TechNation Magazine August 2020 by MD Publishing

1technation.com

Vol. 11

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL / HTM PROFESSIONAL

REVIEW OF

AUGUST 2020

Necessary Temporary Easing

HTM STANDARDS

14 Company Showcase

TTG Imaging Solutions LLC

24 Company Showcase Medigate

18 Department of the Month Advocate Christ Medical Center Healthcare Technology Management Department

83 Roman Review

On Value System

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CONTENTS

FEATURED

HE ROUNDTABLE: T ASSET TRACKING TechNation reached out to several companies to find out the latest regarding asset tracking technology and solutions. A variety of companies responded with insights from their in-house experts.

REVIEW OF HTM STANDARDS: NECESSARY TEMPORARY EASING There has been activity on standards impacting medical device manufacturers and the HTM community in recent months. There also has been some temporary easing of standards because of the COVID-19 pandemic. ext month’s Feature article: N HTM’s Role in Construction Planning

Next month’s Roundtable article: CMMS

TechNation (Vol. 11, Issue #8) August 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

AUGUST 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

P.28 p.28 p.38 p.40 p.42 p.44

INDUSTRY UPDATES News and Notes: Updates from the HTM Industry Ribbon Cutting: Axial Imaging AAMI Update ECRI Update Welcome to TechNation

DIGITAL SERVICES

Cindy Galindo Kennedy Krieg

CIRCULATION

Lisa Lisle Jennifer Godwin

P.47 p.47 p.48 p.50 p.52

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

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

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

P.12 SPOTLIGHT p.12 Professional of the Month: Lillie Oliver, CBET: Lending a Helping Hand p.14 Company Showcase: TTG Imaging Solutions LLC p.18 Department of the Month: Advocate Christ Medical Center Healthcare Technology Management Department p.20 Association of the Month:The Wisconsin Biomedical Association (WBA) p.24 Company Showcase: Medigate

TECHNATION

AUGUST 2020

Proud supporters of

P.66 EXPERT ADVICE p.66 Career Center p.68 Remote Support: A Cure for Your Equipment Maintenance Challenges During a Pandemic, sponsored by Avante Health Solutions p.70 View on Value: Barriers to Change p.72 The Future p.74 20/20 Imaging Insights, sponsored by Innovatus Imaging p.77 Cybersecurity p.78 The Other Side p.80 Proper Risk Scoring is Critical for Medical Devices, sponsored by Nuvolo p.83 Roman Review P.88 BREAKROOM p.88 Did You Know? p.90 The Vault p.92 MedWrench: Where In The World Is Ben C.? p.98 Flashback p.94 Service Index p.97 Alphabetical Index Like us on Facebook, www.facebook.com/TechNationMag Follow us on Twitter, twitter.com/TechNationMag

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SPOTLIGHT

PROFESSIONAL OF THE MONTH Lillie Oliver, CBET: Lending a Helping Hand BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

illie Oliver, CBET, is a GE Healthcare client service technician at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. Her first exposure to mechanical and technical concepts came from her dad.

“As a child, my father kept me more to his side with technical and mechanical things; not knowing how this would play a part in my life. At 16, I had my first hospital job as a transportation aide,” Oliver says. Oliver also worked as a transcriber of cardiologists’ dictations. She knew the hospital was where she wanted to be. “Later in life, a friend shared how I could combine my hands-on passion and medicine by entering the study of biomedical electronics. That then started my path to become a biomed technician,” Oliver says. Oliver works in Northeast Philadelphia for GE Healthcare U.S. & Canada Service. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital is in Center City Philadelphia and shares a campus with Thomas Jefferson University. The main hospital was established in 1825. In addition to the main hospital, the system includes Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience,

TECHNATION

AUGUST 2020

Jefferson Methodist Hospital, Jefferson at the Navy Yard and Jefferson at Voorhees in South Jersey. There is a total of 908 licensed beds between the facilities. Oliver obtained her training in the city of brotherly love. “I attended Community College of Philadelphia and obtained my AAS degree with high honors in electronics technology–biomed option in 1997,” she says. She began her biomed career as an equipment specialist. Years later, she became a biomedical technician I and then a technician II and then III; as well as a lead tech. She is now a client service technician (CST). “My specialties are medical ICU, women and children as well as ultrasound,” Oliver says. SUPPORTING THE SMALLEST PATIENTS Like most resourceful biomeds, Oliver has completed her share of special projects via the use of her unique skill set. One project that she recalls involved helping the tiniest and most vulnerable of patients. “The one that sticks out the most was being a part of Jefferson’s neonatal ECMO program. A select few of us had the responsibility of building and blood-priming the ECMO machines that provided extended life for neonates,” Oliver says.

“This was a gratifying challenge that kept me sharp in my knowledge of such a lifesaving machine. The patient needed to have their blood pumped outside of the body, oxygenated and then recirculated back into the body. As a biomed tech, it was my responsibility to build the tubing circuits, set the pressures, prime it with blood and assist the nurses, if needed, as the patient was connected to the machine. This has truly made me feel like my job is worth every second of time,” Oliver adds. She won the C. Delores Tucker volunteer award in 2017. When not on the job, Oliver enjoys traveling and hiking. She has been married to her husband, Delroy, for 30 years. “I have six children; four sons and two daughters (four biological, two adopted), one granddaughter and one dog, Azul,” she says. When asked, “What would you like the readers of TechNation to know about Lillie Oliver?” she provides a thoughtful reply. “First, I believe that a great technician is one who is willing to help others, a team player, accepts corrective criticism, is willing to be taught, not afraid to fail, gives their all, plus more; just to mention a few,” Oliver says. “I’ve worked hard to prove myself as

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SPOTLIGHT

FAVORITE BOOK: Bible

FAVORITE MOVIE: James Bond films

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Caribbean and Colombian

HIDDEN TALENT: Emcee

FAVORITE PART OF BEING A BIOMED:

Being a significant part of the health care industry. And, seeing the smiles on clinicians’ and others faces knowing that the equipment works properly; thus, making their job a bit easier.

WHAT’S ON MY BENCH? • Computer • Tools • Green tea • Notepad • Cellphone

Oliver working on an ultrasound machine.

a great technician in this predominantly male role. I am a down-toearth person; always willing to lend a helping hand. I care a lot about the well-being of my family and friends. It’s really hard for me to say no,” Oliver says. Oliver says that she has always been a problem solver and loves putting out fires. “I am thankful to God for his many blessings both big and small. As I continue in this thing called life, I pray that I will also continue to keep my customers happy as I service their equipment,” she adds. She says that she would like to thank her family for their support, her past and present coworkers for helping her become the technician that she is and the clinicians who provide endless care to the patients; her ultimate customers. It is safe to assume that all of those people would express their gratitude in response as well, especially the neonatal nurses.

Lillie Oliver has a supportive family including, from left to right, daughter Peaches, son James, herself, son Nicolus, husband Delroy, son Dominic, daughter Lorraine and son Daniel.

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

AUGUST 2020

TECHNATION

SPOTLIGHT

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

COMPANY SHOWCASE TTG Imaging Solutions LLC

TG Imaging Solutions LLC. was formed over the past 15 months by blending nine complementary companies into an integrated delivery system specializing in nuclear medicine and molecular imaging services. Through this consolidation, TTG brought together successful enterprises, management talent and depth in nuclear equipment/parts. The company also combined over 1,200 client sites for equipment service, diagnostic imaging and radiopharmaceutical distribution.

TTG Imaging Solutions LLC President/CEO Jack Tomayko explains that the strength of the ISO-certified company is in its service engineers who are expertly trained, system versatile and responsive to client needs. Additionally, as an integrated business model, TTG Imaging Solutions can offer clients a full menu of services in system sales/ leases, equipment service, technical staffing and radiopharmaceuticals.

TECHNATION

AUGUST 2020

“We have a customer-centric focus and develop customized service and support solutions for our customers,” Tomayko adds. “We have a strong technical and clinical foundation with OEM-trained and certified engineers and a dedicated clinical applications team. We guarantee 24-hour phone support with on-site response within 24 hours – and in some cases – on the same day. You will receive the service commitment and uptime guarantee you deserve with the highest quality service available in the industry.” The company’s mission is “to maximize customer satisfaction through a relentless pursuit of quality, a broad portfolio of services and a commitment to continuous improvement,” he continues. Tomayko explains that the TTG Imaging Solutions stresses four factors to provide excellent service to customers: • R esponsiveness: Our employees support a relentless pursuit to

exceed client expectations and strive to be the one and only call our prospective and existing clients need to make. •Q uality: We share a holistic risk management approach and believe we are the absolute best at delivering quality products and service for our clients so they can focus on what matters most – their patients. • E fficiency: Our cost-effective programs, products and services – related to the refurbishment process – produce high-quality equipment with unmatched clinical solutions. •T eamwork: Through a collective effort, our team believes in communication and collaboration to meet our high standards of performance excellence, which provides a quality integrated delivery system for our customers. The company’s tremendous growth is a testament to the service it provides, but it does not come

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SPOTLIGHT

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

JACK TOMAYKO PRESIDENT/CEO without some unique challenges. “The biggest challenge was integrating acquisitions over a short time period into a working organization. Since TTG Imaging Solutions remains acquisitive, the focus will continue to be capitalizing on efficient and effective integrations,” Tomayko says. “The company has made a substantial upgrade in internal management and a consistent communication system. Experience and an organized management team has prepared the company to grow both organically and with strategic acquisitions.” “The company will focus on organic growth by continuing to sell

quality refurbished nuclear, PET and PET/CT systems, adding on service contracts and hiring top field service engineers to cover a national landscape,” he adds. “TTG Imaging Solutions will also look to develop regions where it can maximize its integrated model of equipment service, staffing and radiopharmaceuticals. The company will still seek to acquire complementary businesses that have the right culture fit and partnerships with firms that enhance TTG’s opportunities in molecular imaging. It is an exciting time for TTG Imaging Solutions. Tomayko says he is especially excited about its portfolio of services and capabilities. “We are excited to provide a broad portfolio of hybrid imaging (PET/CT and SPECT/CT) systems that are both new and refurbished. We are the exclusive U.S. source for Mediso Medical Imaging System’s AnyScan S (headquartered in Budapest, Hungary), and are excited to distribute systems for them as they develop new hybrid scanners,” he says. TTG Imaging Solutions has a corporate office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with two Centers of Excellence. The SPECT Center of Excellence located in Stokesdale, North Carolina is certified to both ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 international quality standards.

he T individuals who make up TTG Imaging Solutions are the most impressive aspect of the company. EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

The in-house engineers and project management team at the SPECT Center of Excellence ensure TTG’s equipment is fully equipped for patient use. The PET and PET/CT Center of Excellence is located in Houston, Texas and is a highly-specialized facility dedicated to the refurbishment and clinical testing of advanced imaging equipment. Its lead-lined bays allow up to four systems to be refurbished and tested simultaneously. The individuals who make up TTG Imaging Solutions are the most impressive aspect of the company. “Our service department is composed of 40-plus OEM-trained and certified field service engineers that each average more than 18 years of experience across all OEMs in SPECT, CT, PET, SPECT/CT and PET/CT imaging,” Tomayko shares. “Our applications team has the experience and knowledge to train your staff when introducing a new imaging modality or equipment into your laboratory. We provide our customers with extensive on-site training and continuous clinical applications support with every equipment purchase and service agreement. We strongly believe that training and support are important components in the success of your laboratory.” For more information, visit TTGImagingSolutions.com.

AUGUST 2020

TECHNATION

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SPOTLIGHT

DEPARTMENT OF THE MONTH Advocate Christ Medical Center Healthcare Technology Management Department BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

he global cononavirus SARSCoV2 pandemic and the influx of COVID-19 patients has challenged hospitals and health care systems across the country. The pandemic has also tested the skill sets of healthcare technology management (HTM) professionals and departments as they have supported their clinician colleagues amid these special circumstances.

That call-to-action was experienced by a team of HTM professionals near Chicago, Illinois as Cook County became one of the nation’s hot spots for infections. The Healthcare Technology Management Department at Advocate Christ Medical Center has 13 BMETs, three radiology service engineers and one multi-site radiation oncology specialist. Patrick Donohue, CBET, and Freddie Leon, CBET, serve as BMET coordinators and serve as lead technicians. Greg Czajka, CBET, is the site manager and is

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AUGUST 2020

supported by Multi-Site Director Joe Carli. “The scope of our department is all clinical equipment support needs, including input on capital purchases and projects involving medical equipment with a top focus on safety,” Czajka says. Czajka says that each team member brings a specialty to the table. “I have four people that work in a shop located in the surgery department that primarily focus on servicing surgery and similar departments like endoscopy and PACU. Damian Lesnicki, Jose Hernandez, Tyler Morgan and Bobby Mejia specialize in anesthesia, perfusion and video integration,” he says. Czajka says that Donohue and Leon specialize in ventilators and service the adult and pediatric respiratory departments in addition to their coordinator roles. “With a site as large as Christ, we have dozens of Philips PIIC servers for monitoring and telemetry, so there are

several techs that are trained to service and configure those systems including Mohammad Hammoudeh. Hammoudeh has also been trained to service our balloon pumps. Colleen Kaufmann’s specialty lies in our children’s hospital and pediatrics departments,” Czajka explains. He says that Becker Gholeh and Ryan Struble primarily manage the extensive fleet of BD infusion pumps and the sterile processing department while Leo Davalos and Ruben Cervantes maintain dialysis, CRRT and EKG carts. Randy Ozminkowski, Dave Simpson and Adam Mazur make up the imaging team and cover all imaging modalities including MRI, CT, X-ray, nuclear medicine, cath lab and mammography. Czajka says that Chris Monteverde serves as a multi-site LINAC engineer and specializes on the Clinac and Truebeam systems. Edwin Vasser, CBET, manages the system’s numerous off-site clinics. The team supports Christ hospital, numerous clinics, two off-site imaging

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SPOTLIGHT

facilities and an off-site mammography site. Christ Medical Center is one of Advocate Aurora’s largest sites with 749 beds. EPIC ACHIEVEMENT WHILE SUPPORTING COVID PATIENTS In conjunction with preparing the hospital for an influx of COVID patients, the team also has tackled the big job of transitioning its EMR platform. “Most recently, HTM has been heavily involved with two major projects – planning for the surge due to COVID-19 and preparing the equipment for our migration from Cerner to Epic as the new electronic medical record system,” Czajka says. “The COVID surge planning involved redistributing our monitors from non-acute areas to ICUs, effectively doubling our ICU capacity in many areas. As with other hospitals over the past few months, elective and non-urgent procedures were deferred to accommodate the incoming COVID patients and to promote the safety of our team members by social distancing where possible. The HTM team moved dozens of monitors in a very short timeframe to the ICU rooms and configured them on the network so

Leo Davalos and Ruben Cervantes check a piece of equipment.

that the patient data flowed seamlessly into the EMR. The speed and accuracy of the team doing that was nothing short of amazing,” Czajka says. He says that while COVID patients are still prevalent at Christ, they are seeing an encouraging decline, which has allowed the team to focus more efforts on the Epic integration. “This includes installing devices on the walls in some departments and on some equipment such as ventilators and anesthesia machines that will allow the devices to automatically feed their data into the new EMR. This will mean less manual charting from the clinical staff so that they can spend more time caring for the patients,” Czajka says. Czajka says that when they began to see a surge in COVID patients that required ventilators, it was quickly discovered that access to the ventilator controls was a pain point for clinicians because they had to don and doff PPE very often to make adjustments. “We found a way to disconnect the monitor and controls from the ventilator and mount it to an IV pole outside the room, so they could make adjustments without going into a COVID room. This was a big satisfier for the clinical staff and it saved the hospital on PPE usage,” he says. Czajka also says that during the epidemic, the HTM team was asked by nursing leaders to assist with adding a second bedside monitor to ICU rooms for the surge of COVID patients that they were seeing. “Because of the Philips licensing restrictions that we experience at Christ, the HTM team had to get creative. That meant we had no bedside sectors for the monitors to land on for patient viewing at the nurse’s station and we had no spare monitors to distribute. Since our outpatient procedures and surgeries were put on hold, we utilized the bedside monitors and licensing from those central stations from the outpatient building to increase our ICU beds in the East Tower building,” Czajka says. He says that after the ICUs were doubled, they were still seeing an increase

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

of COVID patients. “We were asked by nursing for more monitoring capabilities. With the help of Philips, HTM corporate, HIT corporate and local HIT we were able to utilize our sister hospital Advocate South Suburban Hospital’s Philips primary server to increase our telemetry capacity in which we added an additional 48 telemetry sectors,” Czajka explains. “It was then decided, by the state of Illinois, that Advocate Christ Medical Center would be the primary hospital in Illinois to treat COVID ECMO patients,” Czajka adds. He says that they were then asked by nursing leaders to double up 15 out of the 20 ICU rooms. “Using the available licensing from our sister hospital, we added a fully functional central station for the staff to view and monitor our patients in the department,” Czajka says. He says that it would not have been possible without the help of Building Operations, HIT and Clinical Informatics. “Awesome partnership,” Czajka says. Away from the workplace, the team remains active in learning and the HTM community. “We have a strong presence in the local Clinical Engineering Association of Illinois (CEAI). This organization promotes the HTM field and has members from many of the hospitals in the Chicagoland region,” Czajka says. Czajka currently serves as the treasurer for the CEAI. He says that the organization holds quarterly chapter meetings and an annual conference at Drury Lane in Oak Brook, Illinois. During a national health crisis, the HTM team at Advocate Christ Medical Center has shown the resourcefulness and value of a team of biomeds as they assisted clinicians and patients. Their efforts helped save lives, conserve important PPE and protect clinicians. All the while, they were overhauling the EMR platform and integration. The team has shown that while 2020 is a year of challenges, it is also a year of achievements.

AUGUST 2020

TECHNATION

SPOTLIGHT

The Wisconsin Biomed Association offers fun and educational events for members to attend.

ASSOCIATION OF THE MONTH The Wisconsin Biomedical Association (WBA) BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

he state of Wisconsin is known for the Green Bay Packers as well as its cheese, dairy farms, beer and bratwurst. It is also a source for cranberries, high-end bicycles, yachts and flags.

The northern Midwest state is also home to many leading health care facilities and legions of biomeds. For many years, the HTM professionals in the state were served by the Biomedical Associations of Wisconsin (BAW), which was established in 1984. Starting last year, the organization became the Wisconsin Biomedical Association (WBA). The board of the current organization includes Board Members Mitch VonRuden, Sheri Scudieri and Mike Smith. Leadership also includes Secretary Ron Robenhorst and Treasurer Melissa Wilke. The origins of the predecessor organization and its founder are part of the story of HTM. “Jim Kipp was a pioneer at Marshfield Clinic in biomedical electronics, before it was even a recognized profes-

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sion. With the help of many clinic physicians, Jim learned how to apply his extensive electronics background to the medical environment. Jim was designing and building many bio-electronic devices that are now commonly manufactured. Some of Jim’s work included perfusion pumps and various nerve stimulators,” Wilke says. She says that early on, Kipp recognized the importance of AAMI certification. He was among the first 50 to earn that distinction, and later was named to a seat on the AAMI Advisory Board. “When the Western Wisconsin Technical College (WWTC) contemplated an educational program in biomedical technology they called on Jim – he had become an authority – to guide them in their curriculum development. Jim always remained involved with WWTC as a program advisor. His passion for the field did not stop there,” Wilke says. She says that to promote the profession further yet, he invited regional technicians and others with interest to join his new group. From this, the Biomedical Associations of Wisconsin

(BAW) was formed. Wilke says that the BAW continued to grow over the years. “Under the BAW, five regional associations were established. Each year, one of the five regions hosted the annual symposium. As the BAW evolved, the pioneers of the organization began to settle into retirement. They passed the torch down to a new generation of technicians in a field now known as HTM,” she says. “Seen as an opportunity for a fresh start, a new name was chosen. To honor the namesake and those who founded the BAW, it was decided by statewide members to rearrange the letters of the BAW acronym. The new name would be the Wisconsin Biomedical Association (WBA),” Wilke explains. The group keeps the membership up to date via the Internet. “Currently, we hold monthly web conference board meetings open to all WBA members. This inclusive meeting keeps all members up to date as we are developing and structuring our organization. Board members are then encouraged to communicate these details at their regional meetings and

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SPOTLIGHT

bring back ideas from their region to the board meetings,” Wilke says. To pass along the opportunity for a career in HTM to those in training, the organization offers a scholarship program. “The WBA is carrying on the tradition of an annual golf outing where all proceeds support our scholarship program. This year the golf outing will be held at Shamrock Heights on Friday, July 24,” Wilke says. Education is often a central focus of a biomed association. WBA also supports other projects as part of its mission. “As our group continues to define our goals, we have found a common passion to support the biomed industry as a global initiative. Our vision is to create a resource and help send technicians on mission trips,” Wilke, who recently participated in a mission trip to Guatemala, says. Another way to help the biomed community is to offer expertise and experience to local technical and college programs for biomeds. “We have a long-standing relationship with the faculty of the biomedical

electronics program, now known as the HTM program, offered at Western Technical College (WTC) in La Crosse, Wisconsin,” Wilke says. She says that many WBA members are graduates of this program. “Many have since sat on the advisory board for WTC. A connection with Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC) was established with the inception of their biomedical electronics program in 2016. The instructor of the program, Don Cormier, has also been a long-standing member of the BAW and now the WBA,” Wilke says. NEW NAME AND SPECIAL EVENT Under the old organization, the group held an annual conference and vendor show. With the restructuring of the organization, one of the chapters took on the task in 2019. “In lieu of the new WBA hosting a 2019 event, local WBA chapter Eastern Wisconsin Biomedical Association (EWBA), hosted a symposium at NWTC. The event included various education tracks and a packed vendor show,” Wilke says.

An annual golf tournament is one fun WBA networking event.

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She says that highlights of the symposium were roundtable discussions that offered topics including women in HTM and today’s HTM department challenges. “As the WBA, we are very excited to have the opportunity to partner with TechNation to host our first HTM Mixer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,” Wilke says. She says that this special event will be the WBA’s first organized event. The HTM Mixer will happen on October 1-2, 2020 and include two days of networking, education and fun. The member meeting will be held on October 1 from 4-5 p.m. It will be followed by a welcome reception. Friday, October 2 will start out with a continental breakfast from 7:30-8:30 a.m., followed by exhibitor set-up from 8-11:45, concurrent with educational sessions from 8:30 to 11:45 a.m. Lunch will be served at noon along with the opening of the exhibition hall. There will be another round of educational sessions from 3-4:15 p.m. and then a Happy Hour from 5-7 p.m. The HTM Mixer should be a welcome break for those who have been anxious to rub elbows with friends and colleagues once again. For details, visit HTMmixer.com. The state known for cheese, dairy farms and the Green Bay Packers also offers HTM professionals tremendous opportunity. A new name and a new style of conference will allow the WBA to find a real silver lining in 2020. As Hall of Fame Green Bay Packer Coach Vince Lombardi once said, “Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”

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COMPANY SHOWCASE Get the Most Out of Your Clinical Assets BY JONATHAN LANGER, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, MEDIGATE

ecent events have shown us just how critical good asset management is to the ongoing operations of healthcare delivery organizations everywhere. When the World Health Organization (WHO) put out a surge calculator to help governments and health care providers estimate the essential supplies they need to respond to the current pandemic of COVID-19, that was only a piece of the preparation process. The potentially harder part for many hospitals was taking those requirements and measuring them against their own inventory to identify shortfalls and needs.

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providers don’t have the real-time visibility they need into their connected medical devices to know exactly what they have. And it is certainly a challenge for them to accurately pinpoint where each of these devices is located and how frequently they are being used. This lack of up-todate information at their fingertips can create confusion and chaos, as hospitals have to rely on best guesses and scramble to pull diagnostic and biomedical equipment together to meet needs. This has been the case for some time now. It is not uncommon for an organization to dedicate time and money to conducting manual inventories of their facilities, with people going room by room, floor by floor,

building by building to document what devices are where. But as we know, since devices are moved around constantly, the moment that inventory is done, it is out of date. Plus, these inventories are often incomplete, lacking details around embedded software and protocols in use that can be important when assessing vulnerabilities and making preventative maintenance decisions. WHY MEDICAL DEVICE VISIBILITY IS SO DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE Typical discovery techniques used to detect and profile general IT equipment don’t usually work for medical devices. One of the reasons is medical devices are typically closed systems, using proprietary operating systems

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Medigate Labs has invested in documenting medical protocols and mapping clinical workflows to build out the largest, most complete medical device database in the industry. and protocols, which traditional security solutions don’t understand. They also tend to be more fragile, with smaller computational power and simpler designs than standard IT equipment (e.g. servers and computers), so typical discovery techniques could end up stressing their processing units and disrupting their functionality. Since medical devices can be directly involved in delivering patient care, any disruption could put patients at risk. Without prior knowledge of the device’s system architecture and standard workflows, general purpose discovery and profiling solutions can end up doing more harm than good. As a result, traditional solutions deployed to monitor and protect hospital networks can only offer very high-level information on the medical devices in the environment. For example, they may be able to tell there is a device connecting, but they can’t tell whether it is an IV pump or an MRI machine, and they certainly can’t tell what model or app version it’s using or whether its activity is normal or potentially malicious. But Medigate can.

Medigate Labs has invested in documenting medical protocols and mapping clinical workflows to build out the largest, most complete medical device database in the industry. As a result, Medigate can provide hospitals the details they need, including: the manufacturer, make, model, protocols, embedded software, and workflows (clinical-context) of each device, as well as its location and utilization, to make better procurement, management and maintenance decisions. HOW TO OPERATIONALIZE DEVICE DATA TO DELIVER NEW VALUE The granular visibility that Medigate delivers enables hospitals to under-

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NEWS & NOTES

Updates from the HTM Industry INDUSTRY MOURNS DEATH OF ‘GREAT CLINICAL ENGINEER’ “It is with heavy heart that we announce the loss of one of the great clinical engineers of our time, George Panagiotopoulos,” is how the American College of Clinical Engineering (ACCE) newsletter delivered the news. Panagiotopoulos died Sunday, May 24, 2020 – just a few weeks after celebrating his 60th birthday. He is survived by his wife, Dimetra, children Alexandra and Antonio, mother Magdalini, sister Alexandra, sister-inlaw Angela, brother-in-law Michele, Kosta, and Kip, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews in the San Francisco Area and Greece, and countless close friends and colleagues. What a gaping hole we feel for losing such a humble, valuable, and gifted son, brother, husband, father, uncle, cousin, friend and colleague. “We will always remember George for his calm demeanor, positive attitude, his passion for the clinical engineering profession, his great analytical mind, and his wealth of wisdom,” ACCE shared. “George started his career in banking working for Charles Schwab, but soon after he jumped into Clinical Engineering and found his calling. He worked for Kaiser Permanente in different positions regionally in Northern California, and the last few years nationally.” He was an active member of American College of Clinical Engineering, he was a past board member, helped with different advanced clinical engineering workshops and presented at sympo-

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siums/conferences on behalf of ACCE. An online obituary states, “George was a treasure to everyone that knew him. He was humble, compassionate and selfless. He channeled this innate goodness, along with his eternal curiosity and brilliant mind, to innovate and use new technologies to empower mankind.” He worked for over 30 years in biomedical and clinical engineering. In his early career at Kaiser Permanente, he and two colleagues pioneered web-based access to clinical data. More recently, Panagiotopoulos held multiple leadership roles in Kaiser’s Permanente clinical technology organization. He took an early medical retirement two years ago after receiving a “devastating diagnosis.” “But he was not someone to do nothing. He focused on family and friends and deepened already strong relationships. He lived for experiences, winning cooking competitions with his wife, teaching his son to sail the bay, and advising his eldest on her college and career choices. Throughout all this, he remained active in his professional life by partnering with the many healthcare IT leaders he knew to start a new telehealth and biometric data company, AdaptivMD,” the obituary states. Andrew Ulvenes, vice president clinical technology and device cyber security at Kaiser Permanente, shared the news on LinkedIn.

“As you may have heard earlier this week, we lost our clinical technology colleague George Panagiotopoulos. George passed away Sunday, May 24, 2020,” he wrote. “For those who worked with George at Kaiser Permanete, you know how special he was and how much he brought to the table. George held multiple leadership roles in Kaiser Permanente’s clinical technology organization where he has left an indelible and lasting imprint. We are sad to lose our colleague and friend and will miss him dearly,” Ulvenes adds. “To honor his memory and to keep his spirit alive with us forever, Kaiser Permanente, Clinical Technology has announced a new recognition. We are happy to let you all know that we will now have the George Panagiotopoulos Kaiser Permanente Clinical Technology Award. This award and recognition will be awarded annually and we’ll choose one Clinical Technology employee who exemplifies and embodies the behaviors that George so eloquently displayed. George had a positive spirit and an extreme passion for his work; he had deep expertise and was considered an expert in clinical technology; he took time to treat everyone with dignity and respect regardless of who you were, how busy he was and whatever else seemed to be a priority. To keep George with us in spirit and mind, we will recognize ClinTech employees who embody his spirit.” •

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THE WORLD MOVES FAST. WE MOVE FASTER.™

626 ACQUIRES INNOVATUS CR AND DR BUSINESS ASSETS 626 Holdings LLC has announced the acquisition of the CR and DR business of Innovatus Imaging. “While COVID-19 was a devastating event for the U.S., the world and our industry, it did provide an opportunity to appreciate and continue to grow our business. The work of our FSEs (closing in on 100) during the crisis was as impressive as the loyalty our customers showed us during this period,” 626 CEO Philip Revien said. “As we looked at areas of growth in a post-crisis space, we used the time to add the CR and DR business of Innovatus. This will be a great addition to our already successful Walsh Imaging portfolio. It provides a national reach to our established radiology service businesses in the eastern U.S. and we are thrilled with the customer alignment.” “We are uniquely positioned to grow this business and we are eager to add a team of highly talented and soon-to-be versatile engineers from Innovatus. We are very humbled by our consistent growth and success,” Revien added. “We are confident we can leverage this business and it

provides a great platform for other ISOs and hospitals that need this modality serviced, to look to 626/Walsh/ISS for not only CR and DR service, but for all of the solutions we can provide in the space” added Michael Fischer, CFO, 626. “Innovatus made this move to better prepare us to grow our core businesses. We selected a partner that would take great care of our customers and would be a long-term, successful home for our engineers servicing this market … who better than 626?” stated Dave Johnson, CEO at Innovatus. 626’s purchase of Walsh Imaging two years ago, ISS in late 2019 and the Innovatus CR-DR business, follows their approach to base acquisitions on what matters most to them; family fit and customer need. This method has proven to be successful as they were able to double Walsh Imaging’s business within two years and they have already begun to scale the ISS business. We plan to do the same with the Innovatus CR-DR business. This family keeps getting bigger … and better. •

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ALTHEA BECOMES AUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTOR OF UVD ROBOTS Althea has become an authorized distributor of UVD Robots in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan. “UVD Robots is the first autonomous ultraviolet robot designed to disinfect surfaces. Through its state-ofthe-art capability, the UVD Robot allows for quick and effective disinfection. The system is 99.99% effective at killing bacteria and can cover a standard size room within 10 minutes. The UVD Robot is used as part of the regular cleaning cycle and aims at preventing and reducing the spread of infectious diseases, virus, bacteria, and other types of harmful organic microor-

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AUGUST 2020

ganisms in the environment by breaking down their DNA-structure. The robot is safe, reliable and eliminates human error,” according to a press release. It is user friendly and is designed to be operated by every-day cleaning staff. “It is important to reiterate that the UVD Robot’s reputation as a highly effective asset in the fight to reduce infections, comes as a result of six years intensive research, design, development, and testing by a leading, industry-recognized, award-winning organization Blue Ocean Robotics, as well as the Danish Healthcare Authority supported by leading Danish microbiologists and

hygiene specialists from Odense University Hospital,” the release states. “UVD Robots has proven effective in multiple settings such as hospitals, clinics, universities, factories, fitness facilities, airports, stadiums and anywhere large groups of people congregate. This system allows companies both in and outside of the health care sphere a solution to bringing their staff, customers and students back together safely. We are now accepting requests for site visits and robot demonstrations to see how our new offering may assist its potential customers in achieving their disinfecting goals,” the release adds. •

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INNOVATUS IMAGING ADDS NEW GENERAL MANAGER, LAUNCHES VIRTUAL CLASSROOM Innovatus Imaging recently added Les Edsall as the company’s director of quality and regulatory and general manager of Pittsburgh MRI Coil Center of Excellence. Edsall will be responsible for continuous improvement of existing ISO 13485:2016 quality systems, regulatory clearances and compliance and coordination of corporate quality and regulatory activities for all Innovatus Imaging Centers of Excellence as well as operations in Pittsburgh for MRI coil repair. Edsall comes to Innovatus with over 25 years of experience in quality and regulatory with Philips Healthcare, Philips Respironics, Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Abbott Laboratories and other organizations. He holds a Six Sigma master black belt and Malcolm Baldridge National Quality award. Innovatus Imaging CEO Dave Johnson states, “The addition of Les Edsall to Innovatus Imaging will take our organization to yet another unparalleled level of quality, compliance and conformance. We are thrilled have him join the team.” Innovatus Imaging also recently launched Innovatus University, a virtual classroom designed to provide live webinars relative to product services offered by the company. Classes range from basic to advanced topics for ultrasound probes, MRI coils, and more. The company also partners with local and regional HTM organizations to host virtual meetings for their members. Also new is Innovatus University On-The-Road where Innovatus industry experts provide consulting services and in-person training for healthcare and HTM professionals. “Innovatus University was founded on the principles that students, healthcare staff, and HTM professionals are best served through live, hands-on, experiences in the real world, in real time, to more fully understand the critical nature and equipment issues associated with managing imaging devices which is essential to treating patients. Although videos and prerecorded webinars are available, sessions are designed to be live so that attendees can maximize their experience.”, states Ted Lucidi, CBET. •

COME GROW WITH US

Build Your Career at Crothall Healthcare Technology Solutions Career opportunities abound when you are part of a growing Team. Crothall Healthcare Technology Solutions (HTS) has grown 373% in just the last 5 years and an amazing 20 times over in the last 10 years. With growth comes new jobs and new opportunities.

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AUGUST 2020

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MASTER MEDICAL EQUIPMENT, RENEW BIOMEDICAL HELP AMID PANDEMIC “When New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio ended up on the phone with me, it really hit home at that moment that this was not a politicized event and we were in a true emergency,” said Master Medical Equipment and ReNew Biomedical Co-Owner and President Mark Taylor. “Around March 12, calls started pouring in – specifically from early virus hotspots like New York City and areas around New Orleans,” said Taylor. “Overnight, we went from receiving approximately 2-3 requests for new ventilators a week to hundreds of orders per day!” Taylor also said this did not include the number of frantic calls the company, and he directly, received regarding out of service ventilators needing immediate service to be recertified and moved to frontline locations. “I specifically remember receiving a phone call at 10:30 p.m. on a Saturday night from a hospital CEO in Alabama. His smaller community hospital was overrun with early COVID-19 patients and they were desperate for ventilators and the necessary IV pumps to facilitate the vent use,” Taylor said. Since mid-March, the pace has not

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slowed down at MME or ReNew Biomedical, who are sister-companies – housed in the same building headed by Taylor. Taylor mentioned, “Our team went from 10 mph to 100 mph literally overnight. For weeks, our full team pulled together, working 15-hour days, seven days a week.” And that same team, even working 100-hour weeks, was full of ingenuity – figuring out ways to do things better, faster and more efficiently than ever. “On March 24, the FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), modifying how medical devices, specifically ventilators, are approved for sale and resale. This really opened the door for different ideas and supplies for the repair of ventilators on our ReNew side,” said Taylor. “It also initiated some community partnerships for us that the Jackson Chamber connected us with.” As a member of the Board of Directors for the Jackson Chamber, Taylor knew that the Jackson Chamber could, and should, be a resource for MME and ReNew during this time. “Our ReNew team had some great ideas on how to expedite repairs to

ventilators with the issued EUA, but lacked either the components or engineering capabilities. The Jackson Chamber was an incredible resource for us, matching us up with local facilities like Teknor Apex, Toyota Bodine and Henderson Stamping for assistance,” said Taylor. “We’ve called it ‘MacGyvering,’ ” Taylor said, describing their process for repairing and testing medical devices sent in for refurbishing. Traditional “test lungs,” designed to test individual ventilators to ensure their functionality, were backordered – including new units and spare parts. Additionally, traditional test lungs test only one unit at a time. “Our diverse ReNew team, which has backgrounds in the armed forces, large hospital systems, and manufacturing, figured out how to use Teknor Apex hoses and a very specific size latex glove to replicate the resistance of the test lung,” mentioned Taylor. “With this creativity and ingenuity, we can now test up to 40 ventilator units at a time!” This ingenuity helped MME and ReNew to fill order numbers all over the country in record time. While new devices can have months long back-

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INDUSTRY UPDATES orders, by using the new systems they have developed, the team has been able to receive, repair, test and ship out 80 ventilator units to Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) in less than a week. And now, as the pandemic continues across the world, MME and ReNew continue to fill these orders – repairing and shipping certified and usable units internationally to other countries including Brazil, Argentina and Italy. All of the resourcefulness and long hours for Taylor’s team has, understandably, taken its toll. “We’ve had several team members become very emotional about the whole situation,” Taylor explained. “But as they’ve heard the stories and even fielded some phone calls themselves from customers and heard the emotion and thankfulness in their voices, they’ve all had a feeling of satisfaction and really a sense of relief that we can actually do something about this global

situation. We have a renewed sense of pride in ReNew!” Through this entire explosion of sales, repairs and service, Taylor said that there is nowhere that he would rather Master Medical Equipment and ReNew Biomedical be located than Jackson, Tennessee. “Jackson is really a shining star in the Volunteer State,” said Taylor. “Many people don’t realize that Jackson’s location directly on I-40, about halfway between Nashville and Memphis, is within a day’s drive of 76% of the U.S. population. FedEx and UPS hubs are close. We can get anything, anywhere, very quickly.” “We are so thankful for our community and how they have helped us succeed during this time,” said Taylor. “Places like Teknor Apex, Toyota Bodine, Henderson Stamping, our local Jackson Chamber, and people like Lyn Tisdale at West Tennessee Healthcare, Tim Chapman, hose

technical manager at Teknor Apex, and Kyle Spurgeon at the Jackson Chamber. We’ve done our best to give back a bit during this time by doing things like supporting local businesses – ordering lunch in for our employees every day from local restaurants during this busy time.” One thing that Taylor said he hopes will come from this situation is that the value of biomedical technology and technologists will truly be understood. “The bulk of the current biomed technologist population is beginning to age out,” Taylor explained. “There is a huge need for vocational training in this area and this pandemic has really shed a light on that. Besides the armed forces, there are only a few places to be trained. We hope that Master Medical Equipment and ReNew BioMedical can be a leader in training for the future.” • For more information, visit mmemed.com or renewbiomedical.com.

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MEDICAL EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE MARKET WORTH $47.49 BILLION BY 2023 Based on a MarketsandMarkets report, the medical equipment maintenance market is expected to reach $47.4 billion by 2023 from $28.9 billion in 2018, at a CAGR of 10.4% during the forecast period. The growth of this market is mainly driven by the growth in associated equipment markets, rising focus on preventive medical equipment maintenance, adoption of innovative funding mechanism, and the growing purchase of refurbished medical equipment. Based on the type of service provider, the medical equipment maintenance market is segmented into original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), independent service organizations (ISOs) and in-house maintenance. In 2017, the ISOs segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period market, primarily due to their advantages, such as better

expertise in handling different brands of equipment as opposed to OEMs and the lower cost of services. The market for private-sector organizations is expected to grow at the highest CAGR in the medical equipment maintenance market during the forecast period. On the basis of end user, the medical equipment maintenance market is segmented into public-sector organizations and private-sector organizations. In 2018, private-sector organizations are expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The increasing number of public-private partnerships is expected to boost the demand for medical equipment maintenance services. North America is expected to lead the medical equipment maintenance market in 2023. •

MEDIGATE LAUNCHES PROTECTION SOLUTION FOR CLINICAL DATA CENTERS, NETWORKS Medigate recently announced the Medigate Healthcare Protection Solution powered by Dell Technologies. The Medigate collaboration with Dell Technologies and VMware provides hospitals and health care organizations with enhanced visibility into their clinical data centers to uncover network vulnerabilities and then protect against security threats. Today’s health care organizations face a growing security threat due to the rising number of devices connecting to their networks. According to KLAS Research, 36% of CIOs and CISOs are not confident in their medical device security due to a lack of inventory and asset management. Medigate’s collaboration with Dell Technologies and VMware provides hospitals the visibility into their networks to identify individual connected devices and then implement threat prevention and protection to reduce risks and ensure patient safety when connected to devices. The solution also provides advanced insights into device utilization to reduce overall maintenance costs. “In teaming up with Dell Technologies and VMware, we are providing hospitals and health care systems with the integrated security capabilities they need to protect their increasingly connected networks. Our integrated solution will

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mitigate threats while allowing for the delivery of uninterrupted, high-quality patient care,” said Jonathan Langer, CEO of Medigate. “Medigate is committed to collaborating with industry-leading security firms to bring a unified set of solutions and services that address current and future needs of all healthcare organizations.” Combining Medigate’s visibility and clinical expertise with server and security technologies from Dell Technologies and VMware’s zero-trust enforcement and micro segmentation capabilities for software-defined networks gives health care organizations a single cybersecurity solution that enables effective protection for clinical data centers, according to a press release. “Cybersecurity solutions are more critical than ever within hospital environments as the rise of digital health care expands the number of devices that access protected health information,” said David DeAngelis, general manager, healthcare, Dell Technologies. “Our Dell EMC PowerEdge server technology, in collaboration with Medigate, enables hospitals to help create and enforce clinically vetted security policies from their data center, to the edge, to protect their patient data and operations.” •

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CYNERIO NAMED A LEADER IN CONNECTED MEDICAL DEVICE SECURITY EVALUATION Cynerio has been named a leader and received among the highest scores in the current offering and strategy categories in “The Forrester New Wave: Connected Medical Device Security, Q2 2020,” released on June 11 by Forrester Research, a leading global research and advisory firm. The New Wave report is designed to help Forrester Research clients understand which vendors they should consider in an emerging technology or services market. The report evaluated eight vendors on a comprehensive set of criteria. In addition to being named a leader, Cynerio received a differentiated rating, the highest rating possible, in seven out of 10 criteria, the most out of the evaluated vendors, including Analytics and Reporting, Attack Response, Device Visibility, Vulnerability Management, Integrations, Vision and Roadmap. Cynerio takes a medical-first, risk-based approach to cybersecurity and asset management to serve top-tier health care organizations with the tools and actionable insights needed to meet the unique and fast-evolving challenges of securing medical and IoT devices against current and future threats. The Cynerio platform provides full visibility into connected devices, including profiling and location, along with accurate anomaly detection and continuous risk analysis to prevent data theft, service disruption, and compliance violations.

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According to Forrester, Cynerio “leads with comprehensive threat analytics and clinical insight” and is “best for companies that value technical flexibility.” The report also states that “Cynerio offers strong insight into medical device activity and correlations between device telemetry, clinical workflow, and external threat feeds,” and that the company’s “UI is also one of the easiest to navigate.” According to customer references cited in the report, “Device auto-segmentation was frequently cited as a useful feature of the product,” one customer commented, “Things that used to take weeks for our team to find and analyze, using Cynerio it only takes minutes to a day, comparatively no time at all.” “We are humbled to be recognized by Forrester for our solution and customer endorsements. Being recognized today motivates us even more to continue developing solutions that help hospitals navigate the increasingly complex world of healthcare IoT security,” said Leon Lerman, CEO and co-founder of Cynerio. “Health care organizations are especially vulnerable during this pandemic and we are fully committed to providing them with the technologies, strategies, and support they need to safeguard business integrity and keep their focus on patient care.” •

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SOLUTIONS

SUMMIT IMAGING RESPONDS TO PHILIPS LAWSUIT

LAURA HAFNER JOINS TRI-IMAGING SOLUTIONS

Summit Imaging’s response to a lawsuit filed by Philips last October denies all accusations and asks the judge to dismiss the suit. In the filing, Philips alleged that Summit built software designed to hack into its ultrasound and other devices to circumnavigate access controls that regulate how the hardware can be used. “For 13 years, Summit Imaging has been a trusted and valued partner of thousands of North American health care providers. The patented technology and other intellectual property we have developed over many years are specifically focused on providing exceptional customer satisfaction and improving patient outcomes,” Summit Imaging CEO Lawrence Nguyen said. “Properly leveraging technology to enable health care providers to deliver their medical services in a financially viable form should be the goal of every service provider in this industry. Disturbing companies like Summit Imaging is anti-competitive and adverse to the needs of health care providers and the patients they seek to serve.” When asked why Summit’s approach should not be considered “hacking” Nguyen said, “As a technology-enabled service provider, Summit Imaging has developed resources that enable our customers to service medical imaging equipment they own. The general lack of information and tools available to service this equipment is a problem that our solutions, including our patented technology, were developed to solve. As stated in our response to the lawsuit, Summit Imaging’s actions do not violate the intellectual property laws and Summit Imaging intends to defend itself vigorously in this regard.” •

Tri-Imaging Solutions has announced that Laura Hafner has joined the company as vice president of sales and marketing. In her new role, Hafner will be responsible for the leadership of the sales team, developing new business opportunities and creating customized solutions for customers. “Laura’s leadership skills, creativity and customer centric mentality will further strengthen Tri-Imaging’s ability to deliver innovative imaging solutions for our customers,” said Wanda Legate, partner at Tri-Imaging. “As Laura steps into my former role, my focus will shift toward broader business development activities and operations.” Prior to joining Tri-Imaging, Hafner held various sales and marketing leadership roles with the Dunlee division of Philips Healthcare and Varex Imaging (formerly Varian Medical Systems). With both Dunlee and Varex, she was instrumental in helping the businesses reach sales goals and introduce new and innovative products to the market. Most recently, Hafner was self-employed, running her own marketing and strategy consulting business – Grove Integrated Marketing. At Grove, she was able to utilize her 15-plus years of medical imaging experience to support many clients in the industry. “My work at Grove enabled me the opportunity to begin working with the Tri-Imaging team on marketing and branding initiatives many months ago as a consultant. I’m thrilled to now be able to continue this work as a full-time member of this talented team,” Hafner said. “Tri-Imaging has some exciting new products that we plan to bring to our customers very soon.” “We are making a strategic effort to bring more talent onto our leadership team,” said Eric Wright, a partner at Tri-Imaging. “With Laura’s help, we are confident that we can meet our customers’ demands and our growth targets. We couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome her to the Tri-Imaging team.”

For more information, Summit’s filing can be found online at tinyurl.com/SummitCounter.

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RIBBON CUTTING Axial Imaging BY ERIN REGISTER

cott Anderson and Scott Young met over 20 years ago when they began their industry careers at ReMedPar. After starting as a customer service representative, Young later moved into managing inside sales, logistics and inventory departments at both small and large companies.

After leaving the U.S. Army in 1997, Anderson started his career in the medical field as a bench repair tech on GE 9800 CT scanners for ReMedPar. His career spans from in-house engineer to field engineer to trainer. After seeing a need for helping customers cut costs and needing help with service himself, Anderson and two others started CT Resources in 2005, which eventually merged with AllParts Medical. “Those of us who have been in this field for several years can relate to this being more of a lifestyle more than just a job or career,” said Anderson. “In 2019, I tried retirement for a second time. After almost a year, I still found myself giving tech support and agreeing to occasional on-site training and realized I missed the personal satisfaction of helping a customer get a system back up and running.” During this time period, Young was contemplating a career change and made a decision to take some time away from the workplace. Eventually, Anderson and Young came to the realization that they still wanted to be involved in the industry. “We both enjoyed working in an

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environment that has a direct impact on patient care, and by combining our skill sets, we can focus on satisfying our customer’s needs,” stated Anderson. Q: WHAT IS THE MAIN FOCUS OF AXIAL IMAGING? A: Our focus is to be the best at what we do. We want our customers to know we will go the extra mile to get the job done. Customer service is our passion and motivation; all of the other services seem to fall in place when that’s your focus. Q: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE SERVICES AXIAL IMAGING OFFERS? A: In simple terms, we want to be a helping hand to independent service organizations (ISOs) and in-house groups. We are here to serve with parts, technical support, onsite support and training and almost anything else our customers want, such as system installations and de-installs. Q: HOW DOES AXIAL IMAGING STAND OUT IN THE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT FIELD? A: Over the past 10 years, our industry has seen many changes with smaller companies being purchased by larger organizations and new businesses entering the market with the end goal of acquisition. Axial Imaging is a small, veteran-owned company with the sole goal of providing exceptional service to our customers. A couple of weeks ago, I had a customer call me around 6:00 one evening. They had a system that had

Scott Anderson Training and Service, Axial Imaging been down a couple of days, and I remembered running into the same unique problem about 10 years ago. I drove three hours to the site, and we were able to get the system back up and scanning that night. This not only allowed the center to take care of its patients the next day, but it also allowed the field service engineer to gain some in-depth troubleshooting experience. Q: DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIFIC GOALS THAT YOU WANT AXIAL IMAGING TO ACHIEVE IN THE NEAR FUTURE? A: While growth is necessary in order to continue to meet the needs of our customers, our plans are for Axial Imaging to remain a small company. One of the best lessons we have learned over the years is the importance of hiring employees whose ideals meet those of the company, providing them with optimal training and giving them the ability to have ownership in the decisions they make for our customers. For more information about Axial Imaging, visit www.axialimaging.com.

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AAMI UPDATE BY AAMI

AAMI PRESIDENT ROB JENSEN THANKS COMMUNITY FOR COVID-19 RESPONSE There are times in life when the words “thank you” are not enough. I am grateful to our AAMI community members’ caring and noble actions making such a profound difference during the COVID-19 pandemic. Every part of the health technology ecosystem Rob Jensen is president has answered the call. While the examand CEO of AAMI. ples are numerous and significant, I’ve listed just a handful below. Medical device manufacturers have leaned into higher rates of production and distribution, and some have even shared their engineering drawings for ventilators publicly in an altruistic action to bootstrap additional production. Subject-matter experts in ventilators and respirators from clinical organizations, manufacturers, and the Food and Drug Administration have developed reports and guidance documents in a matter of days – not years or months – which AAMI has published to further diffuse this critical information. Healthcare technology management and sterilization professionals across the entire health spectrum have shared knowledge and resources for ensuring critical equipment is functional, safe and available, many participating on AAMI Connect, virtual town hall events and social media. Companies new to the AAMI community have partnered with manufacturers and venture capitalists to produce much-needed personal protective equipment and identify locations of greatest need for their distribution at no cost to the end-user. I would be remiss to not publicly thank AAMI’s extraordinary volunteers and staff members and include them among the heroes of this community. They have been pushed well beyond their comfort zones and normal operational tempo to assist those in need. There is no doubt this community is very special. When presented with critical, life-threatening needs, the AAMI community has responded across individual and organizational boundaries to improve, over everything else, patient safety and treatment. It is admittedly inadequate – but thank you so much for all you do. AAMI HTM LEADERSHIP GROUPS WELCOME MEMBERS AAMI has appointed new members and offers a thank-you to members exiting their roles on the Technology Management Council (TMC) and the Healthcare Technology Leadership Committee (HTLC).

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HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE AAMI’s HTLC is an advisory committee of healthcare technology management (HTM) thought leaders who work with AAMI’s vice president of HTM to advance and support the HTM field. This group seeks to develop the next generation of HTM leaders by nurturing leadership skills among HTM professionals and advancing the professional interests of HTM managers. New HTLC members for 2020 are: • Christopher Jones, a biomedical computed tomography specialist at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland. • Kelvin Knight, director of biomedical engineering at Children’s Hospital of Alabama in Birmingham, Alabama. • Mark Manning, division chair of HTM at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. • Mike Powers, clinical engineering quality manager at Christiana Care Health in Newark, Delaware. TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL AAMI’s TMC is an advisory committee of HTM thought leaders who work with AAMI to advance and support the field. It represents the interests of biomedical equipment technicians (BMETs), clinical engineers and other HTM professionals. Priorities for the TMC include strengthening the HTM field by finding creative ways to promote HTM careers, developing materials to highlight HTM as a desirable profession to students and young professionals, creating education programs to develop the existing workforce and producing resources to promote best practices. New TMC members for 2020 include: • Rebecca Crossley, BMET specialist at the University of Pittsburg Medical Center, Williamsport, in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania. • James Linton, AAMIF, professor and coordinator for biomedical engineering technology at St. Clair College in Belle River, Ontario, Canada. • Barbara Maguire, vice president of quality and Geisinger HTM at ISS Solutions in Westfield, New Jersey. PAUL KELLEY, TMC FOUNDING MEMBER, REFLECTS ON HIS WORK Paul Kelley, director of biomedical engineering, the Green Initiative, and Asset Redeployment at Washington Hospital in Fremont, California, is exiting the TMC chair position this year. Kelley, an AAMI Fellow, is the longest serving member of the TMC and was instrumental in its founding in 2004. Council projects Kelley said he is particularly proud of

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include establishing HTM Week, which had its start in the TMC, as well as developing the HTM In a Box presentation and recruitment tool and helping to coin the term HTM. Kelley urges new TMC members to “get active, do things that you think are beyond your skill level and get involved with projects that are unfamiliar.” “I am the last charter member of this group and cannot begin to mention the number of outstanding people I have met through this council,” shared Kelley. “I am proud to have been part of it for so long and I’m very happy to leave it in such good hands.” AAMI LAUNCHES ONLINE SUMMER LEARNING SERIES AAMI has launched an interactive, online Summer Learning Series with 36 educational sessions designed to tackle many of the biggest topics facing health technology, sterilization and regulations. “The entire health technology community has been impacted by COVID-19, including the cancellation of

in-person educational opportunities, such as the AAMI Exchange. The AAMI Summer Learning Series pulls together key speakers and topic areas to ensure professionals from all areas of health technology can get quality education and training from the comfort and safety of their home,” said MJ McLaughlin, director of education programming at AAMI. Each custom track offers four to six sessions that can be watched live or streamed later. Tracks in the AAMI Summer Learning Series include: • Cybersecurity (June 15 to July 20) • Healthcare Technology Management (June 19 to July 15) • Regulatory/Accreditation (July 10 to July 31) • Professional Development (July 22 to August 26) • AI and Augmented/Virtual Reality (July 27 to August 6) • Sterilization (August 10 to August 31) • Internet of Things (IoT) (August 21 to September 11) For more information and to register for the AAMI Summer Learning Series, visit www.aami.org/SummerLearning.

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ECRI UPDATE

Cleaning & Disinfection Practices – A Key Element in COVID-19 Facility Recovery Efforts

atients need to be confident that they will encounter a safe, disinfected environment when they arrive for care and throughout their stay. Providing patients with that assurance requires proactive steps to prevent the spread of disease, particularly as facilities transition from COVID-19 crisis mode to normal operations conducted in the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In other words, cleaning and disinfection (C&D) practices will be central to recovery efforts.

ECRI’S TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE C&D Failure to properly disinfect contaminated areas and equipment can have widespread consequences, endangering patients and staff. Following are some of ECRI’s key recommendations for preventing such harm. To learn more, check out the nonprofit organization’s webcast “SARS-CoV-2 Disinfection: Killing the Spread,” available at: https:// www.ecri.org/landing-covid-19-killingthe-spread/. CONSIDER CONTAINMENT AND COHORTING During outbreaks, consider setting up COVID-specific units, wings or hallways where COVID patients will be cared for by teams of cohorted health care personnel (HCP), including respiratory therapists, nurses, physicians and environmental services (EVS) staff. Grouping infected patients, potentially exposed individuals and potentially contaminated equipment within a defined area can help limit the spread, and it can help ease the logistics associated with C&D.

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PROVIDE APPROPRIATE PPE AND RESTRICT ROOM ENTRY Staff entering the room of a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patient – for patient care, cleaning or any other purpose – should use the same personal protective equipment (PPE) as that required for routine care of such patients. Typically, this will mean donning a facemask, face shield, isolation gown and gloves. If an aerosol-generating procedure (AGP) is to be performed, an N95 or higher level respirator should be worn in place of a facemask, and only essential personnel should be present in the room. To limit exposure to COVID-19 patients and to conserve PPE, facilities may wish to assign routine C&D of high-touch surfaces to nurses who will already be in the room providing care to the patient. This prevents EVS staff from having to don PPE and enter the room for this purpose. Requirements are different for terminal C&D, which is a more thorough cleaning that is performed by EVS staff after a patient has been discharged (or the room otherwise has been vacated). If an AGP had been performed in the room, staff must first allow sufficient time to elapse for potentially infectious aerosols to be removed by the air handling system. Then, they may enter the room wearing an isolation gown and gloves as PPE. A facemask and eye protection should also be worn if the selected cleaners and disinfectants require it or if splashes/sprays during C&D are anticipated.

UPDATE YOUR POLICIES AND PROCEDURES – AND CHECKLISTS Review and update existing facility policies and procedures, including checklists, to verify compliance with CDC’s current COVID-19 infection prevention and control (IPC) guidance. If C&D is to be performed by staff who are less familiar with these tasks, training in C&D processes and the use of an appropriate checklist are critical to ensure that steps aren’t missed. ECRI has created a checklist that you can use for routine C&D of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patient rooms. (See the webcast link above.) “Education and training are needed,” notes Jim Davis, a senior infection prevention & patient safety analyst at ECRI. “But they only go so far. Simulation in-situ and real-time auditing and feedback (within a just culture) is the whole package.” PERFORM BOTH CLEANING AND DISINFECTION, EVEN WHEN USING ADJUNCT TECHNOLOGIES The terms cleaning and disinfection are often used interchangeably, but they are two separate processes. Cleaning is the removing of soil. Disinfection is the killing of germs left behind. Both steps are needed: soil that remains on a surface can shield microorganisms from the disinfectant, rendering disinfection ineffective. “That’s true even if adjunct disinfection technologies are to be used,” adds Amanda Sivek, Principal Project Engineer 1 in ECRI’s device evaluation group. Technologies such as UV light, hydrogen peroxide vapor or chemical

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fogging can provide an added level of protection. “But only if the surfaces are first manually cleaned and disinfected,” warns Sivek. “Adjunct technologies shouldn’t be viewed as short cuts or time savers. Their use will add to the room turnaround time, not decrease it.” SELECT APPROPRIATE DISINFECTANTS Successfully disinfecting surfaces that have been contaminated with the SARS-CoV-2 virus requires the use of an antimicrobial product that has been found to be effective against it. EPA has developed a list of products that meet this criterion. List N, as it is called, includes the product name, its active ingredients and the contact time required to kill the virus. (See: https://www.epa. gov/pesticide-registration/list-n-disinfectants-use-against-sars-cov-2-covid-19.) See that the low-level disinfectants you’ll be using appear on EPA’s List N. You’ll also need to verify that the disinfectants are approved for use by the medical device or equipment manufacturer. PRE-POSITION C&D SUPPLIES Provide all needed C&D materials at or near the point-of-care. These include cleaning products, disinfectant (diluted per product label instructions, if

applicable), water, containers and clean or new cloths/sponges/wipes. KNOW THE “WET TIME” To achieve disinfection, disinfectants must remain in contact with surfaces for a specified period of time, referred to as the contact time, kill time or wet time. The amount of time depends on the composition of the disinfectant and will be specified on the product label. It may be as little as 15 seconds or as long as 15 minutes. Users may need to rewipe the surface if it dries too quickly. Checklists should specify that the disinfectant should be reapplied as needed to keep the surface visibly wet for the contact time. TOWARD A NEW PREPAREDNESS The term “new normal” is used a lot these days, but it’s not a favorite of ECRI’s Jim Davis. “It’s like saying we’re willing to accept subpar levels of supplies like PPE and disinfectants; and we’re willing to tolerate situations where workers of all types are not able to protect themselves.” Instead, Davis advocates for a “new preparedness,” where lessons learned from SARSCoV-2 lead to policies and practices that ensure the availability of the supplies

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that staff need to maintain clean, sanitary and safe care areas and workplaces. More resilient inventory management practices will be essential for that new preparedness. To help facilities source key supplies, ECRI has provided the health care community access to many of its proprietary resources throughout the early stages of the pandemic. These include ECRI’s functional equivalence data for PPE and other categories of supplies, as well as guidance documents describing measures to mitigate device or supply shortages and to safely implement COVID-driven changes in practices. This article is adapted from multiple resources that ECRI developed to help healthcare personnel conduct effective cleaning and disinfection of patient care areas. These and many additional resources are available through ECRI’s COVID-19 Resource Center, a free public resource to help hospitals protect healthcare workers and patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Access that site at www.ecri.org/ coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak-preparednesscenter. To learn more about ECRI’s technology decision support solutions, visit https://www.ecri. org/solutions/technology-decision-support, or contact ECRI at (610) 825-6000, ext. 5891, or by e-mail at clientservices@ecri.org.

AUGUST 2020

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NEW ADVERTISERS:

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TECHNATION COMMUNITY! VIZZIA TECHNOLOGIES Q: TELL US ABOUT YOUR COMPANY. A: Vizzia Technologies is a leading provider of fully managed Real-time Location Systems (RTLS), helping hospitals cut costs, streamline complicated processes, and improve patient care. The company was founded 15 years ago, with a mission to help healthcare organizations improve their operational efficiency and patient care, through the sensible use of our technology and process improvement expertise. Vizzia’s award winning software platform provides real-time, actionable data and process visibility that improves enterprise efficiencies, and seamlessly integrates with industry-leading RTLS, CMMS and EHR systems. Our healthcare technology solutions include: Asset Management; Contact Tracing; Environmental Monitoring; Hand Hygiene Compliance; and Patient Workflow. We also operate an IoT Lab in collaboration with a top engineering university, which

serves as an objective testing ground to independently evaluate emerging sensor technologies. Today, the company proudly Andrew Halasz serves many Founder & CEO healthcare systems nationwide and Vizzia is recognized as one of America’s fastest-growing private companies by Inc. magazine. Q: WHAT IS ONE QUALITY THAT DIFFERENTIATES YOUR COMPANY? A: We are a “fully managed” service provider, working onsite, collaboratively with our customers continuously throughout the engagement. We focus on partnering with our clients all the way from: reviewing business objectives; recommending process improvements, site survey; technology selection;

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installation; reporting; and ongoing maintenance to ensure optimal efficiencies. As an additional unique feature, the company has an IoT lab located onsite at the University of New Mexico, where we test and validate location based technologies for clinical applications. This agnostic approach allows us to confidently match the best technology with our customers’ processes, budget and desired outcomes. Vizzia’s robust managed service offering is unique and highly valued by our customers, which has positioned us as an industry thought leader and trusted service provider. This business model has served Vizzia and our customers well over 15 years, saving hospitals millions in reduced rental costs, lost equipment, staff efficiencies and increased patient workflows. • For more information, visit vizziatech.com.

TTG IMAGING SOLUTIONS, LLC Q: TELL US ABOUT YOUR COMPANY? A: TTG Imaging Solutions, headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, was formed over the past 15 months by blending 9 complementary companies into an integrated delivery system specializing in nuclear medicine and molecular imaging services. Through this consolidation, TTG brought together successful enterprises, management talent, and depth in nuclear equipment, service, and parts. SEE OUR COMPANY SHOWCASE PG. 14

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company is in its 40+ OEM certified service engineers who are expertly trained, system versatile, and responsive to client needs. Additionally, as an integrated business model, TTG Imaging Solutions can offer clients a full menu of services in system sales/leases, equipment service, technical staffing, and radiopharmaceuticals. •

John R. Tomayko, Ph.D. President/CEO

For more information, visit ttgimagingsolutions.com.

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elican Products recently expanded its lineup of rugged-and-ready tumblers specially designed to withstand the rigors of a busy HTM professional’s day. The new Pelican Dayventure Tumblers are available in three sizes (10-, 16- and 22-ounce) and five colors. These drinkware options feature extreme heat and cold retention, so coffee stays hot and ice water stays cold. Plus, they are guaranteed for a lifetime. Pelican’s Dayventure Tumblers fit 99% of all car cup holders. The Tritan insulated leak-proof locking lid keeps liquids safely inside, while the 18/8 pro grade stainless steel is vacuum-sealed and double-walled to withstand the regular bumps and drops of the workday. The sweat-proof powder finish, ergonomic design and built-in loop for easy backpack attachment means this tumbler looks good and feels good to the touch.

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SHOP TALK POWERED BY SIEMENS ARCADIS VARIC

PURITAN BENNETT 840

What causes the computer to hibernate immediately when finished booting up and how do I solve this problem? In this case, the BIOS battery is healthy and it looks like the Syngo boots and counts and shows examination, patient registration ready and then goes to hibernate. I tried to turn on the computer and it’s the same, it goes to hibernate.

I suspect the BIOS battery had a bad day and the remote power option has been corrupted/changed. On a few occasions the BIOS battery is not completely exhausted and it does strange things to the BIOS settings. During boot, select F2 or DEL to access BIOS. If you are not asked for a password, you can be sure the BIOS battery is the problem. If you remove the battery when powered-off all settings will be lost, if you have a BIOS disk then it’s easy to correct after replacing the BIOS battery. FYI: You must follow the BIOS install instructions exactly as written. If your PC is M450/M460 there is a new BIOS Version ‘E’ as I recall it has an updated install manager.

We’ve got Puritan Bennett 840 from Japan. Can anyone help to give guidance on how to change the language to English? Soldering/desoldering is not problem, but we do not know where to search for the corresponding chips.

Language change is only possible with software

AGFA CR 30-X

Can anyone please provide the service log in username and password for the AGFA service configuration tool? I have CRService and Agsrvc2ls for the PC user login but this doesn’t gain full service access for motor stall calibration.

Input only the password on the service client.

FRESENIUS MULTIFILTRATE

If the BIOS settings are lost due to a battery change Syngo will not start. You may get a “software cannot be found” or “system disk not found” message. Very odd if the BIOS battery is good. Can you double check that the remote power open is turned on? Did this issue start on its own without any service interaction? You could check the cart power on/off switch assembly, the power switch when pressed starts the hibernation function via software. Also have you done a FULL shutdown via browser? The software after 15 hibernations (I think) will display a message about doing a full shutdown. This cleans up some Windows temp folders.

If you look at the circuit diagram M50/D50 Power supply. On the right hand side, you will see the DVP3 board (in the PC) and X4 Site-On connections. The D50 K14 contact and green LED (D27) gives the “On” signal to the PC and to Hibernate when the system is shutdown normally from the “Off” switch. Can you check the D27 LED & X4 to DVP board?

Please can someone assist me on how to locate the setting parameters to change the language of a Fresenius multiFiltrate machine? You must first enter the service menu. The system must be turned off via I/O. The power switch on the rear of the system must be turned on. Press and hold the Start/Reset key. Simultaneously press the I/O until the yellow status indicator lights up. 5.2.2 Selecting the Language Use the rotary selector to select the desired language and press OK. Turn off the system via the I/O key immediately thereafter. Once again turn on the system via the I/O key and restart the Service program. Reply: Yes, I did all the above, but to progress to use the rotary selector to select the language, I need to enter a service password. That’s where I am stuck.

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.

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AUGUST 2020

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THE BENCH

BIOMED 101

Integration is Not Only Technical: Kaiser Permanente’s Keys to Success BY ANTHONY J. CORONADO

or the past 20 years, the HTM community has been dedicated in supporting the conversion of patient health information into electronic health information. The interconnection between medical devices and electronic health records helped health care organizations improve patient care by connecting different medical device modalities to diagnose patients faster, share medical history between caregivers and develop health trends that can be populated into a patient portal. In order to have a successful and compliant clinical engineering department, technical integration activities would have to be a high priority for patient flow within a health care facility today. There is also another form of integration that is just as important: organic integration. Kaiser Permanente has perfected this form of organic integration that results in a healthy network of team members with a shared vision of success.

The integration of personnel, teams and departments can be just as complicated as designing a technical integration plan. The relationship between management and labor staff can be the difference between a high- and low-performing department. Also, the management of skill sets between team members is essential to develop an effective service delivery plan for a clinical engineering department within a medical center. Kaiser Permanente has established tools that help with this type of integration

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AUGUST 2020

by establishing unit-based teams (UBTs) to provide direction, a structured framework and motivational approach to allow departments to be efficient and effective. THE CHALLENGE In all labor orientated organizations, effectively managing individuals to result in positive outcomes is always a huge challenge. Kaiser Permanente recognized this and established the innovative approach of the UBT in 2005 and it was written into Kaiser Permanente’s National Agreement with the partnering labor unions. The objective was to change the roles of union members and managers to create an environment that thinks critically about surfacing issues. This strategy allowed local departments to become more cohesive and work with other departments within a whole medical center on issues that have a wide range affect. The medical center can then share their experiences with other medical centers within their region to standardize their practices and solve common issues. This allows their region to share their successes within the complete Kaiser Permanente system and establish “Best Practice” approaches to their national patient care delivery plan. In essence, an innovative integration plan. ORGANIC MIDDLEWARE Like Middleware components in a technical integration plan, a UBT serves as that purpose and it can then be integrated with other unit-based teams

developed by other departments within a health care organization. Kaiser Permanente has over 3,500 unit-based teams that are improving health care and promoting their vision. All unitbased team members are oriented to the partnership within the first 120 days of hire. They are provided with continuous education in business literacy, metrics and measurements, and improvement methodology. The training provides each team member with an understanding of the strategy within their own department’s unit-based team and within the whole organization’s mission for patient care. This form of personnel organization is just as innovative as any technical integration plan. Unit-based teams are structured with a Charter that is approved by all team members. The Charter defines the member roles/assignments, project formation tools/trackers, and other written techniques to help team members integrate within their departments. There are two co-leads for each UBT, and they are represented by one management and one labor team member. Unit-based teams meet monthly, follow a comprehensive detailed agenda, and communicate meeting minutes with all team members. Projects are formulated during these meetings to improve performance and solve issues within a department. UBTs can also be combined with other UBTs from other departments to solve issues that might have an impact on multiple departments. All decisions made within the teams must have the required

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THE BENCH Pictured are (top row from left to right) Michael Harlani, Mauricio Suastegui, Anthony J. Coronado, Yusuf Wasi, Alain Luque, (bottom row from left to right) Raul Lopez, Jeff Hernandez, James Cho, Milton Cortez, Po Chung, Lee Dean, Brandon Bittle and Garry Bezart.

consensus indicated in the Charter and one of the focal points is encouraging each team member to contribute to the team.

ing useful life of medical devices, and cybersecurity initiatives. The overall goal is what Kaiser Permanente calls “One KP.”

THE CLINICAL TECHNOLOGY EXAMPLE An example of a project established in a Clinical Technology UBT is limiting the amount of Unable to Locate (UTL) equipment during preventive maintenance cycles. At Kaiser Permanente we know that this is not just a clinical engineering issue, but rather a multidisciplinary issue that includes each department that owns the medical devices. A goal is established for only 1 percent of the units due for preventive maintenance be put into UTL managed status. Unit-based team representatives for each corresponding department will meet during a combined meeting to obtain clear directions and provide input to reach the goal. Progress trends will be observed in a Project Tracker and the integration of departments will be established. Once the UBT Project Plan was initiated at several Kaiser Permanente Medical Centers, there was an immediate impact on the lowering of ULT percentage. Some examples of other Clinical Engineering projects that can be used in this format include reducing cost on consumables, extend-

THE BIG PICTURE Kaiser Permanente’s “One KP” initiative provides the next step in this form of organic integration. One KP was established with the patient or member’s interest in mind by improving the patient care experience. One KP also evolved into an employee satisfaction initiative by allowing Kaiser Permanente employees to have a voice within the organization, a way to recognize their achievements, and provide the tools to help them in their daily activities. Managers are required to perform “Direct Rounding” with their employees on a monthly basis, which consists of one-on-one meetings that focus employee’s outlook on department improvement. This promotes the interaction of departments and aligning each team member with the overall mission and vision of Kaiser. This big picture can be viewed as the portal for UBTs that connects each department to form a multidisciplinary mindset. THE OUTCOME When it comes to technical integration

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

for a clinical engineering department, the activities necessary to help an organization operate effectively include the utilization and connection of different types of medical devices. In order to accomplish this, technical plans and diverse forms of engineering must be integrated to formulate a secure efficient network. Organic integration assures that various personnel modalities or departments throughout the medical center are also integrated to ensure the organization operates effectively. Using framework established in a unit-based team and with the mindset of “One KP,” a healthy network of team members can be established. The combination of technical and organic integration plans can allow hospitals and clinical technology departments to flourish in all aspects. Performance improvement, compliance, team building and other department attributes will have a structured plan that involves all members’ input. Technology is great and constantly evolving, but the integration of the personnel behind the technology places health care organizations in a position to thrive. An effective team can be compared to an effective IT network. The integration of multiple systems, communication between different departments and the integrity of information shared is key for a healthy network. Kaiser Permanente believes that both forms of integration are essential to our mission of excellence and every plan requires individuals that are integrated in the network of care. Anthony J Coronado, MBA, is Area Clinical Technology Manager, Kaiser Permanente, Baldwin Park and West Los Angeles Medical Centers. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of TechNation or MD Publishing.

AUGUST 2020

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THE BENCH

WEBINAR WEDNESDAY

New Attendee Record Set STAFF REPORT

he wildly popular Webinar Wednesday Series from TechNation continues to provide topnotch education and valuable ACI-approved credits to HTM professionals in the United States and worldwide.

The most recent sessions included a variety of topics and one set a new record high for attendees. Also, more than 6,000 registrations were logged before the end of June. NIBP TESTING BEST PRACTICES The June 10 session “NIBP Testing Best Practices” achieved the highest registration and attendance numbers for 2020. The Fluke-sponsored webinar resulted in 696 registrations and 424 attendees for the live presentation. A recording of the webinar is available for on-demand viewing at WebinarWednesday.Live. The 60-minute webinar featured Jerry Zion, global training manager at Fluke Biomedical. Zion discussed NIBP Testing Best Practices. The webinar provided attendees the opportunity to achieve the following: • Learn the intended use of NIBP measurement • Understand the technology and function of traditional and new innovation NIBP • Learn the difference between testing accuracy and testing repeatability • Learn the legal metrology for calibrating NIBP Every attendee was a winner thanks to the valuable information contained in the presentation, but a couple of lucky attendees also won a prize. Carol Burke

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of Kimball, Utah won a Webinar Wednesday T-shirt and Doug Fletcher of Spectrum Healthcare, Michigan won a gift card. Attendees provided feedback via a post-webinar survey that included the question “How would you describe Webinar Wednesday to your colleagues?” “Great information for the novice and experienced tech alike. Always learn something new, and replace legend with facts, and reinforce good practices,” Biomedical Technician Analyst D. Fletcher said. “A great way to keep up with the HTM industry and a great way to earn CEUs,” Clinical Engineer J. Wilkolak shared. “This was one of the most educational ones I have attended,” stated Lead Biomed R. Naranjo. “Best online learning platform for healthcare technology management professionals,” Senior BMET S. Nadupparambath said. “I always learn something that helps with my day to day. The mention of using a stethoscope by the clinician to verify the vitals monitor is an excellent example of what I learn from different folks in the biomed industry. Great idea and well presented,” said L. Shelman, BMET III. “This webinar series is the most valuable resource for the HTM field. We learn new techniques, standard, testing methods, and etc. through this webinar series. You should not miss any single one if you want to be one of the best in your team,” T. Koh, MET, said. “Very informative on the methods of

blood pressure measurement and what steps to take during planned maintenance,” said B. Pierce, CBET 5 Team Lead. “An excellent way to learn more about the medical devices field from the perspective of an actual medical devices company,” said M. Ferdinez, student. “Valuable information shared with a mindfulness to reach BMETs of various backgrounds and experience,” said Clinical Engineering Manager J. Higgins. “Awesome training and refresher,” said C. Hardenstein, BMET. MEDICAL DEVICE RISK SCORING The presentation “Don’t Take Risks With Medical Device Risk Scoring” made 255 individual eligible to receive 1 credit from the ACI. The webinar, sponsored by Nuvolo, pushed Webinar Wednesday past the 5,000 mark for registration in 2020! In the webinar, HTM-industry experts Matt Baretich, PE, PhD, and Carol Davis-Smith, CCE, FACCE, AAMIF, discussed the need for an industry-wide methodology to accurately determine the risk of medical devices. Determining the risk a medical device poses to patients or staff should it malfunction is not only a regulatory requirement. However, it can be used to determine work order prioritization, hazard alert response, AEM eligibility and equipment replacement needs. With so many medical equipment management plan decisions being based on this important safety metric, it’s necessary for HTM organizations to use a risk scoring method that accurately

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THE BENCH determines risk at a point in time as it tracks changes in risk over time. The presenters also discussed the need for organizations to standardize how they determine risk so that there is a universal understanding of the safety implications of classes of devices, and improved ability to audit and benchmark. The winner of a Webinar Wednesday T-shirt given away during the live webinar was Scott Gillett of Baylor, Scott & White in Texas. Another lucky attendee, Kevin Davis of ERD LLC, won a gift card. The 255 attendees provided feedback via a post-webinar survey that included the question, “How will today’s webinar help you improve in your role?” “It was interesting to get a different take on risk scoring,” said M. Hoffman, CBET. “We are migrating to a new CMMS right now. This will help me assess the way we’ve been assigning risk to devices and decide if we should do something new,” Clinical Engineer M. Van Donsil said. “I agree that we need to be constantly evaluating all equipment for current risk assessment levels. Many merits, as mentioned, are still based on a 30-yearold system. We need to rethink potential risk and hazards on not only the older machines, but the newer technology that is constantly changing is very important. The presentation was an eye opener for sure, and I liked the simple format used as an example that we all can use. I personally feel that if we do not step up that things will eventually bite us,” said B. Hayes, CBET III. “It will provide a good introductory resource to help explain our AEM and risk assessment policies to team members,” said J. Walsh, operations manager. “It is very important that everyone in our industry stays up to date with ever-evolving guidelines, standards and best practices. This webinar covered some key elements regarding risk and AEM programs,” Owner/BMET K. Davis said. “It gave me a better understanding of the challenges that HTM faces, and the

logic that is used regarding risk factors and PM completion rates,” said H. Tucker, principal FES Technical Services. “Puts many things in perspective as related to risk assessing our medical equipment. I always enjoy hearing the visionary perspective of Matt and Carol. They have a way to find gems that I can take back and apply in my position,” Clinical Engineering Director G. Schneider said. STREAMLINED PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE PROCESSES The presentation “Cutting Through the Clutter: Improving Patient Safety Through Streamlined Preventative Maintenance Processes” was eligible for 1 credit from the ACI. The session was presented by Travis Horstman, CBET, CCAF, and sponsored by oneSOURCE Document Site. Horstman, a biomedical advisor at oneSOURCE Document Site, shared how utilizing new technologies and products can reduce variation. He also discussed how it can increase efficiency while improving the quality of work and the safety of patients. He explained how oneSOURCE Document Site can be an important part of the clinical engineering department. The webinar was popular with 168 attendees for the live presentation. Attendees had the opportunity to win prizes. Brett Hayes of Lafayette General Orthopedic Hospital in Louisiana won an Amazon gift card. The winner of a Webinar Wednesday T-shirt was Stanley Strzalkowski of Charles Rivers Laboratories in Michigan. A recording of the webinar is available online where HTM professionals from around the world can view the complete presentation. Attendees shared feedback regarding the webinar via a survey which included the question, “How useful was the information presented in today’s webinar?” “Streamlined PM is important. I didn’t realize 30% of critical incidents were attributed to equipment failure,” Biomedical Technician T. Smith said. “Great, we’ve set-up the same type of database for our system, but without the

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bells and whistles,” Senior Biomedical Electronics Specialist P. Lindquist said. “The information was relevant in today’s challenging technology environment,” said R. Quist, CBET. “The OneSource Document Site and its database explanation were great. Thank you for presenting a useful webinar for biomedical engineering,” Biomed B. Hemmati said. “Great information related to standardized procedures for the HTM community,” HTM Director K. Forsythe said. “This was an excellent presentation. oneSOURCE offering a one go to place for manuals, updates and cloud personalized storage is absolutely needed this day we are in. Obtaining documents and keeping procedures up to date is very time consuming, wasting resources that could allow biomed to be doing actual work. Additionally, from a liability standpoint, this would take pressure off of an organization knowing the data is up to date. I know there are other companies offering similar services, but I am impressed with the layout and simple search box. Very user friendly,” said B. Hayes, CBET III. “Very useful, particularly if you will be searching for reference service manuals,” Biomedical Engineer E. Gonzales stated. “Useful. I have used oneSOURCE before, but still learned a couple tricks,” Senior BMET J. Troutner said. For more information about Webinar Wednesday, including upcoming webinars and recordings of previous sessions, visit WebinarWednesday.Live. Thank you to our sponsors:

AUGUST 2020

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LEARN, GROW

AND BE INSPIRED. TechNation has the resources you need to sharpen your skills and stay in the know, no matter where you’re working from. LIVE WEBINARS:

AUGUST 5 | ZULAFLY Save the date for this live webinar. Participation is eligible for 1 CE credit from the ACI.

AUGUST 12 | PRONK TECHNOLOGIES Save the date for this live webinar. Participation is eligible for 1 CE credit from the ACI.

ON-DEMAND WEBINARS:

sponsored by ACCRUENT Developing and Sustaining an AEM Program & Connectiv - Al Gresch & Mike Zimmer

sponsored by TECH KNOWLEDGE ASSOCIATES (TKA) Updates to Servicing and Re-manufacturing Through the Medical Device Servicing Collaborative Community - Dave Francoeur