p.14 Company Showcase: ZRG Medical p.18 Professional of the Month: Raymond Forsell, CCE: Answering the Call p.22 Association of the Month: The New England Society of Clinical Engineering (NESCE) P.24 p.24 p.33 p.34 p.36 p.38 p.40

INDUSTRY UPDATES News and Notes: Updates from the HTM Industry HTM Mixers Announcement Ribbon Cutting: Althea AAMI Update ECRI Update Welcome to TechNation

P.42 p.42 p.44 p.47 p.48

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

P.58 EXPERT ADVICE p.58 Career Center p.60 Maintenance and Servicing: The Alaris 8100 Infusion Pump, sponsored by Avante Health Solutions p.63 The Future p.64 View on Value p.66 20/20 Imaging Insights, sponsored by Innovatus Imaging p.69 Cybersecurity p.71 The Other Side p.72 Top 7 Reasons a Biomed Tech Is One of the Best Jobs in Health Care, sponsored by TKA p.75 Roman Review P.76 BREAKROOM p.76 Did You Know? p.77 The Vault p.78 MedWrench Bulletin Board p.86 Flashback p.80 Service Index p.83 Alphabetical Index

MD Publishing / TechNation Magazine 1015 Tyrone Rd., Ste. 120, Tyrone, GA 30290 800.906.3373 â&#x20AC;¢ Fax: 770.632.9090 Email: info@mdpublishing.com www.mdpublishing.com

TECHNATION

JULY 2020

Proud supporters of

Like us on Facebook, www.facebook.com/TechNationMag Follow us on Twitter, twitter.com/TechNationMag WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

Building the Healthcare Technology Workforce of the Future

College of Biomedical Equipment Technology’s (CBET) mission is to provide Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) education, training and career services consistent with the evolving needs of employers in the healthcare industry.

• AAS BMET • CYBER SECURITY / IT • CORPORATE TRAINING

• BMET CERTIFICATE • SPECIALTY PROGRAMS • EXTERNSHIPS

To all Healthcare Workers, First Responders, Military, Essential Workers and Volunteers, we are grateful, and we salute you for your selﬂess-service, sacriﬁces, dedication and commitment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Call us @866•866•9027 admissiondept@cbet.edu facebook.com/cbetcollege

linkedin.com/school/cbetcollege

WWW.CBET.EDU

SPOTLIGHT

Texas Health Central Region HTM Department recently reopened an ICU floor.

DEPARTMENT OF THE MONTH Texas Health Central Region HTM Department BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

hile HTM departments across the country had to help their clinical colleagues respond to the coronavirus pandemic, one team in Arlington, Texas showed the value of biomeds in a crisis by taking on an important project that helped prepare the hospital for an influx of COVID-19 patients.

The healthcare technology management (HTM) department at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital were tasked with reopening an unused ICU floor. The Arlington team of biomeds is part of the central region of Texas Health, which is made up of 16 members covering six hospitals and two surgical centers. HTM Operations Manager Douglas Redwine is joined by lead techs J.R. Martinez,

TECHNATION

JULY 2020

Philip Gutierrez and Jaime Garcia. The team also includes BMET IIs Thomas Helms, Matthew Mellor, Armando Gutierrez, Sheldon Svoboda and Adrian Rueda. Other team members are techs with a BMET I title and include Jourdan Coleman, Lorenzo Roque, Cameron Curry, Kerry Snape, Armando Picazo and Stephen Parades. The department also includes Biomed Coordinators Kiana Poole and Tatum Tietjen. In addition to Arlington Memorial Hospital, which is a 369-bed acute care facility, the regional team also provides technology management at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hurst Euless Bedford, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Denton, Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Alliance and Texas Health Mans-

field; all acute care hospitals. The group also provides service to the medical devices in a specialty cardiac hospital and two surgical hospitals. How does the department deal with service contracts? “Before an equipment manufacturer warranty expires, we analyze the service history and compare bringing service in-house (assess our techs training, cost for training, hiring, test equipment) versus the service options (OEM full-service contracts, T&M) to determine the most cost-effective and beneficial management plan. We manage the contracts and perform a yearly evaluation to determine the viability of the contract,” Redwine says. He says that data collection is performed through its integrated CMMS.

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

SPOTLIGHT

“ L ast month, with the impending threat of a pandemic surge, the HTM teams were called on to for their medical equipment expertise to support the front-line health care workers.” “Clinical staff use a web portal to create service work orders using biomed numbers on the device and work orders are assigned to techs. PMs and safety alerts for the system are controlled and generated from our system’s corporate office. Techs are responsible for inputting all the pertinent data on the work orders and uploading attachments of field service reports and invoices,” Redwine explains. He says that all of the facilities have a high level of integration between biomed and IT. “Our ITS, MDI, risk analyst and HTM teams work together on various projects to ensure our systems are compatible or can be combined in the future as technology advances,” he says. ADDRESSING A CRISIS Except for some extraordinary natural disasters like hurricanes, tornados or floods, there are few instances where biomeds nationwide are called upon to address the incalculable consequences of a worldwide pandemic. Hospitals nationwide were staring at predictions of a system overwhelmed with critically ill patients. As the old saying goes; success is when preparation meets opportunity. The opportunity in this case was to ramp up as many beds for very sick patients as possible and that is what the Arlington team accomplished. “Last month, with the impending threat of a pandemic surge, the

HTM teams were called on to for their medical equipment expertise to support the front-line health care workers. The Healthcare Technology Management team for the Central Region at Texas Health Resources was ready for the task and honored to play an integral role in serving the patients and medical community during this serious state of affairs,” Redwine says. He says that there were many unique requests as adjustments were made to prepare for a surge, but one of the sites in the Central Region was tasked with the responsibility of helping to reopen a defunct – for over two-years – ICU floor to provide care to COVID-19 patients. “The project was most definitely a great collaborative effort between many different departments to quickly get the area up to speed, with HTM playing an integral role in successfully completing several urgent tasks in a timely manner to ensure success,” Redwine says. Redwine says that the HTM team specifically performed an overall assessment to test and determine operational medical equipment for each room, repaired malfunctioning devices, determined needed inventory, cost to make operational and the turnaround time to get the area up and running. “The team also performed the conversion of anesthesia units for use as ventilators to ensure there wouldn’t be a shortage of vents to care for our patients,” Redwine says.

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

He says that in less than three weeks, the project was completed, and the hospital was able to successfully meet the demands of housing and serving patients during this critical time. Beyond their work at the system’s hospitals, the team also represents the HTM field through participation in Healthcare Technology Management Association-North Texas (HTMA-NTX), AAMI and the MD Expo. Although HTM professionals contribute to good outcomes for patients every day, the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19 patients have tested the mettle of biomeds worldwide. At a time when hospitals saw an influx of very ill patients, the HTM profession showed its versatility and readiness. The biomeds at Arlington Memorial Hospital, part of the Texas Health Central Region team, jumped into action and helped prepare for the very worst. Their efforts, along with those of other departments, put the necessary equipment and repaired equipment into place to be ready for the unknown. If it were not for a dramatic change in human behavior, that headed off many statistical probabilities, the hospital would have been faced with a difficult emergency. With the help of the biomeds, the situation became manageable. If the fall brings a second wave, Arlington Memorial and the other hospitals in the region will be prepared.

JULY 2020

TECHNATION

SPOTLIGHT

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

COMPANY SHOWCASE ZRG Medical

rmed with a passion for repurposing, recycling, donation, and respect for the medical industry professionals who provide life-changing care through technology, Mimi and Tony Lively started ZRG Medical in 2013. Today, ZRG provides tailored asset disposition services for hospitals and health care facilities that want their surplus equipment to have a second life. By reselling, renting, donating, and responsibly recycling medical equipment they can keep these lifesaving devices out of landfills and give them a new life where they are needed. ZRG Medical is also Certified Women Owned by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).

SUSTAINABILITY DIVERSITY GIVING BACK ZRG Medical has become the leading medical asset disposition vendor in

TECHNATION

JULY 2020

Southern California since its start in 2013 and is forecasting exponential growth in the coming years by expanding to service health care facilities on a national level. Their environmentally friendly and customer-centered approach is the future of health care asset disposition and is continuously evolving to benefit the global economy. At ZRG, they realize that every health care facility does not have the same needs and priorities when it comes to removing their surplus assets. Because they specialize in both the reselling and recycling of medical equipment, they can create tailored solutions for managing all surplus assets within a hospital or health care facility that fits the needs of the customer. ZRG Medical is licensed by the California State Board of Pharmacy to sell medical equipment and follows all state and federal regulations. Having

MIMI LIVELY CEO been an R2 and RIOS certified recycler for several years, ZRG follows strict recycling guidelines that ensure all assets removed are handled according to compliance standards, including

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

SPOTLIGHT

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

HIPAA. Each piece of equipment removed is documented in ZRG’s customer portal and all confidential data and hospital identifiers are wiped clean to remove any liabilities and keep patient information secure. Depending on the condition, need and value, the equipment is then refurbished, resold, rented, donated or broken down for parts and responsibly recycled. Through their online customer portal, customers can view all equipment removed from their facility and access all documentation with clarity and ease. Inventory lists, releases of liability and certificates of recycling are at customers’ fingertips. Designed with convenience in mind, the portal can also be used to request new liquidation jobs and review past jobs ZRG has already completed. ZRG Medical never charges a fee to remove medical equipment from health care facilities and will purchase the equipment depending on the value and condition of the medical devices. ZRG’s goal is to ensure that every piece of medical equipment removed from health care facilities receives a second life for the benefit of earth and mankind alike –- their mission statement reflects just that. According to Mimi Lively, CEO and owner of ZRG Medical, “Our mission is to give economically disadvantaged people access to outstanding medical care, create new jobs in a working environment that celebrates equality and diversity, and eliminate needless waste in landfills through the reselling and donation of hospital medical equipment.” Mimi and Tony are active in the biomedical community, supporting the education of both existing and upand-coming HTM professionals. Mimi spearheaded the Biomedical Technician course MiraCosta College now offers at its Technical Career Institute

location in California. Mimi is especially passionate about helping people throughout the world to get the medical care they deserve – she works closely with charitable organizations to provide them with medical equipment to complete their missions. Tony sits on the California Medical Instrumentation Association (CMIA) board of directors and is a valuable networking resource for biomeds and supply chain management throughout the nation. He also helped in organizing the relaunch of the Arizona Healthcare Technology Management Association (AZHTM), that held its first in-person meeting just this past March of 2020. One new venture ZRG Medical is taking on is the expansion of its parts division. Because they have worked closely with clinical engineers for many years, they have seen up close the struggle HTM professionals have getting access to parts for end-of-life equipment. According to Tony Lively, “We saw a need in the health care community and are doing our best to

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

fill it.” The parts division will focus on providing hard-to-find preowned parts so health care facilities worldwide can continue to service their older or end-of-life equipment until it can be replaced. I’M SYDNEY HUMES, the new Director of Business Development and Strategic Sourcing at ZRG Medical as of March 2020. I have always been inspired by the works that Tony and Mimi do to support both the HTM community and world health. I can now say firsthand that company culture is extremely important at ZRG Medical. We work as a cohesive team and tackle issues head-on to maximize efficiency. Our company’s dedication to transparency incites honesty and accountability in our practices. The employees are the number one priority at ZRG Medical. Something Mimi told me when I was hired on at ZRG is, “We understand that without our team we’re not able to take care of our clients or follow through with our mission to benefit the environment and mankind.” By showing appreciation for the ZRG Medical team members, allowing for a healthy work-life balance, and approaching all situations with empathy, our team is able to pass that culture on to our clients, creating strong and trusting long term relationships.

JULY 2020

TECHNATION

INJECTOR SUPPORT & SERVICE

• On-Site Repair • Depot Repair • Parts Sales and Parts Identification • Loaner Availability • Technical Support • Training • Injector System Sales • Preventative Maintenance Tools To learn more visit www.WeAreISS.com or call 888.667.1062

We ONLY use OEM Parts!

Providing support services and quality rebuilt equipment for over 19 years! BIOMED DEPARTMENTS…

EQUIPMENT PURCHASERS…

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

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

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

• We work with you to provide tailored solutions specific to your equipment needs. • Our IOT experience ensures we can help with your M2M connectivity issues.

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!

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

JULY 2020

TECHNATION

SPOTLIGHT

PROFESSIONAL OF THE MONTH Raymond Forsell, CCE: Answering the Call BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

n old English proverb, in an attempt to describe typical weather patterns during the month, states that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.

For the United States, March of 2020 would require reversing the order and applying the phrase to daily life and not weather. That is how the month will be remembered in the history books. It was also a time when individuals with the fortitude to operate under crisis conditions were able to rise to the occasion and make a difference. It comes as no surprise that a resourceful HTM professional would step up to the plate and accept this responsibility. Raymond Forsell, CCE, a clinical engineer with the University of Vermont Technical Services Partnership, provides consultation services to every New Hampshire and Vermont hospital except the University of Vermont Medical Center. Forsell’s background as an EMS captain and Lieutenant Colonel in the Vermont State Guard help make him uniquely qualified in times of emergency. The coronavirus pandemic and the resulting numbers of COVID-19 patients that have required emergent treatment have tested health care resources in every state. The governor’s office in the state of Vermont had an urgent need to respond in the early days of the pandemic. Forsell and a colleague answered the call.

TECHNATION

JULY 2020

“Throughout Ray’s career he has, with true dedication, thoughtfully and professionally applied his engineering and management skills to advance patient and staff safety for the clients the University of Vermont Technical Services Partnership serves. With the COVID-19 crisis, Ray jumped into action to help our clients in the region, and the state of Vermont, prepare,” says Michael Lane, MBA, CMQOE, CHTM, director, University of Vermont Instrumentation and Technical Services. “His willingness to investigate and lead efforts on the vast array of problems presented by the crisis is a testament to Ray’s character and his emphasis on valuing the safety of others. The University of Vermont-TSP has an incredible team of HTM professionals, and we are continually thankful for Ray’s contributions to the team,” Lane says. Forsell says that he detoured from his original educational pursuits and found medical device management the right fit. “I was a mechanical engineering (ME) student, pursuing an ME degree that would have been in the manufacturing/ equipment disciplines. I had been involved with my local emergency medical services squad since high school and became aware of increasing technology use in medicine and it was intriguing,” he says. “The University of Bridgeport had a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering, so I transferred to that school. The program included cooperative education in

local businesses, and I worked in both medical equipment manufacturing and the clinical engineering department at Norwalk Hospital. Working in hospitals with equipment and clinical delivery of care was rewarding and challenging,” Forsell says. He says that he started out as a BMET II after college. He split his time between serving two hospitals in Vermont and one in upstate New York. He was also working in the open-heart surgery group at the Medical Center Hospital of Vermont. “My employer, through this and most of my whole career, has been the University of Vermont (UVM) Technical Services Partnership (TSP), an academic, non-profit shared service clinical engineering provider in New England,” Forsell says. He says that at UVM, he became a clinical engineer and began providing engineering consultation services to 22 hospitals in Vermont and New York. “I went to Connecticut and was the assistant director of biomedical engineering at Bridgeport Hospital in the early 1990s before returning to Vermont. Back in Vermont, we expanded the footprint and scope of CE services and now serve hospitals in Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and Maine. I earned my professional engineering license in fire protection engineering, which has helped in areas of code and standards,” Forsell says.

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

SPOTLIGHT

FAVORITE BOOK:

Bible; “Mover of Men and Mountains” (RG Letournneau); “Perfect Consulting”; “NFPA 101”

FAVORITE MOVIE:

“Hunt for Red October”; “Man in the Iron Mask”

FAVORITE FOOD: Maine seafood

HIDDEN TALENT: Pretty good shot

FAVORITE PART OF BEING A BIOMED:

Oddly enough showing our stuff to surveyors during TJC, DNV, CMS visits.

WHAT’S ON MY BENCH?

Ray Forsell and his daughter, Becca, help work a vehicle extrication call as members of the South Burlington, Vermont Fire Department. Ray Forsell retired as a captain and safety officer after 27 years of service.

HTM – STEPPING UP Forsell and his colleagues have proven instrumental in addressing many of the challenges the coronavirus pandemic has brought to his state. “The COVID emergency has been a wild ride. Prior to the declaration of an emergency in Vermont on March 13, I had kept marginally involved with the Vermont Health Care Emergency Preparedness Coalition, a group of all the hospitals and the state emergency preparedness team. I always offered that if there were any emergencies that required medical equipment involvement, call us since we took care of most of the equipment in the state,” Forsell says. He says that he got a call from the Emergency Operations Center after Gov. Phil Scott declared an emergency. Forsell explains that they wanted to buy ventilators and wanted makes, models and vendors in an hour. “I engaged the other skilled clinical engineers at TSP and within the time allotted we had the information to the EOC. We aligned ourselves to be the receiver for 400+ ventilators purchased, so

we could get them inventoried, tested and ready for deployment statewide. Our office location is strategic with access to the largest hospital, interstate and helispot. Data from our HEMS CMMS has been critical to providing inventory information to the state EOC on numerous occasions,” Forsell says. “We have also been very involved in evaluation and promotion of innovative ways to disinfect N95 respirators. Where does CE end? I do not know. We happened to have the technical abilities to evaluate current technologies such as UV-C, hydrogen peroxide and other technologies to mitigate the shortage of N95 respirators. In our state, Steris and Sterrad H2O2 sterilization was the best answer, and testing was done to evaluate filtration effectiveness to 20 cycles for some respirators,” Forsell adds. “We also modified the application of an existing particle counter to help us evaluate materials for alternate surgical mask and isolation gown usage,” he says. Forsell says that Vermonters are nothing if not innovative and giving. “Teams of locals were ready and

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

• Notepad, I take lots of written notes or I forget everything. • Pencils- I love pencils. You can leave them in a drawer for decades and they still work. • Cell phone – things are happening so fast I need to be accessible. • Picture of the wife. • Leatherman – when they let me fix stuff, you can do a lot with that tool.

willing to sew masks. Guidance from UVM and UVMMC helped them to choose materials which were safe and effective,” he adds. Forsell explains that in his department, there are research engineers and clinical engineers working to develop low-cost ventilators under the FDA Emergency Use Authorization. “While the emergency may have peaked for now, these innovations will not be lost for future use or in off ‘grid’ locations near and far,” he says. Forsell says that most of what he has been doing is putting different people together with ideas and resources. “During late March, TSP began to run a weekly web meeting that has been open to Vermont Healthcare Engineering Society members as well as our client hospitals in Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and Maine. This has been a forum to share best practice in terms of technical challenges to COVID-19 preparation. This has included ventilators, monitors, medical equipment procurement, CMS waivers, negative pressure rooms, PPE, oxygen connectors and supply, and

JULY 2020

TECHNATION

SPOTLIGHT

Ray Forsell and his wife, Suzanne, are seen relaxing at Schoodic Point, Maine. It is one of their favorite spots.

now recovery to normal,” he says. Forsell says that the whole team at UVM Technical Services Partnership has been unbelievably creative and supportive of him, each other, client hospitals, the states they serve in and all patients. “With little or no notice, our whole leadership and team changed staffing focus while at the same time supporting regular care and service and daunting requests by the hospitals and state governments. Monitoring systems were moved into makeshift negative pressure wings, testing locations supported with equipment, surge hospitals supported with monitors and equipment. It has been clinical engineering/biomedical engineering/healthcare technology management’s gallant hours,” Forsell says. HTM ADVOCATE Forsell has had varied experiences leading up to his current role; all of which have been beneficial in expanding his HTM and consultation duties in recent months. “Having left EMS in Connecticut, I joined one of the busiest fire departments in Vermont and served 27 years before retiring as captain and safety officer. In the early 2000s, I joined the Vermont State Guard and have worked my way up to lieutenant colonel and presently serve as the G-3, director of training and operations for the state,” he says. When away from work, his attention turns to family. “I love to camp with my family in Maine and doing family things with my

TECHNATION

JULY 2020

four kids, wife, and grandchildren,” Forsell says. “I have been married to Suzanne since 1986 and have four children. Three girls and one boy. Most are in health care or public safety with one a very creative artist. Two boy grandchildren so far will carry on the family name into the future,” Forsell adds. The efforts during this crisis have been noticed by leadership. “Ray has always shown rapid action and expert decision making when an emergent situation arises. His work related to the COVID-19 pandemic clearly brought out these traits, and he has been immensely valuable to Vermont and our regional health care institutions,” says Tobey Clark, MSEE, CCE, CHTM, FACCE, engineering supervisor and co-director, WHO Collaborating Center for HTM, University of Vermont Instrumentation and Technical Services. Forsell says that one of the biggest career challenges is to remain relevant to his clients; the facilities that are members of the UVM-TSP family. “The primary outcomes to our clients of clinical engineering/biomedical engineering/healthcare technology management have not really changed in my 35 years: Improve the quality of patient care; reduce risk; and contain the cost of health care,” Forsell says. He says that the technologies have changed; the people have changed; the organizations have changed. “Because of the changes, we have to

always be recreating ourselves and looking for the needs to fill,” Forsell says. “As a profession, CE/BE/HTM is unique in health care. I am so proud of the technicians, engineers, managers and support staff that make up our and other departments. They interpret technology to the non-technical. Systems that are mission and life critical are prioritized and supported like little SWAT teams. The workshops may look like a bomb went off in them, however, the thousands of devices that the average HTM member manages is mind boggling. Most are T-shaped people. Broad competence with many manufacturers and types of devices, but with some deep specialty. If you subtract the equipment that HTM professionals support, medicine is basically a loincloth and a machete,” Forsell says. Forsell proffers some advice. “So much has changed in 35 years in HTM. So much is the same. Stick to the basics. Listen to your client. Seek to effect the outcomes your client thinks are important: patient care; risk reduction; cost containment; innovate whenever possible,” he says. Have there been awards worth mentioning? Forsell says that the opportunity to serve in many roles has been reward enough. He adds; “One of the best awards I get is to be asked: ‘Are you (Ellen, Becca, Chris, Jenny)’s dad?’ Yes, yes, I am.”

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

ON-SITE TRAINING AVAILABLE

CONTRAST INJECTOR TRAINING

OPERATION, SERVICE AND TROUBLESHOOTING • Up to $5500 in FREE parts and PM kits with training • New Massive Troubleshooting Library • 100s of Error Codes not found in OEM lit • Online and Onsite Training Available • MIST Maintenance Software • Training on Stellant, Mark 7, ProVis, Spectris Solaris and many other models • Teaching BMETs since 2008

“

Class is very hands-on and the training manuals and EDICAL DEALER TECHNATION ORTODAY procedures are high quality. UYERS GUIDEI highly recommend OTHER it.

LICATION

”

– Matt S

NTH M

AD SIZE HALF PAGE HORIZONTAL NOTES

Contrast Injector Troubleshooting Channel

w w w. M a u l l B i o m e d i c a l . c o m | 4 4 0 - 7 2 4 - 7 5 1 1 | s t e v e @ m a u l l b i o m e d i c a l . c o m

SPOTLIGHT

NESCE is a professional alliance of members who support medical technology in health care organizations across New England.

ASSOCIATION OF THE MONTH The New England Society of Clinical Engineering (NESCE) BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

he northeast U.S. has been one of the hardest hit areas during the coronavirus pandemic with New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts in the top spots as of early May. Connecticut is in the top 10. Healthcare technology management professionals in the region have been challenged during this difficult time.

The New England region is served by a biomed association with a long history. For 45 years, the New England Society of Clinical Engineering (NESCE) has provided its members with education, training, networking opportunities and information from manufacturers. The society was started by a small group of like-minded medical technology supporters and founded on December 10, 1975. “Erin Gignon and Mark English and others started in Connecticut [and] started a local clinical engineering professional society. At the same time, other local clinical engineering professional societies were started in Albany, New York; Boston, Massachusetts; Maine, Vermont; and New Hampshire,” says current NESCE President Vinnie

TECHNATION

JULY 2020

DeFrancesco. “Erin Gignon was the director of clinical engineering for UConn Health Center in Farmington, Connecticut and Mark English was director of clinical engineering at Hartford Hospital,” DeFrancesco says. He says that the group started locally in Connecticut as the New England Society of Clinical Engineering (NESCE) and partnered with the other existing biomed groups across the region. Four of the societies rotated hosting an annual symposium. When the other societies disbanded, they joined NESCE and it became a regional society. Other officers in the group’s current roster include Vice President Ashley O’Mara, Secretary Samantha Herold and Treasurer Frank Painter. DeFrancesco says that membership meetings are held at least quarterly throughout the year and the group rotates the venue throughout the New England region. Like many of NESCE’s counterparts, the group brings a strong training and education focus to the region’s biomeds. “We do subsidize education programs, training – PM class, networking

class – reimbursement for CBET certifications and give out scholarships for BMET student graduates,” DeFrancesco says. He says that throughout the year, the society hosts at least two technical or professional training courses and offers them to members at a reduced rate. “We arranged for a project management trainer to provide a one-week course on-site (in the past it has been in a local hospital’s conference room). We have also set up networking or computer classes at a training facility that provides many networking classes at a reduced rate to our members,” DeFrancesco says. The group holds one to two major educational events a year for professional development of the membership, along with networking classes, project management classes and cybersecurity classes at a highly discounted rate. They offer quarterly networking dinners DeFrancesco says that they have a partnership with UConn and other local universities to assist with succession planning for the HTM field. With the exodus of many baby-boom generation HTM professionals in recent years, there is always a need to replace

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

SPOTLIGHT

those members with new members. In addition to efforts to fill those seats, many biomed associations make an effort to help bring new colleagues to the field and fill existing positions. NESCE is no exception. “[The] symposium offered the job board and networking room for interviews, positing ads on the NESCE site, great collaboration on the UConn Clinical Engineering Internship Program and partnering with local universities. We do advertise job openings at our meetings,” DeFrancesco says. SYMPOSIUM The group’s most recent symposium was held last October at the Framingham Hotel and Conference Center in Framingham, Massachusetts. Attendees included biomedical equipment technicians, clinical engineers, hospital directors, technology managers, administrators and other health care professionals from across the region. “I do not have the exact count of the attendance, but it is was about 200-225. This was about what we expected, which did cover our expenses. The attendance was very high in the cybersecurity track as well as the

executive leaders (C-Suite) and physician hot topics, which was new this time,” DeFrancesco says. He says that the majority of instructors at the symposium were from the New England area, although this is not always the case. The group had a raffle in conjunction with the closing of the exhibit hall. The symposium is held every other year at locations throughout New England. DeFrancesco says that the 2019 event included two outstanding keynotes by Jeff Cooper and Carol Davis-Smith. Cooper’s keynote presentation was titled “How Clinical Engineers affect Patient Safety.” Davis-Smith presented “Planning the Hospital of the Future.” “We have seven educational tracks: under clinical engineering – CE/IT, HTM program management/risk management and compliance and executive leaders (C-suite) and physician hot topics,” DeFrancesco says. He says that they also had a BMET group of tracks that included an all-day imaging workshop, specialty (ultrasound or anesthesia) and general biomed all-day patient monitoring. “On the second day, the all-day training classes changed to lasers and

portable RO systems, and defibrillators. The last track for the entire symposium was CBET review,” DeFrancesco adds. He said that over the entire two-day event, it included two keynotes, an expo with 50 vendors, and a networking dinner along with a wine and cheese event. DeFrancesco says that the symposium had a great networking social event the night of the first day. That evening, there was a comedian for entertainment and the show provided a “great relaxing atmosphere and networking in a casual fun event.” In addition to the many workshops and sessions, vendors provided one- and two-day technical hands-on classes. The society’s next symposium is scheduled for the fall of 2021. The group continues to help further the HTM profession in the New England region and offers opportunities for career growth, networking, education and enjoyable interactions with colleagues from across several states. For more information, visit nesce.org.

NESCE’s mission is to provide educational and networking resources to its members while increasing awareness for the safe and beneficial use of medical instrumentation.

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

JULY 2020

TECHNATION

INDUSTRY UPDATES

NEWS & NOTES

Updates from the HTM Industry ADVAMED, MITA EXIT COLLABORATIVE COMMUNITY Manufacturer trade groups AdvaMed and MITA sent emails a week apart informing members of the FDA-recommended Medical Device Servicing Collaborative Community (MDSCC) that they will no longer participate. Remaining members David Francoeur, senior vice president of marketing and sales for TKA, and IAMERS President Diana Upton each expressed disappointment in the decision. The creation of the MDSCC was prompted by a 2018 FDA report. The report was issued after a probe found that there was not enough evidence to warrant increased regulation of third-party, or non-original equipment manufacturer (OEM), for maintaining and providing service of medical equipment. The MDSCC was intended to bring all entities representing the industry together to discuss issues in an effort to find

opportunities/solutions related to establishing a baseline, verify tools/key performance indicators (KPIs) that demonstrate, and where possible raise the level of quality, safe maintenance of medical equipment. As of today, the MDSCC has not made the progress they hoped/envisioned, however, progress has been made, and the membership is encouraged and engaged, Francoeur explained. “While it is always helpful to have all stakeholders participate and in particular the manufacturers’ trade associations, they departed MDSCC before substantive work in the work groups on Training, QMS, Data/Benchmarking and Education could complete their work,” Upton wrote in an email to TechNation. •

PHOENIX DATA SYSTEMS INC., ASIMILY SOLIDIFY PARTNERSHIP Phoenix Data Systems Inc. recently announced a mutual partnership with ASIMILY, a health care sector-leading comprehensive connected and medical device asset, cybersecurity and lifecycle management platform. Together the firms provide clients with a complete, end-to-end lifecycle, cybersecurity, asset and risk management solution for health care delivery organizations. “Blending the most complete feature-function health care CMMS available with a comprehensive connected asset inventory, cyber-risk threat prioritization, intelligence and lifecycle data processing platform; the two industry partners enhance and deliver a world-class medical device cybersecurity risk mitigation platform to support the HTM departments, as well as the broad ecosystem of stakeholders across today’s always connected health care organization,” according to a press release. The integrated solutions deliver auto-discovery capabilities that automate the challenging process of creating and maintaining a single, trusted medical device inventory with the critical data elements required in the connected health care environment. As the BlueKeep vulnerability exposed earlier this year, the need to quickly identify, locate and track

TECHNATION

JULY 2020

connected devices is critical to maintain patient safety and hospital operations; as well as securing private data and health care networks. With the two platforms integrated, clients are able to meld connected device profiles on the network for identification and classification along with new, modern capabilities to prioritize at-risk devices and the most critical vulnerabilities to provide device and vulnerability specific remediations, and create a seamless resource allocation and ticket management workflows and provide end-to-end risk- and life-cycle management for critical, connected medical device and Internet of Things (IoT) assets. Phoenix Data Systems’ AIMS and ASIMILY’s INSIGHT platforms support non-invasive monitoring for real-time threat detection and a system of action for HTM and security operations teams to work together for rapid remediation of known vulnerabilities and threats. With the bi-directional integration AIMS benefits from real-time security incident information to drive the cybersecurity remediation workflows and enriches ASIMILY’s machine learning and AI capabilities using rich contextual medical device data. •

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

INDUSTRY UPDATES

ADVAMED ANNOUNCES VENTCONNECT ONLINE PLATFORM As part of the medical technology industry’s multi-front battle to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) announced the launch of a new platform (www. VentConnect.org) to connect ventilator companies with component suppliers to help quickly scale production and distribution of these devices. The new platform was developed pro bono with the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), Google and other industry alliances and partners. AIA represents more than 300 high-tech manufacturers and suppliers of all sizes across a range of sectors. AdvaMed is the world’s largest medical technology association, representing more than 400 companies, including ventilator manufacturers. In addition to AIA members, more than 50 companies – such as Stanley Black & Decker, and Arrow Electronics – from a range of industries are contributing as suppliers to VentConnect. “The medical technology industry is stepping up to meet the unprecedented demand from hospitals and patients across the country for ventilators,” Scott Whitaker, AdvaMed president and CEO, said. “Our companies have added shifts, started new production lines and hired new workers so that soon our capacity will be tenfold what it was before the pandemic. But to keep producing these life-saving devices, our member companies need a steady stream of key components from beyond the normal supply chain, and that’s where this new online platform developed with the AIA and Google will be of tremendous value. We thank the Aerospace Industries Association for their creativity in striking up this collaboration – and we thank Google for so generously offering to build this valuable, powerful resource pro bono.” Ventilator manufacturers can sign up on the VentConnect site and create secure spreadsheets identifying parts and components that are in short supply. Suppliers wishing to help complete a brief application on their company’s capacity and materials. Manufacturers can review supplier applications and decide whether to share their supply list needs. The manufacturer and supplier can then separately choose whether to enter an agreement to provide the needed materials. While the immediate objective of the new platform is to support the production of ventilators and vent-critical devices that may have parts and materials constraints, the platform – VentConnect.org – may serve to address additional challenges that may arise related to ventilator logistics, distribution or other operational needs. •

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Healthcare Technology Recruitment & Placement Services Nationwide “Quality People, Quality Service”

Specializing in Military and Professionally Trained BMETs and Imaging Service Technicians • Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) Careers • Radiology / Imaging Technicians & Managers • Biomedical Equipment Technicians (BMETs) • Equipment Field Service Technicians

30+ YEARS OF PERMANENT PLACEMENT AND TEMPORARY SERVICES NATIONWIDE!

870.431.5485

E-mail: info@BMETS-USA.com Website: www.BMETS-USA.com

IMAGING PARTS Contact us today: CT, MR, Xray, Cath, Mammo GE, Toshiba, Siemens, Philips, Hologic

SOLUTIONS PARTS | TRAINING | EQUIPMENT TECHNICAL & SERVICE SUPPORT Call: 855.401.4888 | Visit: triimaging.com Email: sales@triimaging.com Located in Nashville, TN | ISO 13485:2016 certified

JULY 2020

TECHNATION

INDUSTRY UPDATES

INNOVATUS IMAGING EXPANDS RAPIDREPAIR PROGRAM Innovatus Imaging has announced the expansion of its RapidRepair program which began April 2019 and provided five-day worst-case repair times for the Philips X7 and X8-2t TEE probes. “We’ve invested millions in improving infrastructure and staff, accelerating our training programs, increasing efficiencies and developing additional proprietary processes,” said Matt Tomory. “Our RapidRepair processes enable devices to be evaluated, repaired, tested and returned in the most efficient manners possible and are key to our customers maintaining workflow, high-quality patient care and the financial bottom line.” RapidRepair for MRI coils will be executed at Innovatus Imaging’s MRI Center of Excellence in Pittsburgh and ultrasound probes at the company’s Ultrasound Center of Excellence in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “RapidRepair allows us to get the most popular makes and models of ultrasound probes and MRI coils back to technologists faster than ever before, while remaining consistent with OEM design,” Tomory added. •

TECHNATION LAUNCHES HTMJOBS.COM TechNation is excited to announce the launch of a new career networking site. The site, HTMJobs. com, is a one-stop resource for biomedical equipment technicians seeking employment and career advancement opportunities. The website is designed to connect its secure talent network with employers and hiring managers from leading health care systems and companies throughout the United States. There is no cost to join HTMJobs.com where profiles are protected and private. “We are proud to offer the resources of the TechNation community to connect potential employees with the best employers in the industry,” TechNation Publisher John Krieg said. • For more information, or to join, visit HTMJobs.com.

For more information, visit www.innovatusimaging.com.

FIME 2020 POSTPONED FIME Marketing Manager Christina Sanchez sent an email informing interested parties that FIME 2020 is postponed. “Over the past few months, we have continued to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on our ability to stage a successful FIME on August 25-27, 2020. We know that our visitors and exhibitors need to start planning now for logistics related to an August show, and given that each country, state and city is implementing a different, phased reopening plan, we have made the decision to postpone

TECHNATION

JULY 2020

FIME to a later date,” the email reads. “We have spoken to many of our valued clients and partners about this decision, and based on those conversations we are working on scenarios for the last quarter of this year,” it continues. “Our promise to you is that we will continue to track this situation and follow all guidance from local and global health authorities, and we will provide regular and timely updates as we look to make an informed decision on whether staging FIME this year is achievable.” •

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

INDUSTRY UPDATES

CYNERIO WINS SILVER STEVIE AWARD Cynerio, a provider of Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) security solutions, recently announced that the company won the Silver Stevie Award in the Healthcare Technology Solution category in the 18th Annual American Business Awards. The awards will be virtually presented to winners on August 5. Cynerio enables health care organizations to meet the unique security challenges of securing medical and IoT devices. Cynerio provides full visibility into connected devices, including location and profiling, as well as ongoing health care-specific risk analysis and accurate anomaly detection to prevent clinical service disruption, data theft and compliance violations. “We are proud to be recognized for our medical-first

solution that is pioneering IoMT security,” said Leon Lerman, CEO and co-founder of Cynerio. “During the pandemic, health care organizations have been under tremendous pressure adding dozens or even hundreds of connected devices to their networks to help service the influx of new patients. Our security solution enables organizations to meet highly dynamic health care requirements while keeping patients safe and their data secure.” More than 230 professionals worldwide participated in the judging process to select this year’s Stevie Award winners. • For more information, visit www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

IMAGING TRAINING Bed & Stretcher Parts • Wheelchair Parts • Casters NEW • RECONDITIONED • REPAIR

We offer technical, hands-on courses to help biomeds move into imaging service; as well as model specific training! Visit www.TriImaging.com for more info.

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

Pocket Screwdriver

Pen Stylus

800.323.4282 • www.alcosales.com

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

PARTS | TRAINING | EQUIPMENT TECHNICAL & SERVICE SUPPORT Call: 855.401.4888 | Visit: triimaging.com Email: sales@triimaging.com Located in Nashville, TN | ISO 13485:2016 certified

JULY 2020

TECHNATION

INDUSTRY UPDATES

GROUPS ISSUE ‘RE-ENTRY GUIDANCE’ FOR MEDICAL DEVICE REPS

FLUKE ADAPTS TO ASSIST AMID COVID-19 PANDEMIC As companies around the world experience shortages of protective gear due to COVID-19, they shift to homemade supplies or use supplies multiple times to make up for the lack of resources. “Engineering safe test tools has always been at the forefront for Fluke, and while we don’t have a stockpile of PPE, we do have tools,” a press release states. The Fluke Plastics team in Everett, Washington developed a prototype for much-needed industrial face shields. The Fluke Plastics team worked with users on the design, which is intended for non-medical use. These industrial face shields will be used by non-medical staff at the hospital and surrounding facilities. “It’s nice to see that we are really driving toward improving and helping out the communities in which we live in a really big way,” Product Manager Michael Seaholm said. “There are really significant gaps in what hospitals have versus what they need, and any way we can help support that is just awesome.” The team began with a daily production goal of 1,000 shields and, eventually with practice, ramping up to 10,000 per week. This is on top of the team’s regular daily work. •

TECHNATION

JULY 2020

The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN), the American Hospital Association (AHA) and AdvaMed have released “Re-entry Guidance for Health Care Facilities and Medical Device Representatives.” As health care professionals and organizations consider when and how to safely resume elective surgeries paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, this guidance adds principles and considerations to support the vital collaboration between health care personnel and medical device representatives. The guidance for re-entry builds on the April 17 joint statement by AHA, AORN, the American College of Surgeons and the American Society of Anesthesiologists – entitled “Roadmap for Resuming Elective Surgery” – with expanded, clinically based recommendations supporting the safe return of medical device representatives into health care facilities, consistent with the AdvaMed Code of Ethics. The guidance seeks to align access standards and processes across health care facilities, with principles and considerations rooted in health authority guidance, including from the CDC, FDA, and state and local authorities. The recommended framework calls for hospitals to be the primary provider of personal protective equipment (PPE) to control for potential contamination, so that PPE is prioritized to providers where it is most needed. The guidance accounts for crisis capacity situations by allowing for company reps to be the back-up providers of their own PPE for emergency procedures. The guidance also recommends against COVID-19 diagnostic testing of asymptomatic reps, so that diagnostic testing resources can be prioritized for patients, symptomatic health care workers, and those with known or suspected exposures, consistent with CDC and other clinical guidelines. •

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

INDUSTRY UPDATES

U.S. PIRG CONTINUES RIGHT TO REPAIR CAMPAIGN U.S. PIRG delivered a letter to congressional lawmakers on May 18, signed by 326 hospital repair experts, calling for manufacturers to stop withholding what technicians need to fix medical equipment such as ventilators. It’s part of U.S. PIRG’s larger Right to Repair Campaign, which aims to remove unnecessary barriers to repair that drive up costs for product owners and increase electronic waste. “Keeping equipment working under the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic is a matter of life and death,” said Campaign Director Nathan Proctor. “This is no time to squeeze hospitals into paying extra for proprietary repairs.” “We believe that every organization that purchases medical equipment or

services them, should have the right to get trained and be able to procure parts to repair the equipment they own,” said Ilir Kullolli, president of the American College of Clinical Engineering. “This will make health care delivery better, faster and safer – especially during a pandemic or a national emergency!” Echoing the technicians’ comments, a group of state treasurers sent a similar letter to manufacturers calling for them to “release all service manuals, service keys and schematics during this crisis,” for ventilators. COVID-19 is putting incredible stress on our medical system, including the work of hospital biomeds. But in some cases, manufacturers restrict access to what

Test. Calibrate. Validate. Riken

biomeds need. Manufacturers claim that these restrictions are in place to ensure safety. But in 2018, FDA found third-party repair carries no additional risk and that both they and manufacturers “provide high quality, safe and effective servicing of medical devices.” Instead of restricting third-party repair, the FDA says “the continued availability of third-party entities to service and repair medical devices is critical to the functioning of the U.S. health care system.” “Restrictions on repair aren’t about safety, as the FDA report shows – everyone who is doing repairs is doing it carefully and safely. These restrictions are about control and about money,” said Proctor.

IMAGING EQUIPMENT We buy, sell, install and de-install all modalities of medical equipment.

Riken FI-8000P Portable Gas Indicator

SOLUTIONS

Reliable, easy-to-use solution to measure anesthetic gas concentration. To order, or to request a price quote, call 800-795-3062 or email timk@ambickford.com.

800-795-3062 | ambickford.com

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

PARTS | TRAINING | EQUIPMENT TECHNICAL & SERVICE SUPPORT Call: 855.401.4888 | Visit: triimaging.com Email: sales@triimaging.com Located in Nashville, TN | ISO 13485:2016 certified

JULY 2020

TECHNATION

INDUSTRY UPDATES

DUDE SOLUTIONS OFFERS BIOMED MODULE Dude Solutions, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider of operations management solutions, recently introduced BioMed to its award-winning computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) – TheWorxHub. This new BioMed module provides a cloud-based platform for connecting the people and systems around biomedical engineering to better allocate staff time, automate assignments, help engineers and technicians prioritize work and ensure optimized patient care. With BioMed for TheWorxHub, clinical engineering teams can standardize intake information and apply set asset management processes with requirements and approval permissions for evaluating new equipment models. This new model evaluation process brings consistency across all biomedical equipment and ensures required inspections and preventive maintenance tasks are properly tracked. Additionally, accreditation standards, such as The Joint Commission, and information on medical equipment management plans are easily accessible from prebuilt reports highlighting standards as they apply to specific categories of equipment, work and battery management. “Biomedical departments lead the way in bringing new technology, like advanced robotics into operating rooms, all while servicing critical, lifesaving equipment throughout the hospital daily. Multiple departments are needed to get this important work done, and hospitals face the challenge of keeping it all organized with proper documentation required for compliance,” said Josh Malbogat, director of healthcare at Dude Solutions. “We designed BioMed for TheWorxHub with efficiency in mind. Our cloud-

based software is accessible from a mobile device or desktop for clinical engineering teams to visualize their work across departments.” Bringing departments together, TheWorxHub delivers a connected suite for biomed and facilities teams to collaborate and track information across multiple sites or locations. The analytics dashboard provides actionable insights ranging from operational efficiency and staff productivity to risk scoring and analysis on equipment data. Key features of BioMed for TheWorxHub include: ·F ile management - one place to house and access all instruction manuals and attachment files from TheWorxHub, Microsoft OneDrive or Dropbox · Battery management - immediately recall battery details, such as chemistry, capacity and voltage, and easily coordinate regular preventive maintenance to better manage battery life and replacements · Round Robin Work Assignment Automation - channel work orders directly to a technician to increase patient safety and time to resolution · Scan existing barcodes - print or scan barcodes directly from TheWorxHub mobile app to streamline workflows and increase data accuracy ·N ew model evaluation - apply data requirements and approval rules for new equipment models to easily keep up with inspections and preventive maintenance •

FDA LIFTS INJUNCTION ON PHILIPS’ DEFIBRILLATORS Royal Philips has announced that its Emergency Care and Resuscitation (ECR) business is resuming manufacturing and shipping of external defibrillators for the U.S., following notification from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the injunction prohibiting those activities has been lifted. This business has been operating under a consent decree with the FDA since November 2017. Under the terms of the consent decree, Philips was required to suspend the manufacture and distribution of its defibrillators from specific Philips facilities in the U.S., pending FDA certification via inspection of the facilities’ compliance with Quality System Regulation. However, in order to ensure uninterrupted availability of these life-saving devices in the U.S., the consent decree included exemptions for specific Philips Automated External Defibrillator (AED) models to continue to be

TECHNATION

JULY 2020

manufactured and shipped, in addition to providing necessary device servicing, accessories and consumables. Philips continues to comply with the terms of the consent decree, which remains in effect, and includes ongoing regulatory compliance monitoring and facility inspections of the ECR business and of Philips’ other patient care businesses by the FDA. “The injunction lift is an important milestone for Philips, as we have enhanced the regulatory compliance processes in our ECR business and throughout the company,” said Frans van Houten, CEO of Royal Philips. “Providing our customers with safe and reliable products and solutions remains our highest priority, and I am proud that our AEDs save lives daily, with their very high reliability record.” •

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

THE COUNTRYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LARGEST INFUSION PUMP SPECIALIST SALES AND RENTALS AVAILABLE

WE WORK ON NEARLY 100 DIFFERENT INFUSION PUMP MODELS TYPICAL TURNAROUND TIME IS 4-5 BUSINESS DAYS

18 TECHNOLOGY DRIVE, SUITE 133, IRVINE, CA 92618 | 855-477-8866 | CS@INFUSIONPUMPREPAIR.COM | INFUSIONPUMPREPAIR.COM

TECHNICAL & SERVICE SUPPORT We provide technical support, part/tube installation, and on-demand service to support our service customers. We are NOT a service company.

CALL FOR

PRESENTERS NOW OPEN!

T A M P A

M A R R I O T T W A T E R S I D E TA M P A , F L

mdexposhow.com

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

SOLUTIONS PARTS | TRAINING | EQUIPMENT TECHNICAL & SERVICE SUPPORT

H O T E L

Call: 855.401.4888 | Visit: triimaging.com Email: sales@triimaging.com Located in Nashville, TN | ISO 13485:2016 certified JULY 2020

TECHNATION

BRINGING HOPE TO HEALTHCARE As a premier provider of integrated healthcare technology management services, InterMed can provide an array of Asset Management options to our clients. We tailor our services to enhance the overall quality, cost, timeliness

and conﬁdence in our clients’ technology management.

Partnering with The InterMed Group gives you award-winning service expertise and signiﬁcant cost savings on parts and equipment, regardless of the manufacturer.

INTERMED1.COM

800-768-8622 (Option 2) | info@intermed1.com

Now, more than ever, you need to maximize availability and visibility of key medical device assets

www.cybermdx.com

TECHNATION

JULY 2020

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

INDUSTRY UPDATES

MD EXPO (IRVINE) TRANSITIONS TO HTM MIXERS Regional Events Will Connect Hospitals, Vendors BY JOHN WALLACE

mid the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic and the unique challenges it continues to create, MD Publishing is committed to doing its part to reopen and help everyone get back to business.

The MD Expo (scheduled for April of this year) was re-scheduled to be held in Irvine, California on July 27-29. However, Hotel Irvine (the venue) recently announced that it will remain closed through July, and likely for the remainder of the year, as it plans a remodel for the property. “This is a situation unlike any we’ve faced previously. We had an event planned, but no venue to hold it,” according to an email. “We are moving forward with our events in 2020 with a new, safer format that supports state HTM associations.” The scheduled MD Expo Irvine has been replaced with three smaller, regional HTM Mixers in Colorado, Wisconsin and California. Also, four of the most popular MD Expo classes will now be available via Webinar Week beginning July 27. “We understand that participants may be hesitant or unable to travel so by providing local, regional conferences, we will be able to provide the education and networking that they need,” the email adds. “If hospitals can’t come to us, we will go to them.” WHAT ARE HTM MIXERS? Think of them as MD Expo 2.0 – a slightly

modified, smaller, shorter-duration, less-crowded and safer-environment event that still provides valuable continuing education, networking and vendor engagement opportunities. “We took this opportunity to redesign how this program will look because MD Publishing wants to be a leader in restoring conferences to the HTM community,” MD Publishing President and Founder John Krieg said. The first HTM Mixer is scheduled for Denver, Colorado on August 19 and 20. It is being held with the support of CABMET. “Cancelling our CABMET symposium was the hardest decision we have had to make as an organization,” CABMET’s Robert Smothers, CBET, said. “The timing was during the height of the pandemic, and the future was very uncertain. We decided, in an abundance of caution, to cancel it for this year. First time we have had to do that since the beginning of our annual symposium. Now, with the future a little clearer, we very much look forward to the opportunity you folks have provided us with the HTM mixer.” CABMET President Leticia Reynolds said the HTM Mixer has the biomed community excited. “I think the CABMET members will be excited to be part of the HTM Mixer. It will be a chance to relax and just see people again that maybe we haven’t had the opportunity to see in awhile,” she said. The second HTM Mixer is set for

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

October 1 and 2 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with support from the newly renamed Wisconsin Biomed Association. WBA Board Member and Treasurer Melissa Wilke said the timing of the HTM Mixer is perfect. “The HTM Mixer plays an integral part of building the foundation of our newly rebranded Wisconsin Biomedical Association. This event brings excitement with exposure to the latest medical equipment technology, the opportunity for education and to establish new relationships or catch up with old friends,” she explained. “We feel being a part of events such as this are essential in building and shaping ourselves personally and professionally. The WBA members feel very fortunate and indebted to TechNation for including our association in their efforts to promote the HTM field. “The HTM Mixer will be an occasion that we are expecting to top any other WBA event we have had before. We are anticipating the turnout to be over 120 technicians and managers from all over the state of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois,” Wilke added. The third HTM Mixer, will mark a return to California. The event is set to be held December 9 and 10 in Costa Mesa, California and will be supported by CMIA. FOR MORE INFORMATION, visit htmmixer.com or to register for Webinar Week visit webinarwednesday.live or see page 73.

JULY 2020

TECHNATION

INDUSTRY UPDATES

RIBBON CUTTING Althea BY ERIN REGISTER

an Siler, CEO of Althea, has been in the medical device industry for nearly 20 years. After graduating college, he started his career with GE Healthcare, where he serviced mammography, X-ray and CT systems. Siler then transitioned to a leading independent service organization (ISO) as an imaging service director.

“After supporting a startup division in Europe, I began to lead a parts refurbishment and replacement company that would later be acquired and moved to Charlotte, N.C.,” said Siler. “My team and I were able to successfully rebuild the organization from the facility to the team and processes. This experience really gave me a love for organization building and my passion for leadership. This is what excited me most when the opportunity arose to relocate back to Tennessee and grow Althea in the U.S. market.” “Today, each modality leader has over 20 years in the HTM industry and a quality engineer that has spent his career building quality programs,” stated Siler. “It is the quality culture that allows us to build programs with a continuous improvement mindset.” Q: WHAT IS THE MAIN FOCUS OF ALTHEA? A: The business model of Althea is an outstanding combination of integrated solutions, OEM independence and deep knowledge of health care providers. Specifically at Althea U.S., our main focus is two-fold: 1. Quality and 2. Our customers. As I always say, “Quality runs the show. If it doesn’t have quality, it isn’t 34

TECHNATION

JULY 2020

worth doing.” Our customers are our livelihood. They truly are the reason why we are here, and they determine whether or not we are successful. Althea focuses on delivering programs that improve customer outcomes. We do this by offering quality parts delivered on time, performing system sales and installs and educating our customers on how to operate and service equipment. All of this allows for customers to control cost and increase uptime. Q: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE SERVICES ALTHEA OFFERS? A: An Althea program consists of replacement parts, customer education, system sales and maintenance, and depot repair (when applicable). We continue to focus on the core programs of CT, MRI and X-ray while bringing on new solution programs like contrast injectors, low-temp sterilization and our upcoming UVD robots. Q: HOW DOES ALTHEA STAND OUT IN THE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT FIELD? A: Althea brings an established global presence to the market space, managing more than 1.4 million medical devices in over 2,700 health care facilities across 17 countries. This presence enables us to maximize skill sets and supply chains from around the world to improve our customer outcomes. Our U.S. team, from the top down, knows what it means to be in the shoes of a field service technician. This coupled with our competitive pricing will allow us to show customers

Dan Siler CEO, Althea

they have made the best choice for their HTM partner. Q: DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIFIC GOALS THAT YOU WANT ALTHEA TO ACHIEVE IN THE NEAR FUTURE? A: I want us to be known as the industry’s full service solutions provider. In order to do that, we must maintain a good relationship with our customers and keep a pulse on their needs, as well as the industry’s needs. We are in the technology business, and technology is always changing, so we must do that too. We will continue to evolve and find efficiencies and solutions for our customers. Even the most recent pandemic has challenged us to think outside the box and look at other areas that our industry could benefit from as we prepare for the future. We are planning to build and expand multiple new programs every year that will include diagnostic imaging, biomedical, UVC disinfection and sterilization, each offering a full-service approach that includes parts, education, sales and maintenance and repair. FOR MORE INFORMATION about Althea, visit www.althea-group.com. WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

the medical product support network

SEARCH.

ASK.

SHOP.

“What’s not to like? Fantastic way to help one another. MedWrench helps to save the lives of patients!! –Kurt Holtzer, K Squared Biomedical

DISCUSSION FORUMS • FREE TO JOIN • BUY & SELL EQUIPMENT • OVER 85,000 MEMBERS ACCESS TO INDUSTRY RESOURCES • CONNECT WITH COLLEAGUES FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD

MedWrench.com • (866) 989-7057

(toll free)

INDUSTRY UPDATES

AAMI UPDATE BY AAMI

2020 AAMI FELLOWS HONORED FOR ACHIEVEMENTS, COMMITMENT TO AAMI MISSION Fifteen AAMI members who have provided substantial service and contributions to the health technology field and to AAMI have been selected as the 2020 class of AAMI Fellows. AAMI Fellows are health technology leaders who are recognized for extraordinary achievement in their careers. The 2020 Class of AAMI Fellows: • John E. Abele, cofounder of Boston Scientific, key founder of AAMI, and a member of the first AAMI Board of Directors. • Steven Baker, PhD, principal consultant at Alpha Bravo Connectivity and clinical assistant research professor at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, OR. • Damien Berg, regional manager for UCHealth in Northern Colorado and direct manager for the Medical Center of the Rockies and Poudre Valley Hospitals in Johnstown, CO. • James Caporali, senior director of clinical engineering at Erlanger Health System in Chattanooga, TN. • Mary Ann Drosnock, director of clinical education at Healthmark Industries in Bath, PA. • Larry Fennigkoh, PhD, adjunct professor of biomedical engineering at the Milwaukee School of Engineering in Milwaukee, WI. • Greg Gdowski, executive director of the Center for Medical Technology & Innovation and associate professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY. • Larry Hertzler, who has worked in

TECHNATION

JULY 2020

•

the clinical engineering field for 40 years, holding positions in hospitals, hospital systems, equipment insurance, and the largest service organizations in the U.S. Clark Houghtling, vice president of business development and technical affairs for Cosmed in Hickory, NC. Jim Keller, business development director for Emergo by UL in Austin, TX. James Linton, coordinator and professor of biomedical engineering at St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Alan Lipschultz, president of HealthCare Technology Consulting in Rockville, MD. David Osborn, senior manager of global regulations and standards for Philips in Salem, NH. Arif Subhan, chief biomedical engineer at VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System in Los Angeles, CA. Priyanka Upendra, quality and compliance program director of technology management/ENTECH at Banner Health in Chandler, AZ.

AAMI EXTENDING VIRTUAL ATTENDANCE OPTION THROUGH 2020 AAMI is transitioning all in-person courses scheduled through June 30, 2020, to a virtual-only format, and offering a virtual option for training courses through the end of 2020. With AAMI’s robust and interactive virtual option, course attendees will receive devices by mail for needed hands-on learning. Participants will also have easy access to course content and will be able to interact live with

fellow attendees and instructors. Existing registrants for AAMI courses have four options: • Attend the class virtually. • Transfer your registration to any upcoming class. • Choose to transfer your registration to a course yet to be scheduled. • Request a refund. If you have questions about an existing registration, please contact education@aami.org. If you are completing a new registration, you will be able to select either live or virtual attendance when you register. AAMI, BSI RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MACHINE LEARNING Healthcare technology management (HTM) professionals are posing important questions about artificial intelligence and machine learning: • Are these technologies competent, trusted, and reliable? • What are the data management and quality issues – including potential biases in datasets and in machine learning itself? • How do risk management, regulatory requirements, and standards for safety and effectiveness apply to machine learning? AAMI and BSI, the United Kingdom (UK) national standards body, have teamed up to help answer these questions in a new position paper, “Machine Learning AI in Medical Devices: Adapting Regulatory Frameworks and Standards to Ensure Safety and Performance.” For more information and to download it for free, visit www.AAMI.org/AIPaper2020.

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

INDUSTRY UPDATES

AAMI’S eSUBSCRIPTION, NOW WITH MOBILE APP AAMI will soon be offering eSubscription users the ability to access the platform via a mobile app on their smartphone or tablet. AAMI’s eSubscription is a digital service that gives users access to over 400 national, international, and Food and Drug Administration-recognized standards and technical information reports – both active and archived – for one annual fee. With the new app, access will be portable. Users can go to the eSubscription dashboard online and search for documents by category and keyword. They can also add bookmarks, annotations, comments or tags to their digital library. The site can be viewed on a desktop, tablet or smartphone. Individual and multi-user (enterprise) licenses for eSubscription are available, as well as the option to subscribe to the entire collection of AAMI standards and technical documents or specialized collections, including sterilization, dialysis, human factors and healthcare technology management. For more information about AAMI’s eSubscription, go to www.aami.org/esubscription or email esubs@aami.org.

BEST OF BI&T AWARDS RECOGNIZE JOURNAL AUTHORS A new way of looking at the healthcare technology management and clinical engineering professions, a deep dive into medical device recall data, and the value of making small changes that can have a big impact on quality – these are the three articles published in AAMI’s peer-reviewed journal, BI&T (Biomedical Instrumentation and Technology), that shaped the health technology world in 2019. “Selected by the BI&T Editorial Board, this year’s winning submissions tackled many of the most pressing issues in health technology – namely, the need to ensure that medical devices are safe and effective, the role that healthcare technology management (HTM) professionals should play in managing those devices, and ways to do so effectively using shrewd planning and management practices,” said Editor-in-Chief Gavin

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Stern. “Thank you to all of our authors, contributors, editors and peer reviewers for their role in growing health technology knowledge base.” • Best article: “CE/HTM Professional Roles in Healthcare Delivery: Time for a Trajectory Reset?,” by Stephen Grimes • Best Research Paper: “User Interface Software Errors in Medical Devices: Study of U.S. Recall Data,” by Yi Zhang, Paolo Masci, Paul Jones, and Harold Thimbleby, • Best Column/Commentary: “Applying QMS Principles to a Medical Equipment Management Program,” by Rao Bankuru, clinical engineer, and Rachel Yarnevic. • Bright Ideas Award (awarded by AAMI’s Technology Management Council): GE Healthcare’s Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) Program, headquartered in Chicago, IL, and led by Senior Director Donna Marie Dyer. For more information on how to contribute an article to BI&T, visit www. aami.org/BIT.

Safely Transport Medical Equipment & Diagnostic

Tool Kits From Site To Site With SalesMaker Carts

Demtruk

294 PC Cart

The adjustable height Demtruk folding cart with roll-off plaform has up to 500lb load capacity and 27”, 33”, or 39” long platform options

Model 294 PC Cart with 150lb upper shelf load capacity folds flat for compact storage in your vehicle

1.800.821.4140

MORE CARTS AVAILABLE AT

www.SalesMakerCarts.com JULY 2020

TECHNATION

INDUSTRY UPDATES

ECRI UPDATE

COVID-19 Strategies – Mitigating ICU Ventilator Shortages

s the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in China and Europe came into focus – and as the realization took hold that the United States would not be spared the brunt of the burgeoning pandemic – one of the first alarms to sound from the health care community was the urgent need for ventilators. Severe illnesses were requiring resource-intensive care, and health care organizations feared that the available supply of ventilators would be insufficient to meet a patient surge.

ECRI outlined its recommendations for mitigating intensive care ventilator shortages in a series of alerts and other resources issued in late March and April. For hospitals facing a patient surge, as well as for those updating action plans for future surges, we summarize the key guidance below. Note: This article was developed in May 2020. With the rapid pace of change associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the challenges facing hospitals and the evidence supporting various methods may evolve substantially by the time of publication. OPTIMIZING YOUR SUPPLY First, find the ventilators at your disposal. Perform an inventory of available mechanical ventilation devices in your hospital, including those in service, in storage, and those that you expect to receive from purchases, rentals, donations and emergency stockpiles. Don’t forget to check ambulatory surgery centers and other facilities for intensive care ventilators,

TECHNATION

JULY 2020

supplies and personnel that can be used for treating COVID-19 patients. Make more devices available. Cancel elective surgeries and other elective procedures that could result in the use of mechanical ventilators. Identify and rank alternatives. If an insufficient number of intensive care ventilators is available, consider alternative devices that are capable of delivering breaths or pressure support. Rank the various alternatives according to the types of devices available in your hospital as well as the available expertise for safely operating and adapting these devices for ventilating patients with severe respiratory distress. Following is ECRI’s suggested order of preference (though yours may differ): • Intensive care ventilators • Advanced transport, sub-acute and home care ventilators that have intensive care features and are capable of treating patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) • Anesthesia machines – modern anesthesia ventilators have been designed to approximate the function of an ICU ventilator, and thus should be fully capable of providing the support needed for COVID-19 patients • Basic transport, sub-acute and home care ventilators • Hospital noninvasive ventilators • Modified home BiPAP sleep apnea therapy devices • Unmodified home BiPAP sleep apnea therapy devices • If all other alternatives are exhausted, care providers could consider

ventilation of two patients on a single ventilator for short-term use. ECRI stresses, however, that there are significant limitations to this strategy. (For a discussion, see ECRI’s webcast “Strategies to Mitigate Ventilator Shortages,” which can be viewed at https://www. ecri.org/landing-covid-19-ventilator-shortages/.) Match ventilation capabilities to the patient need. “Reserve use of more sophisticated ventilators for the sickest patients,” recommends Ismael Cordero, a senior project engineer in ECRI’s device evaluation group. That means triaging the ventilation devices at your disposal and matching the device capabilities with the severity of patient illness. OTHER ESSENTIAL RESOURCES AND CRITICAL ACTIVITIES Remember that acquiring ventilators is only one piece of the puzzle. “A ventilator by itself won’t be much use if you don’t have trained staff to operate the device and the supplies needed for it to function properly,” cautions Brad Bonnette, a senior project officer in ECRI’s device evaluation group. In the case of using anesthesia units in the ICU, for example, plans need to include staffing the care area with anesthesia professionals who can provide guidance and support 24/7 while a unit is being used on a patient. This point was emphasized during ECRI’s webcast “Using Anesthesia Units for Patient Ventilators” (which can be viewed at https://www.ecri.org/ landing-covid-anesthesia-units-ventilators/.) One additional benefit of including anesthesia professionals on the care team is that you add a whole crew of highly trained people who can help during the crisis. Just as challenging as locating

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

INDUSTRY UPDATES ECRI’s Ismael Cordero discusses ventilator usage during a live-streamed ECRI lab webcast. The April 1, 2020 webcast was part of an ECRI series addressing technology challenges facing hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ventilators has been securing the accessories, supplies and medications required to provide mechanical ventilation. You’ll need a plan that addresses the needs for each of the devices on the prioritized list. Note, for instance, that some ventilators require proprietary items for their use. Also, shortages have been reported for components like filters and breathing circuits, as well as for related products, like laryngoscope blades used during intubation. In the event of shortages, you may need to consider extending the shelf life and duration of use of accessories and supplies used for ventilation, depending on the availability of resources. Also consider the actions that are needed to mitigate risks to patients and hospital staff. Taking appropriate environmental control precautions is one key activity. That may involve using negative pressure or additional filtration, where feasible. Other actions include adding battery backup to devices or using additional viral filters. Other key activities, as stressed by Cordero, are performing incoming inspections for newly obtained devices and completing inspection and preventive maintenance procedures for devices retrieved from storage. “Ventilators of unknown condition are being deployed from a variety of sources and after being subject to unknown conditions.

That means performance inspections and preventive maintenance are a must.” EUAS: OK FOR NOW, BUT NOT FOREVER During the COVID-19 crisis, FDA has made available through its Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) process many ventilation devices that are not otherwise legally marketed in the U.S. for critical respiratory support. Examples of situations covered under EUAs include the following: The use of powered emergency ventilators and anesthesia gas machines for patients needing mechanical ventilation. The use of ventilators outside their cleared environment of use (e.g., using a home-care device within a health care facility). The use of devices indicated for sleep apnea to treat patients with respiratory insufficiency, provided that appropriate design mitigations are in place to minimize aerosolization. The use of breathing circuit devices beyond their indicated use. The use of ventilator support devices made by companies not previously engaged in medical device manufacturing. It’s important to note that these EUAs are effective only until FDA determines that the COVID-19 emergency is over. If you need to supplement your ventilator fleet with EUA devices, understand that the devices may need to be removed from use when the crisis is over.

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

While some vendors have indicated that they intend to pursue 510(k) clearance for their products, the timing and success of such applications is far from certain. ECRI recommends that hospitals assume that all EUA devices will revert to their pre-EUA state when the EUA is terminated. That is: FDAcleared devices with EUA labelling changes will revert to their pre-EUA labelling. FDA-cleared devices with EUA modifications will be usable if the modifications are reverted or removed. And, devices that are not FDA-cleared will not be usable until or unless they receive clearance. This article is adapted from multiple guidance documents that ECRI developed to help health care professionals mitigate ventilator shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic. The original articles and many additional resources are available through ECRI’s COVID-19 Resource Center, a free public resource to help hospitals protect health care workers and patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Access that site at www.ecri.org/ coronavirus-covid-19-outbreakpreparedness-center. For more information, visit https://www.ecri. org/solutions/device-evaluations, call (610) 825-6000, ext. 5891, or e-mail clientservices@ecri.org.

JULY 2020

TECHNATION

INDUSTRY UPDATES

NEW ADVERTISERS:

WELCOME TO THE

TECHNATION COMMUNITY!

SALESMAKER CARTS

Q: TELL US ABOUT YOUR COMPANY. A: SalesMaker Carts is a material handling distributor focusing on the site to site transport needs of our customers when shipping is not a reasonable solution. Onsite sales demonstrations, technical equipment repair service and pick-ups, deliveries of specifically calibrated and very fragile equipment all demand a professional touch best-handled by a company’s rep or technician. Our folding carts allow for a single operator to transport fragile, cumbersome equipment up to 500 pounds safely in and out of a passenger vehicle, like an ambulance gurney for your machine.

SEE OUR COMPANY SHOWCASE ON PG. 14

Mimi Lively CEO

TECHNATION

JULY 2020

Q: WHAT SETS YOU APART FROM THE COMPETITION? A: SalesMaker Carts has been helping transport equipment in the medical, foodservice and office fields for over 30 years. Our relationships with customers and specialized manufacturing partners allow us to understand and meet the demands required in delivering and demoing new machines for offsite applications. The compact form and functionality featured in our folding carts offer the most efficient and safest means for taking control of your site to site equipment transport needs. •

SEE OUR AD PG. 37

For more information, visit salesmakercarts.com.

ZRG MEDICAL Q: TELL US ABOUT YOUR COMPANY. A: At ZRG Medical, we specialize in proving medical equipment liquidation services for the benefit of earth and mankind alike. We work with hospital staff to provide a tailored asset disposition solution that fits the needs of the hospital or health care facility. By reselling, renting, donating, and responsibly recycling medical equipment we are able to keep lifesaving devices out of landfills and give them a new life where they are needed. Q: WHAT SETS YOU APART FROM THE COMPETITION? A: We work with you to understand your needs, schedule on your terms, liquidate assets of your choice and remove your surplus in the safest, most efficient and environmentally conscious manner—no cherry-picking, no waiting, no extra staff

time needed, and no hidden costs. We never charge a fee to remove medical equipment, and depending on value, we may pay for the equipment removed. We coordinate with charitable organizations to donate medical equipment and supplies because our mission is to give economically disadvantaged people access to outstanding medical care. At ZRG Medical we follow all state and federal regulations and strict recycling guidelines; eliminating needless waste in landfills. We also ensure all assets removed are handled according to HIPAA compliance standards, and we are licensed by the California State Board of Pharmacy to buy, sell, and manage medical equipment. For more information, visit zrgmedical.com.

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

Your Next Job is Here. A specialized resource for HTM, Biomed and Clinical Engineers.

JOIN OUR TALENT NETWORK TODAY!

From the leader in providing news and information to the HTM community, TechNation is excited to provide a new industry career center; a simple, streamlined and eﬀective way to connect qualiﬁed candidates with open jobs and advance their careers.

Here’s how it works: • Simply join our no cost HTM Talent Network by ﬁlling out your custom proﬁle. • Upload your resume. • We’ll connect you with employers and hiring managers from the leading healthcare systems and companies.

Get started at www.HTMJobs.com

THE BENCH

BIOMED 101

Beyond COVID-19: The Three Biggest Challenges Facing BMETs Right Now BY TRAVIS HORSTMAN

ike everyone else working tirelessly in health care settings these days, biomedical equipment technicians (BMETs) are on the front lines of COVID-19 patient care. They’re playing a critical, and no doubt unsung, role during this historic challenge as they maintain and repair bypass machines, diagnostic imaging, respirators and other items critical to COVID-19 patient recovery.

Every BMET knows, however, that now is not the time to take their eyes off the everyday, “routine” challenges in their world. As was the case before COVID-19 and it will still be true after the pandemic subsides, BMETs and clinical engineering departments will be challenged with teams that are spread too thin, despite the increasing complexity of the equipment they maintain and the multiple facilities to which they’re assigned. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, health care facilities were tasked with maintaining rigorous, secure systems that ensure their records, databases and other important materials were always up to date with the latest developments. Since CS departments and BMETs have had to adjust to the current needs of the industry, protocols have been updated and modified to meet these demands. I suspect the effects of these changes will be felt in the biomedical field for some time to come, as facilities return to normal and governing bodies shift the priorities for each department. Based on my experience as a BMET in the military and the private sector, I believe there are three specific areas where those ongoing challenges will be most evident.

TECHNATION

JULY 2020

MAINTAINING CYBERSECURITY RELATED TO MEDICAL DEVICES More and more medical devices are wirelessly connected to the Internet and to health care facility networks. Connected medical device technology provides tremendous advantages such as increased patient mobility, improved information sharing and enabled centralized station monitoring, but it also comes with the inevitable risk of security breaches. Manufacturers are proficient at staying one step ahead of state-of-the-art hackers, offering system patches and updates in response to, or even in anticipation of, cybersecurity vulnerabilities. BMETs also do their part by incorporating these updates, monitoring the MDS2 forms from manufacturers and maintaining robust password protocols for connected equipment. All of this activity, of course, must be coordinated with IT departments. REMAINING FOCUSED ON PROPER PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE This isn’t a time for shortcuts. Operational verification is important but BMETs can never stop there. No matter the circumstances, maintenance schedules must be maintained to avoid problems down the road and to extend the life of equipment. One solution, though, is in the emerging tools related to predictive maintenance. This resource utilizes artificial intelligence, equipment sensors and other connected devices to identify potential failures before they occur. Further, resources like oneSOURCE are essential in maintaining these protocols and providing health care professionals with the necessary tools to properly operate and maintain this advanced equipment while at

Travis Horstman oneSOURCE Document Site

the same time adhering to the highest of regulatory bodies and compliance guidelines. Intersecting disciplines such as facilities maintenance work conjointly with BMETs to create systems and procedures that help to promote quality patient care and safety. MAINTAINING ASSET MANAGEMENT RECORDS Yes, “data in and data out” can be a full-time job for clinical engineering staff, but information management prevents errors and increases efficiencies. CMMS systems are indispensable for this purpose, and it’s important to choose one that meets the unique needs of each hospital system in order to track: • Medical device recalls • Incident management reports • Clinical engineering asset in-store reports • Manufacturers’ current preventive maintenance and repair documents • Work order tracking and progress • Asset, stock and spare parts inventories Patients may take BMETs for granted, even as they notice the incredible life-sustaining and life-enhancing equipment surrounding them. Rest assured, though, that care providers are inherently aware of the critical role BMETs and everyone in clinical engineering play in patient care. They recognize the challenges BMETs confront every day. TRAVIS HORSTMAN is a biomedical account manager and cybersecurity advisor for oneSOURCE Document Site. Before joining oneSOURCE, Horstman served as a biomedical equipment engineer in the U.S. Air Force.

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

DON’T ROLL THE DICE

LET US DO THE HEAVY LIFTING. WE WILL REPAIR YOUR SPACELABS EQUIPMENT.

WHEN IT COMES TO PATIENT MONITOR REPAIR. GO WITH THE ACE.

SPACELABS • DRAGER • SCOTTCARE • NIHON KOHDEN• DATASCOPE • GE • PHILIPS SPACELABS • DRAGER • SCOTTCARE • NIHON KOHDEN• DATASCOPE • GE • PHILIPS • BEDSIDE & CENTRAL MONITORING • BEDSIDE & CENTRAL • MODULES MONITORING • TELEMETRY • MODULES • FLAT PANELS • TELEMETRY

• FLAT PANELS

• RECORDERS ACCESSORIES •• RECORDERS • FREE TECHNICAL SUPPORT • ACCESSORIES • FREE REPAIR EVALUATIONS • FREE TECHNICAL SUPPORT

• FREE REPAIR EVALUATIONS

“We Put The ACE In Spacelabs!” “We Put The ACE In Spacelabs!” WWW.SWBIOMED.COM • 800.880.7231

WWW.SWBIOMED.COM • 800.880.7231

THE BENCH

WEBINAR WEDNESDAY

Four Informative Sessions Added to Library STAFF REPORT

he Webinar Wednesday series continues in 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, the webinars continue to be a popular option for continuing education as many health care professionals face travel restrictions and unusual work schedules. The webinars are available live. They are also accessible via a library or archive where the sessions can be viewed on demand at WebinarWednesday.Live.

MAXIMIZING DEVICE, NETWORK, AND RISK AWARENESS The Webinar Wednesday presentation “Beat Webinar Fatigue with a Fun, Interactive Session on Maximizing Device, Network, and Risk Awareness” was sponsored by CyberMDX. It was eligible for 1 credit from the ACI and received rave reviews from attendees. The webinar featured Joe Brown, CISSP, director, strategic solutions at CyberMDX. Even before COVID-19 upended everyone’s realities, hospitals already were becoming hyper-aware. But now, more than ever, clinical and biomed professionals need to maximize the onboarding, availability and visibility of key medical assets by automatically locating, smartly assigning, and optimizing managed and unmanaged devices. Brown delivered “a different type of webinar format where attendees played an interactive role throughout the entire presentation.” More that 100 attendees tuned in for the live presentation and competed for the chance to win a $50 Uber Eats gift card. The gift card winner was

TECHNATION

JULY 2020

awarded by CyberMDX and the winner was determined by the number of polls correctly answered by attendees. A post-webinar survey resulted in positive feedback and attendees answered the question, “What Information did you learn during today’s webinar that you can apply to your role?” “How to maximize the onboarding, availability and visibility of key medical assets by automatically locating smartly assigning and optimizing managed and unmanaged devices,” Biomed B. Hemmati said in reply to the question. “Great tool to monitor the medical equipment traffic,” said C. Nanney, national quality manager, clinical engineering. Equipment Specialist T. Molly summed up the session with “Best webinar ever!” PARTS INVENTORY Nuvolo sponsored the Webinar Wednesday presentation “Managing Parts Inventory During Recovery” that was eligible for 1 credit from the ACI. The webinar featured Dustin Smith, senior solutions consultant at Nuvolo, and David Brennan, senior vice president, chief product officer at PartsSource. In this session, PartsSource shared how hospitals are working to recover from the COVID-19 crisis and move into a proactive model to get ahead of equipment management. An HTM organization’s ability to forecast parts for common events like planned maintenance is one area that hospitals typically handle without too much trouble. However, with the COVID-19 crisis, hospitals need to take

extra steps to address mission-critical parts shortcomings for the organization in a timely manner. The webinar explored how PartsSource and Nuvolo helped hospitals address these challenges and how an actively managed supply chain will improve overall equipment and parts management. The webinar was a success with 161 individuals attending the live presentation. A recording of the webinar is available online where more people have viewed the presentation. Attendees provided feedback via a post-webinar survey that included the question, “How did today’s webinar meet your expectations?” “Our hospital will be migrating to Nuvolo CMMS this year, so this content was very pertinent to my future experience,” shared Biomedical Technician II Lead W. Polcin. “Always great information and presenters,” said A. Callender, senior biomedical technician. “Nice presentation of the procurement system,” said F. Yasnowski, CE quality analyst. “Great overview of PartsSource integration with Nuvolo,” stated D. Irving, manager HTM. “The presentation was well put together and the presenters seemed very knowledgeable about the systems,” said M. Keyes, Biomed II. “Learned very valuable information about parts ordering through PartsSource with integration through Nuvolo,” said M. Childers, BMET. “Interesting to see this platform is used

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

THE BENCH

by so many,” said C. Davis-Ryan, CBET III. COVID-19 INSIGHTS The recent presentation “How the COVID-19 Pandemic Requires HTM, Facilities and IT to Collaborate More Than Ever – Now and Into the Future” was sponsored by Nuvolo. Each of the 263 attendees are eligible to receive 1 credit from the ACI. The informative webinar included a number of health care organizations from across the country as members of HTM, facilities and IT departments shared how they have worked together to address the COVID-19 pandemic. The session was moderated by Heidi Horn, vice president, global enablement-healthcare at Nuvolo. The convergence of HTM, facilities and IT departments has helped hospitals move quickly to address the needs of their patients and hospital staff. Attendees were able to learn from health care professionals as they shared their experiences, including how they believe this will impact the way their departments collaborate in the future. The panelists participating in the webinar were Mike Busdicker from Intermountain Health, Danielle Cowgill from Stanford Children’s Health, William Mannes from Agiliti, Derek Watson from University Health Care System, John Ellis from Intermountain Healthcare, Bob Mulcahy from Hackensack Meridian Health and Joey Smith from Cleveland Clinic. The webinar scored high in a post-webinar survey and answered the question “Give us three words to describe today’s webinar?” “Encouraging. Hopeful. Proud,” are the words Biomedical Engineer T. Wade used to describe the webinar. “The wealth of knowledge at [this] one webinar was one of the best I’ve seen,” said W. Richards, clinical engineering specialist. “Good reflection of work being done by HTM,” Biomedical Supervisor B. Tocholke said. “Insightful into the collaborative efforts put in by several teams,” said S. Sirois, BMET III.

“Informative, current and insightful,” HTM Consultant F. Trujillo said. “Informative. Comparable to experiences we’ve had (minus an earthquake),” Director of Clinical Engineering J. Rusher said. “Reassuring to know that it works in other areas of the country as well as where we are.” “Great panel of expertise,” said M. Manzo, BMET. “I enjoyed hearing updates from other facilities regarding COVID. It was also great to hear how assets responsibilities are determined,” Clinical Engineering Manager M. Wilke said. “Great collaboration and sharing,” said J. Ruiz, site manager. “Motivated me to learn more about cybersecurity,” said K. Patel, CBET. “You guys rock,” said Clinical Engineering Technician W. Doctor. IOT CYBERSECURITY IS A TEAM SPORT The Webinar Wednesday presentation of “IoT Cybersecurity is a Team Sport” was eligible for 1 credit from the ACI. The webinar was given by Joseph Ouellette, clinical systems engineer at Yale New Haven Health. It was sponsored by Medigate and moderated by Tom Finn, director of business development at Medigate. Health care providers continue to view operational transformation through very different lenses and IoT cybersecurity is not an exception. Despite how IT security professionals and front-line healthcare technology management (HTM) professionals share many of the same security objectives, they continue to operate in relative blinds and rarely communicate, unless an emergency occurs. This is not a sustainable approach and some of the best evidence of that is reflected in the technology gaps that persist. During the webinar, attendees were able to hear how Yale New Haven Health is driving cross-functional collaboration to successfully transform its cybersecurity practice. It was a popular presentation with 240 attendees for the live session and even more have viewed a recording of the webinar online.

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

In a post-webinar survey, attendees were asked “What did you like most about today’s webinar?” “It reminded me of the things we should be doing to protect our organization,” Senior CBET D. Edwards said. “Very informative with up-to-date material,” Senior Biomed S. Rivera added. “Well presented with plenty of time for questions,” Senior Biomed R. Faut replied. “It was good information that was shared,” Program Director J. McAlister said. Biomed Technologist O. Stephen described the webinar as “a real-world example of implementing a cybersecurity system.” IT Security Manager C. Sosa said he liked “hearing about the same hurdles I am experiencing.” The 2020 Webinar Wednesday series has exceeded 4,000 registration for the year with this presentation. TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE SERIES, including a calendar of upcoming webinars and recordings of previous sessions, visit WebinarWednesday.Live.

Thank you to our sponsors:

JULY 2020

TECHNATION

MORE. MULTI IS YOUR TRUSTED SOURCE FOR NEW

GE HEALTHCARE BIOMEDICAL AND IMAGING PARTS

www.multidiagnostic.com 990 E. Cedar Street Ontario, California 91761

Toll-Free: (800) 400-4549 International: (909) 591-6444 Fax: 909-591-5293

DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING & SOLUTIONS ForSURGICAL part pricing and order placement, email us at sales@multiimager.com, or reach us via phone at 909-591-6444. You can also inquire online at multidiagnostic.com/order-parts. We have a dedicated team waiting to serve you.

THE BENCH

TOOLS OF THE TRADE Meriam

M2004 Smart Manometer

he Meriam M2004 is a portable, smart manometer designed to provide highly accurate, repeatable pressure measurement. It can be used to calibrate pressure gauges and regulators, check filter conditions, leak testing and more. Its versatility is increased with the optional MTS Series of Tethered Modules, for additional pressure ranges and temperature measurement. This unit comes with +/-0.025% FS accuracy and is available with pressure ranges from -14.5 PSI to 3000 PSI. Pressure sensors are available to measure differential pressure, gauge pressure, vacuum or absolute pressure. All pressure and temperature sensors come with a certificate of NIST traceability. The complimentary MeriSuite CG software enables the user to configure the M2004 for their particular uses and to service and calibrate it locally and at their convenience. An available data logging option enables the M2004 to capture up to 100,000 data points or up to 128 individual data log files. These files are easily uploaded and stored through the standard USB connection and the MeriSuite CG software to the userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s computer. Luer Lock fitting is provided with low pressure range sensors. High and low pressure fitting kits, pressure sources and carry cases are available. FOR MORE INFORMATION, visit Meriam.com

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

JULY 2020

TECHNATION

THE BENCH

SHOP TALK POWERED BY

ASP STERRAD 100NX

How can you measure the output of the LFPS2 without the PVM? I want to perform the PMs on the unit, and part of the PM is to measure the output.

may have to replace one of the transducers. But there is no calibration, per se, on them. They are calibrated each use during the pre-test. CS MEDICAL TD 100 AUTOMATED TEE PROBE DISINFECTOR

That is a great question with a complex answer. To measure the output of the LFPS2 you need specialized test equipment that measures different values. Do you think your FFPS2 is not working correctly? Simple answer, you can’t. And since you can only get it at the tech school, your best bet is to contract with the manufacturer or a third party to do the PM for you unless you can get into the school.

You need to be trained to correctly PM the unit. iMed offers a training course and fully supports you afterwards with tech support and repair parts. If you have the background, you can call tech support for assistance.

Does anyone know if there is any preventative maintenance requirement other then changing the carbon filter? You also need to replace the PVC filter, clean the inline screens and the water line screens on tubes entering the bottom left, clean the probe compartment and clean and flush the separate disinfectant tank (twice per year). MEDRAD MARK V PROVIS

MAQUET SERVO-I UNIVERSAL

Where is the single pressure reading from the mechanical injector pump measured? I am actually wondering about the location of the sensor – i.e. where the pressure reported on the display comes from?

I would like to know the procedure to calibrate the pressure transducers, inspirator and expirator – in case of replacement. Can someone help? The calibration is done automatically during the pre-use check. If you need to do any further calibration a field service card is required to access the service menu. If your Servo-i is failing it’s pre-use check on pressure transducers I would suggest trying with another expiratory cassette at first and then removing and cleaning the inspiratory valve.

Are you getting an error called “Pressure Transducer difference > 5 cm H2O” or the pressure transducer test failed? If you are, then one transducer is substantially different than the other. Either a connection is loose or you

The system interprets pressure via a current feedback loop. The circuitry is located on the PDCi board in the main box. The system is designed to maintain flow rate and volume to the values as set. The pressure limit on the other hand is looked at as a “not to exceed.” In that, the pressure reading should never really near the pressure value as set. It should only near the pressure value as set during an occlusion event or if the flow rate is set too high for the relative tubing diameter. In such an event, the flow rate will then decrease as to not exceed the pressure limit parameter – all the way up to a stall condition should a complete blockage occur.

SHOP TALK

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

TECHNATION

JULY 2020

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

Ensuring Safety Remains the Top Priority -The Infusion Pump Experts

REFURBISHED

ACCESSORIES

REPAIRS

Affordable Pumps

For Popular Pumps

F ixed & Flat Rate

POWERMATE Relocatable Power Taps

ISO 13845:2016 Cer tiﬁed Facilit y

aiv-inc.com 877.266.6897

713A

When It Comes To

CENTRIFUGES, One Name Stands Out

BIOMEDICAL Your Centrifuge Solutions Center • Free Tech Support • Depot Repair • Rental Units

• Re-manufactured Parts • New Parts • Exchanges

www.ozarkbiomedical.com EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

800-457-7576 JULY 2020

TECHNATION

VISUALLY INSPECT WITH REMARKABLE CLARITY The FIS includes a distal �p composed of a light source and camera lens at the end of a 110cm ﬂexible sha�, which features gradua�on marks. The Flexible Inspec�on Scope is a perfect tool to get a visualiza�on of any poten�ally soiled device. So�ware is included and allows viewing and recording.

FIS-005SK 110CM LONG 2.0MM DIAMETER

FIS-006SK 110CM LONG 1.3MM DIAMETER

HEALTHMARK OFFERS MANY OPTICAL INSPECTION TOOLS TO SUIT YOUR NEEDS

MAGIC TOUCH MAGNIFIER

HANDHELD MULTI-MAGNIFIER

MADE IN AMERICA MAGNIFIER

HEALTHMARK INDUSTRIES CO. | HMARK.COM | 800.521.6224 | HEALTHMARK@HMARK.COM

4X LED MAGNIFIER

ROUNDTABLE

ROUNDTABLE IV Pumps

t is time once gain for TechNation’s monthly roundtable feature article to focus on IV pumps. Experts share their thoughts regarding the knowledge HTM professionals need, share cost-savings tips and more in this look at IV pumps.

While names and appearances have changed as companies change hands, there are very few “newer” models on the market. When purchasing, look to see if newer models may be compatible with your older fleet. In a lot of cases there are some backwards compatible options that may offer substantial cost savings.

Participants in the roundtable Q&A discussion include Agiliti National Director of Technical Services Bill Mannes, AIV Inc. Vice President of Sales Jeff Taltavull and Master Medical Equipment Products Manager Ryan Tomlinson. Q: WHAT IS THE ONE THING EVERY HTM PROFESSIONAL SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IV PUMPS? MANNES: It’s important to ensure proper clinical training of the staff in regard to the utilization of the pumps. This insight can help prevent accidental or willful infusion programming. Addi-

Bill Mannes Agiliti

tionally, this will prevent false alarms on the equipment causing the unit to be removed for repair, which can result in delays to patient care. TALTAVULL: After a decade of rapidly changing platforms, the past few years have slowed in hardware advancements.

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

TOMLINSON: A well-designed IV pump is one of the most undervalued types of units in the medical equipment industry and, as all medical professionals know, they are one of the most important machines available in a compromised situation. A well-maintained IV pump delivers and maintains the flow of life-saving medications. An IV pump that has not been correctly serviced can be inaccurate. An inaccuracy could potentially be life threatening depending on the medication being delivered. IV pump veracity is one of the most important specifications to look at when deciding to purchase a new model.

JULY 2020

TECHNATION

ROUNDTABLE

Q: WHAT ARE SOME COST-SAVING TIPS YOU CAN SHARE REGARDING IV PUMPS? MANNES: One simple cost-saving tip is remembering that proper equipment cleaning procedures go a long way in preventing the unit from malfunctioning. In addition to that, skipping preventative maintenance or running a loose AEM schedule can lead to a stressed unit. OEM guidelines are typically the best to follow. Other quick tips: • More is not better; purchasing extra pumps will lead to excess cost on under-utilized equipment. • Avoid adverse drug events by educating staff on the proper utilization of the pump. • Ensure uniformity throughout the facility as having a mix of IV pumps can lead to higher disposable costs and repair costs. • Use OEM parts. OEM parts generally last longer and are more durable, which leads to reduced cost of service. TALTAVULL: Do your homework on the front end. Understand the servicing costs. Some OEMs limit parts availability to end user. Some offer proprietary tubing with higher expense. Some limit software access and force units to go back to the OEM for all service at a higher cost. TOMLINSON: One of the most cost-effective strategies that can be utilized for larger institutions is to invest in your HTMs IV pump training. Professionals rely on these units 24/7 and due to their usage hours, they need to have maintenance often for calibration accuracy. Uniformity is also a key strategy with IV management. Also, using OEM-suggested accessories will minimize valuable technician time and eliminate incompatibility errors. It also stream-

TECHNATION

JULY 2020

ware-driven PMs. The benefit of eliminating human error when testing the accuracy of these devices cannot be understated. A tech savvy biomed is sure to reduce repair time, increase accuracy and accommodate intended drug delivery specifications which in return will improve patient’s health. Also, smart pumps can forewarn of a risk of adverse drug interactions, or potential dosage errors. Q: HOW IMPORTANT ARE PMS AND WHY? Jeff Taltavull AIV Inc.

lines workflow and training. Q: WHAT ARE THE LATEST ADVANCES IN IV PUMPS THAT HTM PROFESSIONALS SHOULD BE AWARE OF IN 2020? MANNES: This year, most manufactures are re-evaluating their system notifications to reduce confusion and errant alarms. Pump alarms – for many reasons – can add to the alarm fatigue felt by nursing. Other manufacturers are doubling down on advancing network security with better managed drug libraries, no pump programming once patient is scanned, electronic transfer of data (different software suites that the pumps integrate with) and tracking pump utilization. TALTAVULL: Advances in IV pump hardware have been minimal. The market has been tweaking existing models with software changes to allow increased settings and integrated drug libraries. There have been no real big changes that would affect HTM professionals. TOMLINSON: One of the more recent changes in IV pump preventive maintenance is the gradual shift to soft-

MANNES: PMs are highly important for proper function, accuracy in delivery and prevention of higher repairs or adverse events in the future. IV pumps are portable, which means they are moving throughout the hospital when not in use, typically on an IV pole or on a cart. They get dropped, bumped, slammed and abused continuously which could cause them to go out of calibration or cause parts to fail prematurely. PMs are designed at specific intervals set by the OEMs to help prevent this – and they can play a big role in catching issues sooner rather than later. PMs also maintain the quality of the pump and extend the life of the equipment. TALTAVULL: PMs are extremely important. Proper function and reduction of nuisance alarms can come from making sure you have checked your pumps regularly. Keep those batteries changed based on the model and their specified life cycle. Recalibrate annually. Perform functional inspections to include all prescribed checks. In some cases, pumps are used in one dedicated format – problems or issues can arise when changing formats. Complete PM checks are necessary. TOMLINSON: With IV pumps, PMs are critical and need to be conducted in a

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

ROUNDTABLE

routine manner. We cannot underestimate the accuracy of these units because it can result in the life or death of a patient. Routine maintenance will ensure these units can be trusted to perform in their expected manner and with so many ways to make a mistake, this is one simple remedy that can be quickly enforced and trusted.

make sure you understand what it is you are working with before diving in. • You are not only buying an infusion pump. You are purchasing the entire ecosystem: administration sets, tech support, parts, customer service, clinical support, etc.

Q: WHAT ELSE DO YOU THINK TECHNATION READERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PURCHASING AND SERVICING IV PUMPS? MANNES: As stated before; purchase what you need. Excess is not success! Additionally, research the equipment before you buy, and understand what your facility’s needs are before purchasing. Recognize the needs of the entire facility and purchase the item that best fits all the requirements. Include staff from all the departments using infusion (i.e., NICU, outpatient clinics, infusion therapy, chemo, etc.) Other key pieces of advice include:

Ryan Tomlinson Master Medical Equipment

• Utilization is key! IV pumps are designed to be utilized continuously. When not in use, you are decreasing the life cycle. • When servicing these devices, understand each model is unique. Educate yourself on the pump, take OEM training courses and/or learn from an instructor. Whatever you do,

TALTAVULL: Again, understand all the pieces. What is your OEM offering? How much is servicing through them actually going to cost? How much are the accessories and tubing going to cost? What are the compatibility and tubing options? What third-party options are available for support and are they reputable? TOMLINSON: Selecting and servicing the correct infusion pump for your clinical needs is an important task. The cost and availability of sets and intervals of PMs should be factored into your decision, and you need a reliable tech to keep you up and running.

Innovation In Healthcare CMMS for Over 35 Years

Improve your CMMS Experience • Go Live in Less than 120 Days • Comprehensive Medical Device Cybersecurity • Easily Track & Document your AEM Process • Interface with Any Third Party Software

Your CMMS Solution with 3,000 Hospitals in 18 Countries. EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Choose AIMS and You Will Never Search for Another CMMS ®

800.541.2467 www.goaims.com JULY 2020

TECHNATION

C O V E R S T O RY

Disposition K N O W

Y O U R

O P T I O N S

By K. Richard Douglas

TECHNATION

JULY 2020

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

“Hey wait, don’t throw that out,” is a refrain that is much more likely to be heard today than in yesteryear. The reason is that so many items can be repurposed, resold in many secondary markets or donated to a good cause. The options for extending the usable life of a used item are varied and sometimes creative. There is an entire movement based around the premise of maintaining used items, from clothing to cars to medical equipment. Just as a consumer would be ill-advised to throw out or donate a personal computer with the hard drive included and intact, hospitals must be vigilant to protect non-public protected health information (PHI), and observe HIPPA regulations in the disposition of equipment. Disposing of medical equipment can be costly and resources are required at a time when resources are in short supply. There are both a number of considerations when disposing of used medical equipment and a number of choices as to how a particular piece of equipment is taken out of service and out of inventory. It’s no surprise that in a time of lost revenues and profits, unwanted or unneeded equipment can be turned into a revenue source and this is an attractive option. The recent pandemic has also changed the landscape for equipment disposition because some out-of-service equipment has been restored and put into emergency use.

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

The decision process should not be left to the latter parts of the equipment life cycle, but at the time of purchase. It is also important to remember that infected medical devices must be disposed of as medical/biohazard waste. “All hospitals have some kind of disposition process; the problem is they are poorly defined and even more poorly managed. Typically, department managers make a determination when to replace an item, put it in the budget and pray. If they are successful and their request is approved, they then decide what to do with the old item. It often gets placed in a closet as a backup, but is soon forgotten, only to be found months or years later when the department moves or some other remodel project is undertaken and the piece is discovered and now has little to no value,” says Charles “Chuck” Overeem, biomedical equipment life cycle planner in the HTM and biomedical engineering department at ProHealth Care in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Overeem says that some know enough to try to sell the item, but don’t have the time or contacts to get the best value for the hospital. He says that there are companies

and programs that will remove equipment from your facility and do the marketing and selling for a percentage of the sale. “However you decide to disposition your equipment, at least formalize the process, put someone in charge of it and run all equipment through it. A formal disposition process is a revenue stream for the hospital. It also assists in the tracking of your assets and allows you to know what you actually have –which can help with inventory, taxes and planning,” Overeem says. Overeem says that the how, when and where of disposition should be defined so that options are clearly understood. “How – redeploy, sell, donate or scrap. ‘How’ describes the process by which an item is removed from service. When – at what point in time is an Item dispositioned? And, where – where does the item go? Is it redeployed within the organization? Is it sold to an entity outside of the organization? Is it donated? Is it scrapped?,” Overeem says. “I think disposition starts with ‘when.’ When should we, or I as a department manager, replace or remove a piece of equipment? Is the item no longer being used? Is there a better option for the program or treatment that we are currently using the item for? Has the OEM stopped support? I think these are the most obvious reasons,”

JULY 2020

TECHNATION

C O V E R S T O RY Overeem says. He says that how an item is dispositioned will depend on its state/condition. “Is it functional? I can redeploy, sell or donate depending on the needs of the organization. How old is the item? Can we still get parts and support readily? If the item is not old, and is still supported but we have determined that we do not want it for redeployment, we will put it up for sale. If it cannot be sold, we will look at donation,” Overeem says. He points out that some items don’t sell well, likely because of the cost to ship them versus value, but local charities can often use them as long as they understand that his facility cannot warranty or support the item. “If the item is nonfunctional, is it repairable, within reason? If so, we could strip it for parts if we have a need or sell it as a parts machine. Someone may take two or three defective units and make one good unit. If the unit is beyond reasonable repair then it goes to scrap/e-waste where it can be recycled,” Overeem says. “How and where we dispose of an item are closely tied together. If the item is fully functional, we first look to redeploy it within the organization. This option provides the biggest cost savings for the organization by not having to pay full price for a new piece of equipment. I look at it as free. Another department preserves their budget but still gets a working piece of equipment that they need to care for their patients,” Overeem adds. He says that since his department does most service in-house and has all of the service history, they know exactly what the status of the item is. “If an item has a defect, I can look to see if we could redeploy it if it worked and then weigh the cost of the repair against the cost and benefits of a new machine. When that does not pan out it becomes a candidate for sale or scrap,” he says. If health care facilities don’t have an in-house specialist to guide the disposition process, or the person assigned this task could use some help in utilizing best practices, they can call in a third-party specialist. “When any surplus equipment is no longer needed, the health care facility has several options for disposal. Depending on the age and condition of the equipment, facilities may either sell, donate, recycle or reutilize excess

TECHNATION

JULY 2020

equipment at another facility within the health care system. Having a constant flow and regularly scheduled dates to address asset disposition helps to remove unneeded clutter in the facility while avoiding high storage costs for equipment that is end-of-life and will not be used again,” says Mimi Lively, CEO at ZRG Medical in Oceanside, California. ZRG Medical is licensed by the California State Board of Pharmacy to sell medical equipment, allowing them to purchase and sell medical equipment. The company specializes in used medical equipment liquidation services for health care facilities that want their surplus equipment to have a second life. “When choosing where the equipment will go, it is important to use a trusted vendor specializing in medical equipment so that you can be assured the equipment is being managed responsibly,” Lively says. In some cases, when other options are not viable, equipment can simply be recycled. THE ROLE OF CMMS What documentation should be included in CMMS when you decommission or dispose of equipment? Are there considerations that are not so obvious?

when,” Overeem says. He says that in all cases of disposition, start by documenting who wants the item removed from service and why. “The ‘why’ aids in determining if an item can be redeployed, sold or donated. When we sell or donate equipment, we do it as-iswhere-is. In short, this means the buyer pays and arranges shipping and understands that we sell it without warranty. Anyone who gets equipment from our hospital, either by donation or sale first signs a disclaimer form that essentially states that they understand the no warranty provision. I also include a copy of any payment information including a copy of the check in the records,” Overeem says. Overeem says that other not so obvious documents they include is an approval form signed by the original owning department manager stating that he/she approves the item be removed from service and his/her department. “This is the first step before I take possession of an item. There have been instances where a department manager stopped the disposition of an item because it was still required equipment. In most cases, I believe that there was a miscommunication regarding intentions and this step saved the

“ Charitable donation is absolutely a viable option if you have good working equipment. It is great for the environment and can help save lives in underdeveloped countries.” “When a piece of equipment is dispositioned, you want to include several pieces of information. How was it disposed of? Did you scrap it? Was it redeployed to another area or department? Was it donated or was it sold? With each of these states comes a need for additional documentation. If it was scrapped, documentation should show that PHI was removed and that it was scrapped/ junked/recycled. If it was redeployed, the department and location must be updated in the system so you can find it for its next PM cycle. If it was donated, document removal of PHI and also who received it and what value it has as a donation. Follow the IRS guidelines for valuation of donations. If the item was sold, again, document PHI removal, how much it was sold for, whom it was sold to and

– MIMI

Lively

hospital from purchasing an item that it should not have had to,” he says. SECURITY CONCERNS “Security risks associated with used medical equipment that’s being removed from service are limited to confidentiality of protected health information (PHI). If the medical equipment in question has the ability to store a patient’s health information, it would constitute a violation of security regulations if the disposed equipment with intact PHI came into anyone’s possession,” says Stephen L. Grimes, FACCE, FHIMSS, FAIMBE, AAMIF, principal consultant with Strategic Healthcare Technology Associates LLC in Swampscott, Massachusetts. Grimes says that health care providers can eliminate the confidentiality risk by perma-

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

nently removing all PHI. “Removing PHI can be done by either completely overwriting media (e.g., filling the entire data space with 0s) or by physically destroying the media on which the PHI is stored. Check with the medical device manufacturer to determine how they recommend any PHI be removed (e.g., does the device have a feature that allows for completely overwriting any internal media),” he says. Grimes says that as a growing number of medical equipment categories have the ability to store and transmit a patient’s health information, the risk of compromising the confidentiality of protected health information (PHI) in this equipment also grows. “Unless a conscious effort is made to remove all PHI from this equipment at the time of its disposal, there is a real risk that PHI will fall into unauthorized hands. However, losing control of PHI on disposal is sufficient to result in a violation of security regulations, whether or not the PHI is ultimately used for nefarious purposes,” he says. “Some of the more common examples of devices containing PHI include imaging systems (e.g., MRI, CT, ultrasound, PACS), EKG and EEG systems, laboratory systems, pacemaker controllers, medication delivery (infusion pump) systems,” Grimes says. Lively points out that if you utilize a third-party provider, it is important to ascertain that the provider is experienced at locating data that might be stored on a piece of equipment. “Unfortunately, data may be missed. This leads back to why it is so important to use a trusted vendor that is HIPAA compliant, holds a valid pharmacy license, and specializes in medical equipment for all assets removed from hospitals – ensuring liability is eliminated for the hospital,” she says. PLANNING FROM THE BEGINNING Is disposition something that should be planned for when you first acquire the equipment? How can this be done? “If you are going to have disposition program that allows you to do other than trade-in, some thought needs to be given to disposition at the time of purchase. In today’s software-driven world, a piece of

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

equipment can quickly turn into a paperweight if you do not own the software to run it or have the right to transfer ownership. That needs to be negotiated up front if possible. Just like in-house programs and third-party service providers fight for the right to repair equipment, hospitals need to fight for the right to fully own the equipment they paid for including the software so they can transfer ownership/license as needed,” Overeem says. GUIDANCE The World Health Organization (WHO) publishes a handbook that provides further guidance on equipment disposition. “The information on asset disposition in the WHO handbook outlines all the ways a hospital can responsibly reutilize, liquidate, and dispose of their equipment. What the World Health Organization does not mention is the time and resources it takes for hospital staff to complete the necessary steps to remove assets,” Lively says. She points out that healthcare facilities reselling the equipment themselves can be one of the most time-consuming options. “This takes time away from hospital staff to concentrate on more important tasks and requires ample space to store the equipment. Selecting a vendor that can provide a total disposition solution based on the hospitals needs can free up valuable resources,” Lively says. CHARITABLE GIVING One of the very best ways to extend the useful life of a medical device is to allow it to continue to lead to better outcomes for patients. In many developing countries, new medical equipment is not an option because of costs and availability. Donated medical equipment can fill a void for health care facilities that face this reality. “Charitable donation is absolutely a viable option if you have good working equipment. It is great for the environment and can help save lives in underdeveloped countries,” Lively says. “Because most charitable organizations do not have the resources to repair broken equipment, it’s best to only provide equipment in good working condition, so they are able to utilize it. Also, keep in mind, some charitable organizations will not pick up equipment directly from the facility so you

ARTICLE

CONTRIBUTORS Charles “Chuck” Overeem, ProHealth Care

Mimi Lively, ZRG Medical

Stephen L. Grimes, Strategic Healthcare Technology Associates LLC

may have to use your own resources to provide for transport of the equipment to be donated or use an asset disposition vendor that works with charitable organizations that can donate on your behalf,” Lively adds. Overeem agrees that donation should always be an option. “Donation is an option to dispose of equipment that we do consider. I have had equipment that I could not redeploy and could not sell. For whatever reason there is not a market for it at this time. When that is the case, and it is good equipment, donation may be the way to go. It gets the equipment out of your facility, and puts it where it can do the most good. All equipment is not viable for donation, but that should be an option to consider before disposing in a landfill,” he says. Disposition can be a function built into the equipment planning and purchasing process. It should be considered from the start and thought through at the end of the device’s life cycle. Done properly, it can provide a rewarding outcome for the health care facility in terms of revenues or the knowledge that the equipment may be helping others through donation. Third-party specialists can also help make the process go easier.

JULY 2020

TECHNATION

EXPERT ADVICE

CAREER CENTER

What Should You Do After Sending the Wrong Resume? BY KATHLEEN FURORE

o many job applications are done virtually these days; and resumes and cover letters are usually tailored specifically to each individual job listing. What happens when an applicant hits “send” and realizes soon after that they’ve attached the wrong resume or cover letter? I know someone this happened to recently, and they asked me if there was any way to “recall” the application. Is there? Should they reapply?

There’s no better example to illustrate the pros and cons of the online job application process. “The Internet has made applying to jobs easier than ever before. In fact, 66% of working Americans, including 82% of millennials, expect every company to have a mobile-friendly career site and job application process,” reports Amy Warner, director of talent acquisitions at recruitment software company iCIMS. “While tailoring your resume and cover letter to the position you’re applying to is a great practice, it likely means you have several documents saved to your computer that are difficult to differentiate.” The obvious advice is to slow down and double-check everything. But mistakes 58

TECHNATION

JULY 2020

happen. “Thankfully, it’s not the end of the world if you hit ‘send’ with the wrong resume or cover letter attached,” Warner says. In most cases, applicants will receive an email confirmation once the online job application has been received. “Sometimes, a confirmation email or popup window will allow you to view or edit your submitted application,” Warner notes. “If this is the case, you can easily edit your submission to include the correct version of your resume or cover letter.” When that isn’t the case, contacting the recruiter you’re working with, or the company directly, as soon as possible is the best option. “If a candidate accidentally submitted the wrong document, they should email the recruiter and let them know that they’d like to resubmit their application,” says Liz Wessel, co-founder and CEO of WayUp, a company that partners with companies to help them recruit qualified, diverse early-career candidates. “In that email, they should specify again why they are interested in the job and include the correct documents as attachments.” When no recruiter is involved, reach out

Kathleen Furore to the company; but remember that the email confirming receipt of your application is often from an address not set up to receive incoming mail, Warner cautions. “However, the email address for a company’s human resources department is often listed on the company’s website,” Warner explains. “Send an email to that address briefly explaining the mishap, attach the correct document and apologize for any inconvenience you may have caused.” The email should include your full name, contact information and the job WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

EXPERT ADVICE title/ID that you applied to. “It’s important to take responsibility for the mistake, but don’t go into too much detail about what was wrong with the original document you submitted,” Warner says. “A simple explanation that the resume you originally submitted was not the most relevant version to the position will suffice.” You should realize, however, that mistakes can end up costing you an interview. “Fifty-nine percent of recruiters will reject a candidate because of poor grammar or a spelling error, so candidates should expect recruiters to consider submitting the wrong document as a potentially more significant mistake,” Wessel says. “As a candidate, a good tip would be to clearly label the name of your documents for the specific company/role you’re applying for. With clear naming conventions, you’ll be less likely to attach the wrong document.”

INTERNATIONAL X-RAY BROKERS IS NOW AN AUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTOR FOR CUSTOM BUILT SURGICAL TABLES!

WE ALSO BUY AND SELL PRE-OWNED MEDICAL IMAGING EQUIPMENT. TOSHIBA • GE • PHILIPS • SIEMENS AND MORE! ALL MANUFACTURES & MODALITIES PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST SINCE 1987

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

Call: 508.730.9544 or 508.559.9441

www.InternationalXrayBrokers.com admin@intxray.com

WE ARE BIOMEDS

HELPING BIOMEDS

UNSURPASSED QUALITY, SERVICE & VALUE Biomeds Serving the Biomedical Industry

PARTS

SALES

CALIBRATION

REPAIR

LET US HELP TODAY! MEDICAL EQUIPMENT SALES AND SERVICE

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

9 0 01 : 2 015 17 0 2 5

CALL 888.310.7322 VISIT WWW.SEBIOMEDICAL.COM

JULY 2020

TECHNATION

EXPERT ADVICE