TechNation Magazine February 2021 by MD Publishing

1technation.com

Vol. 12

ADVANCING THE BIOMEDICAL / HTM PROFESSIONAL

FEBRUARY 2021

HTM’s Role During

k c a t t A r e Cyb Cybersecurity

Best Practices PAGE 54

Professional of the Month Alan Nicewarner

Company Showcase Nuvolo

Company Showcase Phoenix Data Systems

Lighting the Way in Xenon Innovation Excelitas Technologies has been setting the industry standard with our Cermax® Xenon light sources for more than four decades. The Cermax heritage of continual improvement, superior engineering, and broad technical expertise has produced the widest array of innovative Xenon-based lighting products available today. From our ground-breaking ceramic-body designs, to the robust and super-quiet metal-body VQ lamps, Cermax has consistently provided fresh, unique solutions for the most challenging medical lighting applications. Recognized for its high-intensity, perfect-white, light output, Cermax is used in over 90% of hospitals worldwide for critical illumination in endoscopy, headlamps, and demanding microsurgical procedures.

•• Leader Leader in in Xenon Xenon Innovation Innovation –– Offering the broadest selection of design options available today (150W - 1600W), including UV- & IR-enhanced designs •• Field-Proven Field-Proven Performance Performance –– Trusted supplier to OEMs for their most critical, demanding applications •• Robust Robust Metal-Body Metal-Body Xenon Xenon Lamp Lamp –– Featuring a precision-cut reflector body with metal-to-sapphire and ceramic seal construction, Cermax VQ lamps are unparalleled for high performance, quiet operation and dependable service Specify Cermax Xenon Lamps in your critical hospital systems to ensure maximum performance, longevity and safety. Visit our website to locate the authorized Cermax distributor nearest you.

www.excelitas.com

INTRODUCING THE ALL NEW ®

LOWER LABOR COSTS

CMMS

INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY

AEM COSR

INNOVATIVE HTM SOFTWARE M O D ERN SOFTWARE

Transform your maintenance program with the most user-friendly system in the industry.

Your CMMS Solution with

3,000

AIMS is the preferred system for managing assets, facilities, and maintenance operations for healthcare operations. For over 35 years AIMS has simplified the comlpexities of managing assets and standardizing data.

Hospitals in 18 Countries

improve your cmms experience Go Live in 120 Days or Less

Easily Track & Document your AEM Process

Full Database Conversions - All Historical Data is Converted

Comprehensive Medical Device Cybersecurity

Robust Feature Functions Save Time & Money

Interface with Any Third-Party Software

35 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE OPTIMIZED IN AIMS3

Choose AIMS and You Will Never Search for Another CMMS®

800.541.2467

WWW.GOAIMS.COM

DON’T ROLL THE DICE

WE’RE HERE TO SAVE THE DAY! WE WILL REPAIR YOUR SPACELABS EQUIPMENT.

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

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

• FLAT PANELS

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

• FREE REPAIR EVALUATIONS

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

WWW.SWBIOMED.COM • 800.880.7231

MAXIMIZE YOUR ACCURACY

PORTABILITY

SPEED

Unlock your full potential by combining Pronk’s equipment lineup

SIMULATORS & ANALYZERS Accurate test results all in the palm of your hands

BMET PACK PRO Pack your test bench, park your cart. All your testers over your shoulder

Faster testing with wireless connectivity to your smart device

Keep Your Medical Devices Safe From Cyber Attacks 99%

85%

Device Accuracy on Classiﬁcation

1,000

Reduction in manpower

Sites deployed

FEATURES INCLUDE

INVENTORY

RISK MONITORING

PRIORITIZE

FIX

REPORT

Monitor and Classify devices passively using machine learning, deep packet inspection and parsing; characterize security posture.

Monitor Threats, Anomalies and Cyber-policies.

ASIMILY prioritizes vulnerabilities with the highest likelihood and highest impact on clinical safety, business operations, and data security.

Plan mitigation of vulnerabilities using ASIMILY recommendations and block / quarantine devices if anomalies or security concerns are detected.

Generate reports on Medical and IoT device attribute, conﬁgurable reporting tool to create reports, access any out of the box ASIMILY reports.

REQUEST A DEMO TODAY asimily.com | info@asimily.com | Tel: 408-627-4097

SIMPLE SOLUTIONS FOR

COMPLEX DEVICES

Check out our new website usocmedical.com

PATIENT MONITORING PARTS • PATIENT CABLES

MANUFACTURERS

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

20 MORGAN • IRVINE, CA 92618

CARE FUSION • SECHRIST

CALL: 1.855.888.8762 VISIT: USOCMEDICAL.COM ISO 9001:2015 Certified

TECHNOLOGY THAT DELIVERS ON DEMAND C

OVID or no COVID, the demands on imaging departments and professionals are heating up. Your ability to meet those demands are only as good as the technology behind each of your devices.

At Innovatus Imaging, we’ve been fine-tuning probe repair technology for nearly 40 years, leading the way for accuracy, first-time fixes, and sustainable repairs you can trust to keep your departments up and running. Our methods are built upon processes developed by our FDA registered Center of Excellence for Design, Manufacturing and Engineering, and nearly 40 years of testing to assure accuracy, efficiency and reliability. Our leaders have dedicated lifelong careers to identifying pioneering technologies, best practices and executing them with utmost efficiencies. We call it Our Purpose. You can call it Life. Visit our website for a Technology Journey via video of our engineering and repair centers – Innovatusimaging.com. Or call us at 844-687-5100 for details about what we can do to help you meet current and future demands.

Meet with our teams at the Imaging Conference and Expo, Feb. 11-12 in Ft. Lauderdale

| CONTACT US |

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

CONTENTS

FEATURED

HE ROUNDTABLE: CMMS T Several companies were contacted to find out the latest regarding CMMS. Industry experts replied with insights and knowledge on a variety of CMMS topics including cybersecurity concerns, the latest features and what to look for when purchasing a system. Next month’s Roundtable article: Patient Monitors

HTM’S ROLE DURING CYBER-ATTACK: CYBERSECURITY BEST PRACTICES During a period of time when resources everywhere are engaged in a battle against a novel coronavirus pandemic, the incidents of cyberattack have continued to rise. The health care sector, which has been especially hard hit and often strained to the point of exhaustion, is a primary target of these attacks. ext month’s Feature article: N Right to Repair

TechNation (Vol. 12, Issue #2) February 2021 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. ©2021

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

FEBRUARY 2021

TECHNATION

CONTENTS

INSIDE Departments

PUBLISHER

John M. Krieg

VICE PRESIDENT

Kristin Leavoy

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Jayme McKelvey Megan Cabot

ART DEPARTMENT Jonathan Riley Karlee Gower Amanda Purser EDITORIAL

John Wallace Erin Register

CONTRIBUTORS

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

DIGITAL SERVICES

Cindy Galindo Kennedy Krieg

EVENTS

Lisa Lisle

WEBINARS

Jennifer Godwin

HTMJOBS.COM

Kristen Register

ACCOUNTING

Diane Costea

EDITORIAL BOARD

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

P.12 SPOTLIGHT p.12 Professional of the Month: Alan Nicewarner p.14 Company Showcase: Nuvolo p.18 Department of the Month: University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center HTM Department p.20 Shifting Gears: Joseph Beaudoin, CBET: From Heathkit to Health Care p.24 Company Showcase: Phoenix Data Systems P.26 INDUSTRY UPDATES p.26 News and Notes: Updates from the HTM Industry p.32 AAMI Update p.34 ECRI Update p.37 Ribbon Cutting: CER-Technology p.38 Welcome to TechNation: MTMI P.40 p.40 p.43 p.44 p.46

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

P.60 EXPERT ADVICE p.60 Career Center p.62 20/20 Imaging Insights, sponsored by Innovatus Imaging p.65 Cybersecurity p.66 The Future p.68 CMMS’s Role in the Real-Time Health System: Just How Real is it?, sponsored by Medigate p.71 The Other Side P.74 BREAKROOM p.74 Did You Know? p.76 The Vault p.78 MedWrench: Where In The World Is Ben C.? p.90 HTM Strong p.82 Service Index p.85 Alphabetical Index Like us on Facebook, www.facebook.com/TechNationMag

MD Publishing / TechNation Magazine 1015 Tyrone Rd., Ste. 120, Tyrone, GA 30290 800.906.3373 • Fax: 770.632.9090 Email: info@mdpublishing.com www.mdpublishing.com

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

Proud supporters of

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

CA R E E R S IN

Online Education • Nationally Accredited • 100% Online • VA Education Benefits • Externships • International Students Welcome • Scholarships Available

• BMET Certificate • Customized Corporate Training • Continuing Education Units • Career Services

Spring 1 Classes Start March 29, 2021 | Enrollment Deadline March 22, 2021

844•879•9043 WWW.CBET.EDU

/CBETCOLLEGE

SPOTLIGHT

PROFESSIONAL OF THE MONTH Alan Nicewarner, Working with His Hands BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

asketball legend Shaquille O’Neal once told sports reporters that he wanted to be known as “The Big Aristotle because Aristotle once said, ‘Excellence is not a singular act; it’s a habit. You are what you repeatedly do.’”

Alan Nicewarner, biomedical technician II in the healthcare technology management department at Baylor Scott and White Health in McKinney, Texas, might be referred to as the biomed that fits Aristotle’s quote; if you ask his boss. His boss says that Nicewarner is thorough in his work and extremely detailed in everything he does. That sounds like the kind of person that

Aristotle and O’Neal had in mind. Despite turning out to be a very good biomed, Nicewarner didn’t start out with biomed as his first ambition. “Mostly stumbled into it,” he recalls. “Tried one year of electrical engineering at the University of Kentucky; decided it wasn’t the thing for me. Thought maybe I’d follow my grandmother and aunt into the medical field, but when speaking to a medical college recruiter, none of the typical medical profession paths appealed to me,” Nicewarner says. He says that then, the recruiter asked him if he liked working with his hands and electronics. “I did; I’d taken apart video game

Alan Nicewarner, biomedical technician II, is seen sewing zippers for new PAPR shields.

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

consoles and handhelds as a teenager, mostly out of curiosity, sometimes to self-repair. So, the recruiter pointed the way towards a (at the time) fresh new medical field; biomed,” Nicewarner says. He attended technical college; Spencerian College in Lexington, Kentucky. The college closed its doors a few years after he graduated. “Covered troubleshooting methodology, basic equipment networking, AC circuits, DC circuits and digital circuits. Started with the small components at the board level and worked from the ground up to complete medical equipment,” Nicewarner says of the training curriculum. He says the program also covered medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, and basic medical safety practices so that students could integrate into the medical field easier as a technical professional. Since getting his training, Nicewarner has worked as a dialysis biomedical technician with DaVita Kidney Care, an HME biomedical technician for Children’s Health (Home Medical Equipment division, now closed) and in his current position as a biomedical technician with Baylor Scott and White Health. He says that his area of specialty is dialysis which grew out of his four and a half years working with DaVita covering acute hospital contracts and chronic DaVita dialysis clinics. “I was responsible for maintenance,

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

SPOTLIGHT

FAVORITE BOOK:

“Wheel of Time” series by Robert Jordan

FAVORITE MOVIE:

“Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy”

FAVORITE FOOD:

Fuzzy’s Taco Shop

HIDDEN TALENT:

Can throw down on a drum set.

FAVORITE PART OF BEING A BIOMED: “Working with my hands, working with hand tools, taking things apart and putting them back together.”

WHAT’S ON MY BENCH?

TOP: Alan Nicewarner, biomedical technician II in the healthcare technology management department at Baylor Scott and White Health in McKinney, Texas, holds an in-service for a ceiling-mounted patient lift. BOTTOM: Alan Nicewarner, biomedical technician II, enjoys spending time at the skeet range with his team. repairs and PMs on Fresenius 2008 series dialysis machines. Also, the RO (reverse osmosis) water treatment machines used in the hospitals; as well as the RO system, holding tanks and water loops running throughout the DaVita chronic facilities. Got pretty good at diagnosing dialysis machine issues; sometimes could diagnose pump and motor issues just by listening to the machine as it ran a rinse cycle,” Nicewarner says. BRINGING COMPUTERS TO LIFE When asked about any special projects he has been a part of in recent months, his response reflects the unique circumstances that so many of his colleagues have experienced. “Not sure I consider this ‘special,’ since I’m sure hundreds of other biomeds around the world have had to do the same thing; but assisting with the unexpected preparations for COVID-19 in the hospital is the most notable project I’ve contributed to,” Nicewarner says. “Suddenly pulling all backup and spare patient monitoring to be used in PUI/+ patient rooms. Getting units that sat in storage for months, determining if they are ready for use or not. Dealing

with sudden part shortages as every hospital in the world started ordering thermometers, temperature probes, PPE and disposables,” he adds. He says that another unique task was having to figure out how to fix broken PAPR helmet shields as caregivers that had never had to wear one before subjected the helmets to physical damage and/or improper handling. Nicewarner has several hobbies that keep him busy when not on the job. They run the gamut from music and books to custom computers. He enjoys PC gaming and has a large Steam library collection, including VR. “Probably have spent an unhealthy amount of my life with my eyes glued to my computer monitor,” Nicewarner admits. He also enjoys everything from LEGOs to chess. He says that he participated in tournaments when younger and now the strategy game is just for casual fun. Another pastime is reading books. Some titles worthy of mention include: “Sword of Truth” series by Terry Goodkind, “Coldfire Trilogy” by Celia Friedman, “The Warlock” series by Christopher Stasheff, “Something Wicked This Way Comes” by Ray

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

• Dr Pepper • Oontz speaker (for music) • Fuzzy’s cups • hand-grip trainer • cellphone

Bradbury, and “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut, Nicewarner says. He enjoys music, which he attributes to learning music theory and exposure to musical instruments. “Six years of public school band and four years of high school marching band really taught me the value in music. I can listen and enjoy just about anything,” Nicewarner says. On the computer front, every couple of years, he says that he builds a new, better, faster (read: more expensive) PC for his PC gaming needs. “Completely unnecessary; PC hardware has nearly always been ahead of video game processing and graphic demands. But there is something fun about opening a dozen boxes full of computer parts and putting it all together, getting all the cable connections hooked up, powering it on and bathing in LED RGB light while waiting for multiple tense minutes to see if the newborn PC makes it to post,” Nicewarner says. The clinicians and patients in McKinney, Texas can be thankful that this HTM professional is thorough in his work and extremely detailed in everything that he does. Retailers of computer parts can be thankful as well.

FEBRUARY 2021

TECHNATION

SPOTLIGHT

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

COMPANY SHOWCASE Nuvolo

ave you heard about The Connected Workplace for Healthcare? It’s the modern, cloudbased improvement to legacy CMMS applications.

Nuvolo, along with veteran healthcare technology management (HTM) professionals, built a powerful software platform to help HTM teams work better and faster. We understand that today’s HTM departments do much more than just maintain clinical equipment, and your CMMS should too. We work with small hospitals, some of the country’s largest health systems, and everything in between. Our mission is to consistently improve and innovate our platform to help HTM teams in their mission – delivering better patient care by ensuring your hospitals’ medical devices are safe, reliable and compliant. Nuvolo is built on ServiceNow, one of the world’s leading enterprise cloud platforms. Nuvolo’s built-on-ServiceNow strategy provides unprecedented availability, security, flexibility and performance. NUVOLO DELIVERS THE CONNECTED WORKPLACE TO HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS Connect with Your Teams Nuvolo provides HTM and Facilities teams the tools to fully understand the

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

work that needs to get done and when, who is doing the work, and coordinates tasks effectively within the department, between departments, and with their vendors. Managers, technicians, clinical engineers, trade workers, and support personnel can do their work better, faster, and more efficiently by having the information they need at their fingertips. They can automate many of the tasks that required manual processes and workarounds when using legacy CMMS applications. Nuvolo offers all the functionality of a traditional CMMS – inventory and work order management – and then takes it to a whole new level by including: • Superior mobile functionality using a smartphone or tablet to look up information and update the CMMS in real-time outside of the shop. • Integration with many other applications that enhance workflows, decrease manual data entry, and provide superior reporting for making informed operational and clinical decisions, i.e., other software platforms, medical device discovery and monitoring applications, RTLS, ERP/purchasing/financial systems, time and attendance apps and parts providers. • Service contract management to manage your contract coverage and costs, analyze the value of your contracts, and alert technicians when something is under contract and

what is covered. • Enhanced dashboards and reporting functionality – both out-of-the-box and easily configured – to track performance, regulatory compliance, and document value to leadership. • Ability to track, analyze, and control costs at the part level, device level, equipment type level, department level, on up. Connect with the Departments You Work With There are very few things in hospitals these days that do not require the expertise and support from multiple departments. Nuvolo enables the HTM, Facilities, and IT teams to easily coordinate on projects by giving them the ability to exchange vital information about work orders and tasks in real-time through the same system while tracking work progress, assigned tasks and next steps. Connect with Your Clinicians Nuvolo’s enhanced self-service portal allows clinicians to: • Place service requests easily from their mobile device or computer to automatically dispatch the proper repair team(s) when and where they are needed, even when they’re not in the shop • Look up progress on repairs • Request equipment and consumables • Review their inventory and so much more

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

SPOTLIGHT

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Connect with Your Leadership Team They say, “knowledge is power.” We give HTM and Facilities teams the knowledge and ability to monitor individual and department-level performance and regulatory compliance. Nuvolo provides detailed data to better understand the many variables that impact performance and compliance so that corrections can be made in real-time. Data analytics and corresponding reporting functionality will help you easily document and demonstrate to your leadership the value your department brings to the organization and the knowledge you have to deliver positive outcomes. Nuvolo’s Connected Workplace for Healthcare expands CMMS functionality into these areas: space planning, project management, real estate planning, sustainability, capital planning, and medical device cybersecurity – all on a single platform that supports the inter-dependencies within a healthcare setting. The Connected Workplace for Healthcare platform: • Uses smart dispatching to automate and auto route work orders based on location, device type, model, vendor, and many more. • Identifies better ways to maintain clinical devices while ensuring safety and regulatory compliance with Nuvolo’s Alternative Equipment Maintenance (AEM) workflows. • Provides visual interactive color-cod-

ed floor plan maps so staff and technicians can see and navigate all hospital rooms, devices, and work orders. • Uses the same floor maps to track mobile devices with sensor technology in real-time. • Measures energy, water, and air quality, ensuring hospitals comply with industry standards and patient comfort. • Manages cleanliness, noise level, lighting, call buttons, beds, room temperature, all aspects of the physical hospital setting. • Enables work checklists or “rounds” for comprehensive regulatory compliance and reporting. • Provides project software that tracks the delivery of high quality, cost-effective hospital renovations and new building development. • …. and so much more. All this data on one platform transforms the level of service your HTM team provides your hospital and gives you the data to make better clinical and business decisions. For example: • Your HTM and Facilities teams can answer critical device questions like: Is the device service contract needed? Should we repair or replace the device? What devices have alerts and recalls? How many ventilators do we have? Where are they located? Are

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

they patient ready? • The data will uncover any recurring problems with equipment so you can quickly troubleshoot the issue and correct it. • Your Real Estate team can track and evaluate projects to deliver high-quality, cost-effective hospital renovations, and new building development. MEDICAL DEVICE CYBERSECURITY – YES, THAT’S CONNECTED TOO! As more medical devices connect to the network, the risk of cybersecurity becomes a real challenge for IT and HTM teams. Nuvolo brings medical device data into the ServiceNow platform, where IT, security, and HTM teams share visibility. IT can then identify where the medical device is, what the device type/manufacturer/ model is, and can act on threats and vulnerabilities. Nuvolo’s Connected Workplace for Healthcare provides an improved technician and clinician experience, better real-time reporting, compliance tracking, and process simplicity. In the Connected Workplace, high standards, collaboration, and safety are built-in and automated, helping you support your hospital(s) in every way that is needed. To learn more visit us at www.nuvolo.com

FEBRUARY 2021

TECHNATION

VERIFY THE INTEGRITY OF EQUIPMENT The Insulation tester, Leak Tester Tester and Cable Continuity Tester are easy-to-use devices for verifying the functionality of equipment for safety

McGan Insulation Tester Detect & locate defects such as pinholes, cracks and bare spots in the jacket or coating of laparoscopic and bi-polar electrosurgical instruments

Leak Tester Tester Test the functionality of automated & handheld endoscope leakage testers with healthmark’s new Leak Tester Tester.

Cable Continuity Tester Test the quality of monopolar and bipolar cords with this user-friendly, durable device. A green light notifies the user that the cable passed testing.

INTELLIGENT SOLUTIONS FOR INSTRUMENT CARE & INFECTION CONTROL HMARK.COM | 800.521.6224

For more of Healthmark’s intelligent solutions for instrument care and infection control, visit

HMARK.COM

SPOTLIGHT The University Hospitals Elyria Center HTM department is, from right to left, Mark Kundrick, John Hojnacki, Larry Liszeski, John Mouhanna and Allan McHugh. Not pictured is Jennifer Light.

DEPARTMENT OF THE MONTH

University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center HTM Department BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

he city of Elyria, Ohio sits in the western metro-Cleveland portion of the state. The city includes attractions like the Black River Reservation and the Hickories Museum. The city is the county seat of Lorain County. Close to the Lake Erie shoreline, it is a good place to visit during the summer or fall months.

Meeting the health care needs of the local population is University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center. The medical center has been serving the people of Lorain County for more than 100 years. The medical center is part of the University Hospitals Health Care System in northeast Ohio. The Sodexo Healthcare Technology Management team that handles medical equipment management at the facility helps out colleagues at other system locations as well. “Besides the main hospital, the Elyria HTM team supports four other health care centers and a number of clinics, wound care centers and other

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

smaller sites. As part of a larger system, we also mutually support other hospital HTM teams across the enterprise as needed,” says Larry Liszeski, CBET, supervisor of clinical engineering/healthcare technology management at UH Elyria Medical Center. The team has recently transitioned to using the up-to-date HTM moniker. “The team at Elyria Medical Center is comprised of myself and five staff. We are part of a larger system of 19 hospitals. We are involved in the full scope of medical equipment management including life support and diagnostic imaging either through direct support or vendor service coordination,” Liszeski says. “Most call us UH Clinical Engineering. But we recently began using UH HTM in our documentation and official communications,” he adds. Team members include John Hojnacki, CBET/CRES, imaging tech II; John Mouhanna, lead tech; Allan McHugh, BMET II; Jennifer Light, BMET II and Mark Kundrick, BMET II. Hojnacki handles CT, MRI, porta-

bles and ultrasound devices. Mouhanna is in charge of the operating room equipment, life support, monitoring and oversight for all departments. McHugh is in charge of off-sites, including emergency departments, urgent care centers and surgery centers. Light is responsible for the devices in the emergency room, OB, med/surg floors as well as wound care and infusion. Kundrick handles SPD equipment, IV pumps, med/surg devices and biomed support. “Elyria HTM is an inclusive program designed to be the one-stop shop for addressing all medical needs. The Elyria HTM team blends the best possible service model by utilizing internal talent, third-party service and vendor service to provide the highest level of patient care. The team works directly with nursing leadership, purchasing and finance teams on all medical equipment costs,” Liszeski says. The team uses its CMMS to track devices across the entire health system. “We have transitioned from a discreet, locally hosted CMMS at UH

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

SPOTLIGHT Elyria to using a single system-wide system. We are able to use this to collect data from all sites efficiently. Data is continually collected using a rigorous life cycle management program. Each asset is tracked from planning stage, into usage, and then eventual replacement,” Liszeski says. Working alongside their IT counterparts, the HTM team members are increasing the number of joint efforts. “This is an area of growth. Each project, we have a little more collaboration. We have laid the groundwork for a 2021 cybersecurity project,” Liszeski says. Vendor relations and in-house capabilities are also evolving. “Our approach to contract management is rapidly evolving from local processes at individual hospitals to a holistic, system-wide approach with HTM input at its core,” Liszeski says. ADAPTING TO A PANDEMIC The HTM team has been involved in a number of projects outside of maintenance and repair, including the extra challenges of helping to support a surge of COVID patients during 2020. “Our staff has been engaged in a wide variety of project support this year. Among those have been the upgrading of the anesthesia fleet, installation of a new heart cath lab and MRI, and EMR integration projects for vital signs and critical alarm management,” Liszeski says. He says that in the past year, the team has also coordinated multiple recalls. “Supporting COVID-19 surge planning has naturally played a big part of our year, particularly in maintaining critical equipment such as ventilators and facilitating the deployment of those systems between hospitals as called for,” Liszeski says. Another project has involved the renovation of multiple floors and areas within the hospital including several OR rooms. The renovations included gutting rooms to the studs. It also involved taking three OR rooms and part of the ACC area to make two larger OR rooms. Not including

planning, the project took three months to complete. HTM team members also installed new GE Healthcare VC150 units and worked with staff to place wall-mounting. The HTM crew then worked with GE Healthcare to connect the devices to the EMR. “This area was relocated. CE/HTM was responsible for taking down existing monitoring and then mounting it all back up in new area. The new locations were not standard, and this meant each area had to be evaluated as to which GCX mounting was going to be required,” Liszeski says. Since the pandemic, the team has been at the epicenter of equipment management; providing information on current inventories, moving items across the system and reallocating equipment as needed. “My staff has also adjusted as we now work different shifts and at different locations. This has meant a shift in responsibilities and job coordination. Prior to COVID, we all shared the same work space. In an effort to protect our ability to provide support, we split the department up by doing the following: Moved one staff member to an off-shift. Moved another staff member to an off-site location and moved one to a separate room within the hospital,” Liszeski says. He says this split his team up and did create some challenges.

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

“My second shift person could no longer perform PMs in areas closed after hours. And it was more difficult to call tech support after hours. This meant we needed to change the duties to ones that could be performed after hours. This also was an opportunity for cross training on the fly as any day shift personal needed to cover new areas along with not having as many bodies available,” Liszeski says. When not on the job, the HTM department remains involved in the HTM community. “We have staff involved in HTMOhio as well as AAMI. We have staff attend meetings from both. We have TechNation delivered to the department as well as other periodicals,” Liszeski says. Liszeski and Director Dave Mann serve as active advisory committee board members of the biomed program at Cuyahoga Community College. “Additionally, staff members attended the AAMI conference in 2019,” Liszeski says. He says that he authored the current system SPRPT policy and led systemwide implementation. Jennifer Light, BMET II, is working on developing the UH system policy on evidence-based maintenance. Despite a year of challenges, the HTM team at UH Elyria Medical Center has supported clinical staff to better serve the people of Lorain County.

Jennifer Light works on GE Apex pro tele packs for Covid surge purposes. FEBRUARY 2021

TECHNATION

SPOTLIGHT

SHIFTING GEARS

A look at HTM professionals away from work From Heathkit to Health Care BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

he ability to cauterize a wound and stop the bleeding has been around for more than a thousand years. The first electrical application arrived on the scene prior to the Civil War. The procedure was termed “galvanocautery,” and it involved thin platinum wires that were heated using a battery.

By the 1920s, William T. Bovie introduced an electrosurgical instrument that could be used for coagulation. It was the first of its kind to also have cutting settings. Using higher frequency electric current, it could cut tissue without muscular contraction. Bovie’s device was used during the 1930s as well. Like radios of the day, it offered much more in aesthetics than modern-day medical instruments. That may be one reason that Joseph Beaudoin, CBET, a senior biomedical technician in the Trinity Health clinical engineering department has it on his project list. Trinity Health is a part of St. Peter’s Health Partners clinical engineering team in Schenectady, New York. Beaudoin has had an interest in electronics that goes back decades and that life-long interest has inspired a creative hobby. “My interest in electronics began in the summer of 1973. I was 12 years old and Dad just bought a new 19-inch black-andwhite television for the living room. Dad had enough of the old 25-inch Zenith console shutting down during Gunsmoke. It was moved to the basement, awaiting a trip to the landfill,” Beaudoin remembers. “I decided to take a look inside the old television to see what made it work. I

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

Joseph Beaudoin, CBET, is seen by one of his amps. noticed that one of the tubes was not glowing. It was a 5U4 rectifier tube. A trip to the store and I had my own television to watch what I wanted,” he says. Beaudoin says that his dad was so impressed that he told his friends at work. “One of his friends sent him home with a bag of Popular Electronics and Amateur Radio magazines. I was hooked. Dad got me a meter and soldering iron at Radio Shack. I was in business at 12 years old. In eighth grade, I took a class in industrial arts. I built my first project; a very basic vacuum tube filament tester,” Beaudoin says. He says that in the summer of 1974, Dad’s friend from work sadly passed away. His wife asked Beaudoin’s father if his son might be interested in some of his old electronics stuff. “Dad and I went to visit and when we left, the back of the truck was filled from top to bottom – cab to tailgate with electronics. I set up shop in the basement,” he says. Beaudoin picked up soldering and testing by the ninth grade as well as taking metal shop. With that experience, he was able to fabricate a service fixture to hold the turntable assemblies found in console stereo systems.

“By the summer of 1975, word had gotten out and I was getting many requests for service. At my busiest I had 10 televisions in my basement shop. Dad was so proud of my success, he bought me a Heathkit 5Mhz oscilloscope, a Heathkit Vacuum Tube Tester with roll chart and an RF signal generator. All in kit form,” Beaudoin says. There were also special projects like powers supplies for CBs and modifying a Magnavox console stereo to be used as a guitar amplifier. Beaudoin loved working in his basement shop. “In 1977, enrolled in the radio/ television electronics program in vocational school, I would spend all my free time at high school in the library pouring over the reviews and specifications in magazines like High Fidelity and Audio. Audio had become a passion of mine and I viewed audiophile equipment not only as high quality but also an artistic statement. I wanted out of the consumer electronics business and thought my best chance to work with quality technology was to work in broadcasting and recording,” Beaudoin says. In 1979, Beaudoin enlisted in the Army as a radio and television systems broadcast technician.

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

SPOTLIGHT “After training in broadcasting, I was stationed at Fort Benning and worked as a bench and field technician servicing both commercial and consumer electronics. I also worked in the evening as a service technician for World Wide Stereo,” he says. In 1982, he was transferred to Southern European Broadcasting in Vicenza, Italy. This assignment allowed him to focus on his interest in high-end audio and video systems. VACUUM TUBES TO WATER TREATMENT Beaudoin’s project list is varied and includes historic medical equipment, classic guitar amplifiers and even a koi pond. “I have refurbished many old anesthesia vaporizers into desk lamps. The insides are removed and just the shell is used. I have also installed touch sensors. I have sold a few and gave away some. New technology does not carry the same aesthetic quality as these old pieces,” he says. Beaudoin is currently working on the restoration of a 1930s Liebel Flarsheim Bovie Junior Electrical Surgical Unit. “The unit has been completely disassembled and each component cleaned and restored. The most difficult part of the project is the work involved in restoring the veneered cabinet,” he says. “I have also evaluated several vintage solid-state amplifiers from the 1970s. I have little success in sourcing discrete

components and often find commonly needed components unavailable. Often the wide specifications of generic replacements can introduce problems. Especially on designs with tight specifications,” Beaudoin adds. He says that building and troubleshooting vacuum tube guitar amplifiers is very enjoyable and borders on art rather that science. “The tubes that are manufactured today have characteristics that are reviewed much like one may review a bottle of wine,” Beaudoin explains. “What interests me the most in projects like vacuum tube amplifiers is that much of the technology used is classic. The knowledge I have acquired over the years is still very relevant,” Beaudoin adds. He says that many boutique shops get top dollar for hand-wired high-quality guitar amplifiers. Whereas in computer-based technology, the technology becomes obsolete before the hardware has failed. “When I plug a guitar in to my amp, there is no boot-up there are no software upgrades or applications to update. Just raw power,” Beaudoin says. “In 2001, I was tasked with learning renal dialysis and water treatment. In an effort to accelerate the process, I installed a 2,000-gallon koi pond in my backyard. I have both mechanical and biological filtering and ultraviolet clarification. I

monitor water quality and add chemicals as needed. Very helpful in learning about water treatment,” Beaudoin says. When not tinkering with vacuum tubes and veneer cabinets, Beaudoin can be found at Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital in Schenectady, New York. This year marks his 25th year in biomed. “I started in 1996 at Glens Falls Hospital. Most of my experience is supporting surgical services, respiratory care, patient monitoring and renal dialysis. This past September, I made the move from a surgical care environment to Sunnyview. The move allowed me the opportunity to learn a new specialty and perspective on health care,” Beaudoin says. He says that working in a rehabilitation hospital has been an interesting change. “There is a wide selection of equipment in physical therapy that I service and maintain. There is basic foundational equipment like lifts, scales, treadmills, bikes and therapy beds. Then there are the more complex systems like ultrasounds, rewalk robotics and patient monitoring. I also continue to provide support to the team with respiratory and anesthesia accountability,” Beaudoin says. What started as a blown rectifier tube in a 25-inch TV has grown into an interesting hobby aligned with a lengthy career with a wealth of knowledge accumulated along the way.

Joseph Beaudoin started tinkering with electronics when he was 12. His passion continues to this day.

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

FEBRUARY 2021

TECHNATION

SPOTLIGHT

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

COMPANY SHOWCASE Phoenix Data Systems

or Phoenix Data Systems, 2020 was a year of learning. We learned that working from home “works,” and that despite all of the trials and tribulations of the past year, we were able to come together while being apart, as a cohesive unit focusing on AIMS 3 – Phoenix’ newest version of the AIMS Software – and customer satisfaction and support, with scores soaring to a 98% satisfaction rate overall.

Stability, longevity and an unfailing ability to deliver are words used to describe Phoenix Data Systems, the AIMS CMMS provider serving hospitals for more than 35 years. What started as a simple work order and equipment tracking software application in the early 1980s has grown to serve more than 3,000 customers worldwide. The latest platform – AIMS 3 – is rich in feature functions, has dynamic reporting options, and unlimited interface opportunities, all of which streamline workflows. AIMS 3 is a

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

complete software rewrite but continues to be scalable so you only purchase the system needed to get started, adding components and customizations as needs grow and budgets allow. Some of the most notable features in AIMS 3 include: 1. Browser Agnostic – Reach AIMS using any browser from a desktop, laptop, smartphone or tablet. 2. Resizable Screen – Fields auto-align to any screen resolution and device. 3. User Specific Home Screen – Home screens will list work orders and charts specific to your assignments and daily workflow. 4. Common Name Plate – A “sticky-display” will always be visible in the Equipment section displaying pertinent information for PMs and CMs, including work order number, requestor, request date, status, status date, type of work order and contact information. 5. Common Equipment Information – A “sticky-display” will always be visible in the Work Order section displaying pertinent Equipment

Information including tag number, manufacturer, model, equipment type, description, serial number, risk and status. 6. Common Toolbar – Tools used in every component display in a new bar across the top of your screen, similar to the quick access bar in Microsoft products (save, add, delete, find, next, previous, etc.). 7. Common Message Bar – Messages such as “under warranty” and “under contract” will be permanently displayed at the top of the appropriate components in plain text, no more symbols, or tooltips. 8. Chat – Users have the ability to chat with one another inside of AIMS 3. 9. “Another User is Viewing” Message – Notifications are sent when another user is viewing the same record as you. Additional notifications are sent if a change is made to that record, asking the user to refresh. 10. Global Data Managers – All data managers can be global or non-global with the ability to be assigned to

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

SPOTLIGHT

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

specific facilities or all facilities. As AIMS 3 continues to be developed, with new features and functions added daily, it has already been installed in smaller hospitals with great success. THE PHOENIX APPROACH For more than 35 years, Phoenix’ mission has been to provide innovative, user-friendly, fully supported CMMS software to the health care industry. Phoenix is committed to creating software that works for AIMS users, giving them the features and functions

to meet growing needs, while meeting industry mandates. Phoenix also regularly solicits our customers for suggestions to improve their software. One of the ways Phoenix listens to customer needs is through 35 Annual User Symposiums. The 2020 User Symposium shifted from a standard in-person meeting to an interactive webinar format. The seven sessions ranging from Best Practices, to AIMS 3 and Superior Analytics offerings were wildly successful, with the highest attendance ever!

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Phoenix came away with numerous user-suggested improvements and discussion points that are already being considered for addition to the advancement of AIMS 3. Another core strength and reason for ongoing success is Phoenix’ Customer Service and Technical Support Department. Phoenix is one of a handful of companies with a receptionist who answers all phone calls – even throughout 2020. Phoenix’ technical support services are the highest rated in the industry, with more than 95% of issues resolved during the first phone call. Phoenix’ “open door policy,” along with customer support surveys provide feedback so we can provide the best software, service and support experience for our users. Whether you’re using AIMS as a single-user system or in a large multi-hospital system, once you choose AIMS, you’ll never search for another CMMS. For more information about Phoenix Data Systems Inc. and AIMS, call 800-541-2467 or visit www.goaims.com.

FEBRUARY 2021

TECHNATION

INDUSTRY UPDATES

NEWS & NOTES

Updates from the HTM Industry ORDR ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH HSS Ordr has announced a new partnership with HSS Technology Services, a managed security services provider that specializes in high-risk environments where safety and security are essential. As part of the partnership, HSS will immediately give customers the option of incorporating Ordr into their Spotlight services offering. Spotlight is a medical device security services program that aims to address challenges facing health care organizations, such as cyberattacks resulting in compromised devices that impact patient safety, protected patient information and network security. New HSS customers will have full access to Ordr’s powerful capabilities as a component of the Spotlight service offering. The Spotlight program has already been embraced by numerous health care leaders. “The Spotlight program takes the

stress and effort off of managing the cyber risks of medical devices by combining Ordr’s unmatched visibility into medical devices and risks, with a managed services team that can help us address them,” said Mark Heston, director of clinical engineering, Children’s Hospital Colorado. The HSS Spotlight program using Ordr technology is ideal for small and mid-sized health care providers. Using Ordr as a premier asset discovery tool, customers will be able to discover and classify connected devices and identify vulnerabilities across thousands of medical device models. HSS will correlate device and risk insights from Ordr with its proprietary vulnerability database, and provide real-time support to its customers, including a full-time technician who will be on-site to remediate vulnerabilities. HSS technicians will be armed with a prioritized

plan for addressing risks over time with consistent and thorough maintenance and security efforts. HSS will provide vulnerability remediation via patches and updates and work with security and network teams on protection best practices. HSS can rapidly respond to customer issues and collaborate with them to maintain high levels of security preparedness. “Health care organizations are facing a number of challenges, including increasing regulations, increasing threat of cyber attacks, and financial insecurity due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Kirsten Benefiel, CEO of HSS. “The HSS Spotlight program using Ordr technology is one way health care systems can retake control, allowing them to reduce the risk in their organizations, improve patient safety and create efficiencies that will create a return on their financial investment.” •

TECH ETCH ANNOUNCES NEW BRAND IDENTITY Tech Etch – a provider of critical components for our world’s most advanced military, medical and aerospace industries – has unveiled a new brand identity. Designed to work effortlessly across digital and physical channels, the rebranding includes a top-to-bottom redesign of the company’s logo, website and communications. The newly redesigned website features easy-to-navigate pages while providing a seamless user experience and better highlights the

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

full suite of services Tech Etch offers. “We have exciting growth and new initiatives and needed a brand that was progressive and reflective of our innovation, energy and approachability,” said Vice President of Marketing Mark Strangie. “While our name remains the same (hyphen removed), our logo and website have changed significantly to better represent who Tech Etch is and what we plan to provide for our community.” •

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

INDUSTRY UPDATES

TRIMEDX ACQUIRES CENTURION SERVICE GROUP TRIMEDX – a provider of clinical engineering, medical device cybersecurity and clinical asset management solutions to health care providers – has acquired Centurion Service Group, a full-service surplus medical equipment management company. The acquisition is expected to expand TRIMEDX’s clinical asset management offering. “The added capabilities of Centurion will allow TRIMEDX clients to gain maximum value from their excess medical equipment through Centurion auction services, positively impacting operational expenses, maximizing resources to improve patient care and optimizing clinical asset capital spend while also supporting environmental sustainability of dispositioned medical equipment,” according to a news release. TRIMEDX’s acquisition of Centurion Service Group will enhance TRIMEDX’s clinical asset management and informatics solutions, which currently include clinical asset benchmarks and TRIMEDX’s proprietary RUDR SCORE, by leveraging Centurion’s proprietary medical equipment pricing data and adding a marketplace that enables clients to identify assets available for reallocation across all their sites of care or to ultimately sell excess medical equipment through an integrated e-commerce platform. “COVID-19 has accelerated changes for our health care providers. They are adopting new models of care and increasingly

need innovative partners that can adapt to support the needs of their business today and support future plans across all of their sites of care,” said TRIMEDX CEO Henry Hummel. “With the addition of Centurion, TRIMEDX clients can maximize the value they receive for excess medical equipment through worldwide auctions – freeing up space for immediate-need equipment – while Centurion clients will benefit from access to increased inventories of high-quality equipment and the trusted stamp of quality associated with TRIMEDX maintained medical equipment.” “Our primary objective has always been to build a comprehensive, provider-centric medical equipment model,” said Centurion Service Group CEO Erik Tivin. “By joining forces with TRIMEDX, we continue to push this goal forward while effectively transforming the opportunities available across the industry and enabling Centurion to offer our current clients a broader set of value-added services, including an end-to-end ecosystem with greater inventory of high-quality, pre-owned medical equipment.” Centurion Service Group will operate as a subsidiary of TRIMEDX, continuing the services, commercial offerings and cadence of auctions that clients experience today. TripleTree LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to Centurion in the transaction. •

Certified Biomedical Equipment Technician (CBET) exam preparation course

the offered in

M CLASSROO ast ONLINE & Simulc taught by MSOE Professor, Larry Fennigkoh, a leading biomedical engineering expert

Ph.D

This intensive 4-day course is designed as an introduction to healthcare technology and a review for the CBET exam. Exam Topics include: • Anatomy & Physiology • Healthcare Safety • Electronic Fundamentals • Technology Function • Problem Solving • Information Technology

March 15-18, 2021 in Milwaukee, WI & Simulcast Online Register Now at w w w . m t m i . n e t ~also coming in the fall of 2021~

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

FEBRUARY 2021

TECHNATION

INDUSTRY UPDATES

CYBERMDX, CISA AND GE WORK TO MITIGATE POTENTIAL BREACHES A vulnerability was discovered in a range of GE Healthcare devices popular in hospitals, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) disclosed on December 8. The vulnerability, discovered by CyberMDX, impacts dozens of radiological devices and could allow an attacker access to sensitive PHI data, alter data and impact the availability of the machine. The CyberMDX team discovered this vulnerability after noticing similar patterns of unsecured communications between medical devices and the corresponding vendor’s servers across several different health care delivery organizations. After detecting the anomalies, the research further investigated discovering multiple recurring maintenance scenarios instigated automatically by GE’s server. The maintenance protocols rely on the machine having certain services available/ports open and using specific globally used credentials. These global credentials provide hackers with easy access to crucial medical devices. They also enable them to run arbitrary code on impacted machines and provide

access to any data from the machine. GE has confirmed that the vulnerability impacts many radiological devices including CT scanners, PET machines, molecular imaging devices, MRI machines, mammography devices, X-ray machines and ultrasound devices. The vulnerability also impacts certain workstations and imaging devices used in surgery. CVE-2020-25179 was given a CVSS score of 9.8, reflecting a critical severity, in the ICS-CERT Advisory ICSMA-20-343-01. “Over the past few months, we’ve seen a steady rise in the targeting of medical devices and networks, and the medical industry is unfortunately learning the hard way the consequences of previous oversights,” said Elad Luz, head of research at CyberMDX. “Protecting medical devices so that hospitals can ensure quality care is of utmost importance. We must continue to eliminate easy access points for hackers and ensure the highest level of patient safety is upheld across all medical facilities.” •

CLINICAL ENGINEERING LEADER, ADVOCATE DIES

CANON MEDICAL RECEIVES SERVICE AWARDS Canon Medical Systems USA Inc. has earned top awards for CT and MR service according to data gathered during IMV’s 2020 ServiceTrak customer surveys. The award in each category is given to imaging system providers that receive the highest percentage of highly satisfied customer responses. “Now, more than ever, customers need a technology and service partner that they can count on. Their focus should be on treating patients and not worrying about service needs,” said Dominic Smith, vice president, service field and sales. “I am proud that once again our Canon Medical team has

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

been recognized for going above and beyond to support our customers. We appreciate our customers loyalty and continued confidence in our ability to offer tools and system uptime to help them best serve their patients.” According to IMV, overall OEM service performance is heavily impacted by attitude of service engineer and meeting system uptime expectations. IMV is one of the leading market research and business intelligence providers to the diagnostic imaging industry. • For more information, visit us.medical.canon.

On December 8, 2020, Tom O’Dea, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 82, according to a post on the American College of Clinical Engineering (ACCE) website. He was the director of the first department of biomedical engineering at Evanston Hospital. He and his family later moved to Shoreview, Minnesota, where he took a position as director of biomedical engineering at the University of Minnesota. O’Dea was a true lifelong learner, earning a doctorate in medical imaging in 2001 at the age of 63. Even after retirement from the University of Minnesota, he continued his passion for biomedical engineering through many “projects” that he was constantly working on in the early hours of the morning and secured a number of patents for his work. •

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

INDUSTRY UPDATES

PHILIPS INTRODUCES INTEGRATED CYBERSECURITY SERVICES Royal Philips has introduced Philips Cybersecurity Services for integrating and enhancing strategic security solutions for Philips customers. The Philips Cybersecurity Services comprise an end-to-end suite of technologies and services to safeguard customers’ medical systems, devices and related software solutions regardless of their manufacturer, helping empower digital transformation in health care. Created as a platform for partnership with health care customers, the Cybersecurity Services help define and implement strategic and tactical software and device protection. The Cybersecurity Services are designed to be customized and optimized for present and emerging individual customer needs for their health care environments. As requirements evolve, the Cybersecurity Services will provide guidance on how to adapt to provide optimum protection and support. The services will initially be deployed in the U.S., with expansion to other geographies planned for 2021. Philips’ integrated Cybersecurity Services are supported by a new partnership with CyberMDX, a provider of health care cybersecurity capabilities for hospital digital environment mapping and evaluation, medical device risk assessment, security prioritization, threat detection and intelligence, intrusion prevention, and related support. Data and insights collected through CyberMDX form a core foundation for development and implementation of a full cybersecurity plan for individual customers. “Successfully preventing cyber-threats and future-proofing digital health care environments requires a systemic, disciplined approach in both design and implementation, as well as strong partnerships,” said Conrad Smits, head of global services and solutions at Philips. “We are pleased to partner with CyberMDX, and through our complementary tools and expertise, we will be able to provide an integrated cybersecurity service offering for our customers.” The Philips Cybersecurity Services include: • Cybersecurity Consulting – Security experts provide risk and vulnerability assessments of medical systems, regulatory compliance support, and guidance for seamlessly integrating security response and recovery across suppliers. • Cybersecurity Protection and Upgrade Services – Technology and service offerings work to keep systems secure

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

through software upgrades to the latest security standards, medically validated OS patching and network segmentation. Philips navigates the balance between required security protections, minimizing downtime as well as maximizing the lifetime usage of systems and devices. • Cybersecurity Detection and Recovery Services – Identifying and monitoring the security posture of medical assets and systems 24/7. When needed, these services trigger response and recovery workflows. The services identify incidents with a focus on a health care context to avoid data overload, and then initiates remediation actions enabling operations to resume as soon as possible. • Cybersecurity Access and Audit Services – Access and audit services help maintain control over employee and vendor system access and allow for streamlined/compliant auditing of procedures and data. This provides essential insights into a hospital’s security profile – indicating strengths and potential vulnerabilities. “Philips’ cybersecurity approach is defined by its end-toend “Security by Design” principles, infusing security from product design and development, through testing and deployment – followed up with robust policies and procedures for monitoring, effective updates and incident response management. Philips has also contributed to the development of national and international cybersecurity standards for medical devices. The Philips Cybersecurity Services aligns with global cybersecurity best practices and internationally recognized standards,” a press release states. •

FEBRUARY 2021

TECHNATION

INDUSTRY UPDATES

TRAINING TESTS LRMC SERVICE MEMBERS Over 300 personnel at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) participated in Operation Courageous Ascent, a training exercise designed to test medical operations in austere environments, Nov. 17-19. The exercise tested medical personnel on a variety of combat medical skills such as applying combat action tourniquets, casualty evacuation, dismounted patrolling, land navigation, movement under fire, communications protocol, identifying and reacting to improvised explosive devices and chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear attacks. “Our mission out here is to prepare Soldiers to deploy in support of contingency operations,” said U.S. Army Maj. Denise Quintana, officer in charge of Operation Courageous Ascent and chief of Operations at LRMC. “We’re training Soldiers to become proficient in Army Warrior Tasks, and Individual Critical Tasks Lists in order to survive on today’s battlefield.” The Construct for Implementation of Section 702 of the National Defense Authorization Act outlines the priority of operational readiness and support of war fighting and operational missions over the delivery of clinical/health care services, meaning military medical personnel must consistently maintain a high standard of critical lifesaving skills for mission-related operations. At LRMC, war fighting and operational requirements are validated through exercises like Operation Courageous Ascent and robust hands-on, practical training programs. According to Quintana, the monotony of clinical settings may degrade uniformed medical personnel’s combat readiness, making training like Operation Courageous Ascent more impactful. “Soldiers are eager to participate. It gives them a chance to exercise the warrior skills they were trained to do,”

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

she explains. “Our end state is for LRMC to be a globally integrated, ready medical force, postured to support the Joint Warfighter and establish LRMC as the gold standard for readiness and ICTL training.” As soldiers patrolled through surrounding forests of the medical center, concurrent medical simulations occurred at LRMC’s Medical Simulation Training Center to refresh soldiers on assessment and medical evacuations of combat casualties. For some, the experience offered an opportunity to participate in atypical roles outside of medical settings. “I got a lot out of the training, I was actually a squad leader throughout the exercise,” said U.S. Army Spc. Richard Russell, a biomedical equipment support technician at LRMC. “There were things I haven’t even done since basic training, such as reacting to indirect fire, so it was pretty awesome to see it all again.” In addition to refreshing soldiers on warrior tasks and lifesaving operations, the exercise also introduced other uniformed personnel to Army training exercises, reflective of LRMC’s combined operations with U.S. Air Force counterparts.

“I would recommend the training to other soldiers because I didn’t realize all the (warrior tasks) I had forgotten in just a year and a half of not participating in field exercises,” said Russell. “Getting refreshers such as these I feel is very important. If I had been put as a squad leader in a real-life situation without the refresher I would have been in a really bad spot.” The three-day exercise is the second training event of its kind this year for LRMC and the first since the start of the COVID-19 global pandemic, adding further stressors to the exercise as staff and participants exercised COVID-19 safety measures throughout the training. As a Role 4 theater hospital, LRMC is responsible for the medical care of wounded, ill or injured warfighters evacuated from the U.S. European Command, U.S. Africa Command, and U.S. Central Command areas of operation. Exercises like Operation Courageous Ascent prepare LRMC medical personnel to implement lifesaving skills at the initial echelons of care, namely between the first contact made with the injured troop through when a decision has been made for medical evacuation to Germany.

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

INDUSTRY UPDATES

TECHNICAL

PROSPECTS

Experts in Siemens Medical Imaging

TECHNICAL PROSPECTS ANNOUNCES RETURN OF IN-PERSON TRAINING Technical Prospects has announced that its in-person training curriculum is returning in 2021. The company has implemented COVID-19 safeguards for its in-person courses and will also offer virtual courses. A multitude of courses will be accessible in computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), fluoroscopy, radiography and angio/cath lab fields with the most notable of these course offerings being: • Siemens Ysio/Ysio Max; • Artis Zee/dFC/FA; and • Luminos Agile/Agile Max. The company is also offering a five-day MRI course on Siemens Magnetom Avanto and Espree designed to advance the knowledge, capabilities and careers of field service and technical support personnel. With extensive safety precautions being taken, the company is following CDC guidelines to ensure a safe environment for

all in-person participants. These safety measures include small class sizes, social distancing, personal protective equipment (PPE), enhanced cleaning and sanitation, individual meals for attendees and rules limiting the amount of employees within the building at any given time. In addition, all courses have been ACI certified by the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) at 45 CEUs each. Technical Prospects is also excited to announce a new instructor for 2021 course programming in Sam Darweesh. Before obtaining his master’s degree, Darweesh earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and is equipped with 20-plus years of experience as a CT and MRI senior engineer and subject matter expert. “We are looking forward to our training program in 2021,” said Jeremy Probst, president and CEO for Technical

Prospects. “This year has proven to be a challenge for the educational field due to the pandemic, but with the new curriculum and the addition of Mr. Darweesh, I am thrilled to see Technical Prospects continue to be an educational trailblazer in the medical imaging community.” With advanced expertise in the field, Darweesh has provided skilled recommendations to engineers in North and South America and has led major strategic projects on CT and MRI systems across the globe. Darweesh is also an adjunct professor of medical imaging in addition to his collaborations with worldwide major independent service organizations (ISOs). • For more information on 2021 courses and to view the training calendar, visit TechnicalProspects.com or email training@technicalprospects.com.

CMMS VENDORS OFTEN FOCUS ON PRETTY SCREENS AND USE BUZZWORDS TO DESCRIBE THEIR PRODUCT But what if a CMMS could transform your team’s ability to improve everything they touch? The ultramodern HEMS® CMMS from EQ2 does exactly this with the newly released Version 8. • Compliance and AEM guided directly by regulatory standards • Call Center/Dispatch Board with automatic multi-level escalation based on time elapsed, location, problem, shift, etc. • Easy Visibility into Recalls and Network Security Risks • Numerous Integrations • And more…

For CEUs Download TechNation On-Demand Webinars of EQ2 with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health and Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Harbor-UCLA Medical Center!

For Cloud-Based SaaS or In-House Server

888-312-HEMS (4367) | www.eq2.com EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

FEBRUARY 2021

TECHNATION

INDUSTRY UPDATES

AAMI UPDATE BY AAMI

vasive remote monitoring devices used to support patient monitoring during the COVID-19 emergency, followed by emergency use authorizations for certain remote or wearable patient monitoring devices. CR511 was created to help innovators get involved. It highlights common system elements for engineers and outlines safety and risk control measures that both manufacturers and caretakers should consider. The document also carefully defines what “remote-control” is when referring to medical devices.

REMOTE-CONTROLLED HOSPITAL DEVICES GET COVID-19 GUIDANCE Remotely controlled hospital wards may sound like something out of science fiction, but they’re already becoming reality, and an innovation that could save time and even lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. That is why the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) has published a new consensus report (CR) detailing guidelines for the implementation of remote control for many critical medical devices. Notably, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already issued emergency use authorizations for many remote devices. AAMI CR511, Emergency use Guidance for Remote Control of Medical Devices, is the latest in a suite of consensus reports that represent the combined expertise of clinicians, the medical device industry and regulators on AAMI’s COVID-19 Response Team. “We’re following where the greatest need is,” said Dr. Julian Goldman, an anesthesiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), medical director of biomedical engineering for the Mass General Brigham health network, and co-chair of the Response Team. “We started when a demand for inexpensive ventilators created what was basically a ‘wild west’ of innovation. Since then, the situation has evolved. We’ve provided emergency design and user guidelines for resuscitators, BiPAP, ventilatory helmets and now remote-control capabilities.” “This is the time to innovate,” added Sandy Weininger, co-chair of the Response Team. “The FDA has paved the way for innovation with very low overhead because the clinical need is recognized.” Weininger is a senior electrical/biomedical engineer at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, which is responsible for the FDA’s regulation of medical devices. In March, the FDA issued a new enforcement policy for non-in-

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

For more information, read the whole story at AAMI.org. AAMI CR511, Emergency Use Guidance for Remote Control of Medical Devices is available for download alongside more than a dozen freely available resources on the AAMI COVID-19 Emergency Guidance web page.

AAMI EXPLORES ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN NEW STANDARDS INITIATIVE Taking an important first step toward artificial intelligence (AI) standards and guidance for much of the health care industry, AAMI is standing up a new AI committee consisting of representatives from BSI, the FDA and developers of machine learning technology. The AAMI AI committee and a mirroring BSI AI committee are pooling experts to draft risk management guidance for AI and machine learning in medical devices. Like the AAMI/ ADA effort, this new document will repurpose key lessons from an internationally known standard, ANSI/AAMI/ISO 14971, Medical devices – Application of risk management to medical devices, while leveraging the joint drafting committees’ international AI expertise. “When we talk about AI in health care, we’re talking about machine learning, data-driven systems that reach conclusions that we can’t necessarily predict,” explained Joe Lewelling, senior advisor on content and strategy at AAMI. “These are disruptive technologies in that they will change the way health care is designed, delivered, maintained and even regulated.” In May 2020, AAMI joined forces with BSI to publish the position paper, Machine Learning AI in Medical Devices: Adapting Regulatory Frameworks and Standards to Ensure Safety and Performance, which examines how machine learning is different from traditional medical devices and software. It outlines a need for new standards and regulator initiatives to promote the safety, effectiveness and availability of AI and machine learning in health care. The new AAMI AI committee will be responsible for developing the guidance documents and other work identified in the white paper.

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

INDUSTRY UPDATES

STEAM STERILIZATION STANDARD ST79 RECEIVES COMMUNITY-DRIVEN UPDATE After three years, a widely used standard in health care and industry has undergone an important update. The Association for Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) has released four amendments to ANSI/AAMI ST79, Comprehensive guide to steam sterilization and sterility assurance in health care facilities, offering users new clarity and fresh guidance to stay in compliance with accrediting bodies. “All standards are living, evolving documents,” said Sarah Freidberg, a microbiology manager at Stryker Endoscopy and co-chair of the AAMI working group that authored the amendments. “As technology advances, scientific knowledge improves and, industry practices change, there’s often a need to revisit our standards.” ANSI/AAMI ST79 is a particularly important standard because it provides comprehensive guidance to health care personnel who use steam for sterilization, regardless of the size of the sterilizer or the type of facility. This includes hospitals, ambulatory surgery facilities, physician offices, cardiac catheterization laboratories, endoscopy suites, radiology departments and dental offices. It remains a go-to document for The Joint Commission. Recommendations and clarifications have been added for maintaining the integrity of the sterile processing area. This includes even “common sense” additions, such as stipulating that there should be no food or drink in the area. Other amendments were made to best practices, such as how often sterilizers in health care facilities should be cleaned. The group also built upon recommendations for the instrument inspection process, recognizing that relatively new technologies, such as borescopes and Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) monitoring, enable more thorough inspections and record keeping. “These amendments weren’t made in the interest of one company or one hospital. We set our day jobs aside and that’s what made it work so well,” added Friedberg. “Even manufacturers and hospitals, despite obvious differences, want the same thing. An instrument should work perfectly each-andevery time … That kind of reliability ensures user and patient safety.” The amended document is available through AAMI at aami.org/ST79. ANSI/AAMI ST79:2017 Comprehensive guide to steam sterilization and sterility assurance in health care facilities will be automatically updated for users with an AAMI eSubscription. For those who previously purchased the printed version or own a PDF of the current edition, a PDF of the amendments will be emailed to them at no cost. The amendments will also be available for purchase in the AAMI Store.

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Operate Efficiently, Perform Real Time, Simplify Compliance A CMMS Solution that offers • • • • •

Customizable Service Request System Direct communication with Pronk Safe-T Sim through LinxIt AEM program Contract Management Future upgrades and new features included

And more!

214-276-1280 sales@truasset.com www.truasset.com

FEBRUARY 2021

TECHNATION

INDUSTRY UPDATES

ECRI UPDATE

Frozen COVID-19 Vaccines: What you need to know about ultra-low temperature freezers

ith one or two COVID-19 vaccines authorized for emergency use by the FDA by the end of 2020, it’s time for hospitals and clinical engineering departments to be prepared for distribution and administration. Vaccine transport and storage can in some cases present a challenge. Citing the need for incredibly low storage temperatures for at least one vaccine, some hospitals and others who plan to administer them are investing in ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezers.

Sometimes called cryogenic freezers or deep freezers, they are designed to preserve frozen samples and vaccines for laboratories and pharmacies and maintain temperatures of -40 to -90 degrees Celsius (-40 to -130 degrees Fahrenheit). ULT freezers are a stable technology, with changes mostly occurring with improvements in ease-of-use and in improved efficiencies surrounding temperature control. “Think hard before you purchase an ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezer,” advises ECRI’s Jonathan Gaev, MSE, CCE, HEM, PMP, senior manager, International Engineering, Device Evaluation. “The CDC does not recommend that they be purchased just for the purpose of storing the Pfizer vaccine. If you are planning to purchase a ULT freezer in order to distribute vaccines from a centralized location, check with your state to see if you are allowed to do that.”

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

SIMILAR TECHNOLOGY TO HOME FREEZERS Available in upright, chest, countertop, under counter, and portable configurations, the units are usually made with a corrosion-resistant (typically stainless steel) interior, minimizing the risk of adulteration, contamination, and/or corrosion of contents. The internal shelving is appropriate for storage and easy location of laboratory products and samples. Most ultralow freezers use either a single high-power compressor hermetically sealed or two cascade compressors. One system consists of a cooling engine and thermosiphon. Insulation is critical to maintain the very cold temperatures between the internal and external walls. Multiuse laboratory freezers include automatic defrost capability, maintaining the temperature in the entire freezing chamber within pre-established limits during the process. They also include sensors, controls, monitors, and alarms for dependable long-term storage following laboratory storage standards. LCD touchscreen displays may be available on some models, this allows for precise monitoring, control of internal temperatures, and alarm management. Units may include: • Twin compressors that allow for back up if one compressor fails • Wax-free synthetic oils to reduce ice build up • Low-wattage halo bypass heaters that help keep the gaskets around the outer door clean

• Security features such as alarm settings, set point passcodes, and padlock compatibility Optional accessories include chart recorders, back-up batteries, cryo gloves, seismic restraint kits, sliding drawers, racks and boxes for multiplesized microplates, and cryobank tubes. REPORTED PROBLEMS Few device-related problems are typical with the use of ultralow freezers. When used and maintained properly, they can last for 12-15 years. Problems may occur due to a variety of reasons, including: • Age of unit • Poor routine maintenance – cleaning/ inspecting gasket to avoid deterioration/ leakage, cleaning/replacing the condenser filter, refrigerant loss, degraded lubricants, fatigue in mechanical systems • Not removing built up frost or ice • Misuse of unit causing spoilage due to unstable temperature fluctuations • Ignoring alarms • Power failure • Low or inconsistent voltage • Frequent opening and closing of the unit An out-of-range temperature reading should prompt immediate action. Although these devices are quite reliable, per CDC recommendations, facilities need to have a plan in place to address transfer of vaccines if the temperature falls outside of the acceptable range unless the issue can be

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

INDUSTRY UPDATES

resolved immediately (e.g., plugging in an unplugged unit or closing a door that has been left open). “Careful planning is especially important for vaccines stored in ULT freezers. They should not be kept open for more than 30 seconds at a time and require time to come back to the appropriate temperature after the door is opened,” noted Gaev in ECRI’s December 2020 webinar on COVID-19 distribution and administration. ECRI RECOMMENDATIONS At a minimum, the temperature range should be adjustable from -40 to -90 degrees Celsius (-40 to -130 degrees Fahrenheit). Units under consideration should include a solid door with an insulated door frame that can be locked and secured. The refrigerant should be CFC free, and the unit should have an automatic defrost capability, a data logger, temperature monitoring device, and battery backup. The ultralow freezer should include alarms for self-test, over-temperature, under-temperature, power failure, door ajar, and low battery. Remote alarm capabilities are preferred.

ECRI is currently compiling a full, side-by-side comparison of 35 models from 10 manufacturers. This apples-to-apples look at currently marketed models covers specifications such as alarms offered, pysical characteristics (shelving, locks, caster, dimeansions), and more. ECRI experts also present specific recommendations for minimum performance requirements—called ECRI Recommended Specifications. CDC has indicated that ultra-low

freezers need not be purchased in order to successfully accept delivery of and store current vaccines. Other methods are deemed acceptable, such as dry ice, and the speed with which the vaccines will be used means long-term storage is not an issue. “The temporary storage containers enable the hospital to keep the vaccines at the proper temperature if they are refilled every 5 days with dry ice up to 30 days and then the contents can be transferred to a freezer for another 5 days so overall the vaccines may be stored for up to 35 days without a ULT freezer,” added ECRI’s Gaev in relation to the Pfizer vaccine. ECRI polled participants at its December 16, 2020 live webcast on COVID-19 distribution and administration for insight on hospitals’ plans to buy low-temperature freezers for COVID-19 vaccines and to assess the availability of dry ice supplies. Of the 602 survey responses, about 34% said they are planning to buy low-temperature freezers; 64% are not. Asked to assess their supply of dry ice, nearly two-thirds said they do not have adequate supply at this time. It is possible that future iterations of the vaccines may not need such low temperatures. However, understanding low-temperature freezer’s basic design and use, as well as an awareness of available options, ensures an informed decision should the need arise. This article is adapted from ECRI’s Healthcare Product Comparison of ULT Freezers and ECRI’s December 16 webinar, “COVID-19 Distribution and Administration: Is Your Hospital Prepared?” To learn more about this technology and guidance, visit ECRI’s COVID-19 Resource Center at https://www.ecri.org/coronaviruscovid-19-outbreak-preparedness-center/ To learn more about ECRI membership, visit www.ecri.org/solutions/device-evaluations, or contact ECRI by telephone at (610) 825-6000, ext. 5891, or by e-mail at clientservices@ecri.org.

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

HTM Programs in over 300 Facilities Nationwide Reduced service cost and improved equipment utilization CYBERSECURITY EXPERTISE CAPITAL EQUIPMENT REPLACEMENT PLANNING

Healthcare Technology Management – it’s not just something we do, it’s all we do.

CONNECT WITH US

844-4RENOVO RENOVO1.COM SOLUTIONS@RENOVO1.COM

FEBRUARY 2021

TECHNATION

Another crushed shroud? ShroudGuard™ OR Table Pedestal Protector

Prevent expensive repairs and keep your OR tables in service. ShroudGuard™ Protects against damage caused by equipment left on table base. Securely mounts with no modification to table, yet easily removed for cleaning. Sturdy metal construction.

www.shroudguard.com

info@shroudguard.com

(800) 261-9953

L11125IA8

ShroudGuard™

ON-SITE TRAINING AVAILABLE

CONTRAST INJECTOR TRAINING

OPERATION, SERVICE, TROUBLESHOOTING • Free Training Available • Up to $5,500 in FREE Parts, PM Kits and Service • Massive Troubleshooting Library

• 100s of Error Codes not found in OEM Lit • Online and Onsite Training Available • Training BMETs since 2008

Contrast Injector Troubleshooting Channel

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

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

INDUSTRY UPDATES

RIBBON CUTTING CER-TECHNOLOGY BY ERIN REGISTER

organizations, collaborating on service contracts, consulting or providing staffing and support for hospitals and other health care providers.

ike many in the industry, Bill Bassuk’s introduction into the medical field was a result of his military service. “I left the military in the late 1980s and went to work as a medical technologist with Coulter Electronics, providing technical support to rural area medical facilities and labs,” said Bassuk. “I was at the right place at the right time, and the leadership at Coulter decided it would be more efficient teaching electronics to technicians than teaching medical technology to engineers. The training, experiences and leadership I received in my early years were invaluable.”

With time and experience, Bassuk became more specialized, first in hematology automation, and later chemistry and coagulations. He went to work for a series of other companies, where he broadened his experience base and began specializing in maintaining and repairing specific types of equipment and specialty devices in laboratory settings. “I began to see the landscape and opportunities for those of us with an entrepreneurial spirit and decided to start my own company,” Bassuk added. “I felt that over my 20 years in the industry and my experiences, working in large hospitals, for independent service organizations (ISOs) and the military, had all prepared me for the adventure and challenges associated with business ownership. I wanted trust to be the cornerstone for the relationships I established and the services we provided. I also felt that humility would go a long way with my clients, and I was never afraid to admit things were outside of my expertise or

Bill Bassuk CEO, President, CER-Technology beyond my ability.” Bassuk’s work as a small-business owner began as a consultant, working with small to mid-sized health care organizations. As he developed, Bussak began working with larger organizations, consulting, providing specific services and eventually providing full-service HTM support to hospitals. “I have always been good with numbers and I learned that one of my strengths was in my ability to provide detailed auditing services to hospitals,” noted Bassuk. “It was this niché that led to my first opportunity to truly grow my business into the full-service biomedical company I envisioned.” Q: WHAT IS THE PRIMARY FOCUS OF CERTECHNOLOGY? A: CER-Technology is a full-service HTM service company. We assist hospitals, helping reduce their budgets, increase the quality, manage contracts and provide complete biomedical support and staffing. We also work with other health care

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Q: HOW DOES CER-TECHNOLOGY STAND OUT IN THE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT FIELD? A: There are many extraordinary HTM companies serving the health care community. As a small business owner, standing out against the larger companies can be challenging. One of the core strengths of CER-Technology is our reliance on partnerships with other organizations around the country. The strong relationships we have formed have served as the bedrock of our organization, resulting in long-lasting and profitable relationships. Our focus is to help any hospital, any company, whether ISO or manufacturer or in-house. Q: DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIFIC GOALS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE CER-TECHNOLOGY TO ACHIEVE IN THE NEAR FUTURE? A: I would like to expand our partnerships and identify new markets and clients seeking the boutique type of service that we provide, focusing on strong relationships of trust, high-quality services and win-win type relationships. Partnerships are key to growth. I am fascinated at the idea of using CER-Technology to help service professionals start their own companies. For more information contact: CER-Technology Bill Bassuk, CEO and President www.cer-technology.com bbassuk@cbet.edu 210-332-3089

FEBRUARY 2021

TECHNATION

INDUSTRY UPDATES

NEW ADVERTISER:

WELCOME TO THE TECHNATION COMMUNITY! SEE OUR AD PG. 27

MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE (MTMI) Q: TELL US ABOUT YOUR COMPANY Medical Technology Management Institute (MTMI) is a World Class provider of continuing education for medical imaging professionals since 1989. In March of 2020, MTMI welcomed Dr. Ernesto Cerdena, PhD, MSRT (R)(CT)(CV), CRA, FAHRA, FACHE, as the President of MTMI Global. Most recently, Ernie served as a Corporate Director of Radiology Services at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in New Jersey. With his 34 years of experience in the medical imaging field, Dr. Cerdena confidently took the reins during a

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

very challenging year. Excited to expand the course offerings he initiated a Biomedical Equipment Technology (CBET) exam preparation course that is launching in March of this year. While navigating the challenges in this time of COVID, Ernie confidently moves forward leveraging MTMI’s unique vertical integration of high quality, onsite and online CE offerings for technologists, medical physicists, radiologists and now biomedical equipment technologists. • For more information, visit mtmi.net.

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

THE BENCH

BIOMED 101

3 Ways to Enhance Medical Equipment Productivity in the COVID-19 Era BY TODD BROWN

ealth systems have long wrestled with Herculean financial and staff shortage pressures, but COVID-19 has exacerbated those headaches atop other concerns, like dwindling patient volume amid fears of contracting the virus in a hospital environment.

These new developments have brought to light a challenge unlike any other: In-house biomedical and clinical engineers have had to act quickly to bolster equipment productivity and increase patient throughput while reducing exposure risks for both patients and providers. In what ways have health systems done that already, and what lessons could be gleaned as others follow suit? Recently, health care leaders came together to explore those questions and others in GE Healthcare’s “The Future of Healthcare” webinar. Focusing on converging topics of post-pandemic regrowth, AI and intelligence-based health technologies, webinar speakers touched on various concerns affecting the sector – with efficiency a thematic undercurrent.1

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

“Our customers are asking, how can you make our machines more productive – how can we interface with patients using innovative technology?” said Everett Cunningham, CEO of GE Healthcare in the U.S. and Canada. “The technology has to be simple. We always have to remember who’s on the other end of that technology: it’s the patient.” And yet, in order to strike the ideal balance between efficacy, efficiency, and experience, it requires a great deal of attention on the backend – as well as tools, solutions and strategies to keep machines in service as intended. But with COVID-19, clinical engineers have the added responsibilities of achieving those goals in alignment with public health and infection control protocols. Fortunately, many resources exist to help health systems address these growing demands – including remote diagnostics and repair, virtual training and real-time asset tracking. 1. REMOTE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT MONITORING AND REPAIR Remote technologies haven’t taken the humans out of equipment service, but

Todd Brown

Vice president and general manager, U.S. and Canada service, GE Healthcare

they have created new possibilities into where those humans can work. Downstream impacts of remote services mean that teams can more nimbly respond to potential problems from anywhere at any time. It also means they do not need to waste precious PPE to assess equipment. Augmented by predictive technology (such as OnWatch), proactive monitoring platforms check system health between scheduled maintenance – enabling remote engineers to examine them without being physically present in the hospital or taking the equipment out of service for an extended time. Even before COVID-19, remote diagnostics enabled hospitals to reduce their unplanned downtime by 35 percent while speeding repair times up to 30 percent faster. 2 However, those capabilities offer new benefits in our shared new normal. For example, respiratory, cardiovascular and other complications of COVID-19 have added new pressures to imaging

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

THE BENCH

and other teams, with greater utilization in CT, MR and ultrasound fleets in addition to expected equipment like ventilators. As those machines work overtime, it expands the need for routine maintenance and replenishment of replacement parts. But the cost of downtime for these mission-critical fleets is the potential for reduced patient access to needed equipment. The good news is that specific technologies (such as GE Healthcare’s Tube Watch) help keep the operations of health systems on track by predicting imminent tube failures days in advance, which allows enough time to order a new tube and preemptively reschedule patients to minimize disruptions in throughput. 2. VIRTUAL TRAINING FOR CLINICIANS AND ENGINEERS Within the first few weeks of COVID-19, widespread interest in virtual care spiked – with some payers reporting growth in telemedicine claims that exceeded 5,000 percent or more. 3 During his session of the webinar, Adventist Health Chief Business Officer John Beaman elaborated on the impact telemedicine has had. “Some of what we’ve seen here in the short-term is the glimpse of what is with us for the long-term in health care,” he said. “With COVID-19, we’ve seen a glimpse of the future, where hospitals will treat the sickest of the sick, with others cared for in the home environment.” But the beneficial impacts of virtual models stretch far beyond individual patient encounters; they also play a role in equipment service by enabling remote

and virtual training. Take ventilators, for example, which were running nonstop in ICUs around the country. Many hospitals received shipments of them that far outpaced previous demand. And all that activity and utilization added new burdens to new operators who had never before worked on those specific models. In normal times, new equipment would come with in-person manufacturer trainings so that clinicians and engineers could get up-to-speed with the technologies, try them out and ask questions about their use case. But that model just doesn’t hold up in a COVID-19 era – not only because stretched staff have no time for it, but because it adds to the pool of exposure risk. Enter distance learning. Working together with manufacturers, many hospitals have taken advantage of on-demand technical training resources to educate in-house teams on installation, preventive maintenance, service and other topics. With the ability to train on the fly and even remotely ask questions of manufacturers in real-time, health systems can now have complete confidence in their in-house teams no matter how chaotic circumstances get.

any environment, but particularly busy ones amid COVID-19, where mobile machines move quickly from room to room. After all, knowing exactly where medical equipment is can mean the difference between timely cleaning, repairing and getting equipment back into service or leaving that equipment to sit idle and unused. USING EVERY TOOL IN THE EFFICIENCY TOOLBOX Indeed, in an environment as fast as the one caused by COVID-19 – potentially even more so as flu season approaches – biomedical teams need every tool in their efficiency toolbox to keep machines working for the good of patient care. These, and other strategies, will prove all the more critical in the months and years ahead. Todd Brown is vice president and general manager, U.S. and Canada service, GE Healthcare.

REFERENCES 1. GE Healthcare Webinar, “The Future of Healthcare.” 2. GE White Papers - Proactive Digital Service for MR Scanners: Evaluating User Impact (2017); Determining the Benefits of Proactive Digital Service for

3. TRACK EQUIPMENT WITH REAL-TIME LOCATION SYSTEMS Hospitals can also find efficiencies through asset tracking with real-time location systems (RTLS) technology. Such platforms tag fleets so that they’re easily found, helping to prevent the loss of or the hoarding of assets by clinical teams. That kind of efficiency matters in

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Computed Tomography Scanners (2014). 3. Drees J. BCBS of Massachusetts telehealth visits spiked 5,100% in March: 3 notes. BeckersHospitalReview.com. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/ telehealth/bcbs-of-massachusetts-telehealth-visitsspiked-5-100-in-march-3-notes.html. Published April 13, 2020. Accessed September 30, 2020.

FEBRUARY 2021

TECHNATION

CHECK OUT OUR COMPLETE TRAINING SCHEDULE ONLINE AT WWW.TRIIMAGING.COM/TRAINING

EMPOWERING

THE ENGINEER

Test bays and an expansive

Flexible service support

Our in-depth program was

System sales, upgrades,

warehouse to provide

from our expert team; when

created to uniquely bridge

installations, and

quality imaging parts, fast!

and where you need.

the gap between training

de-installations.

PARTS

SERVICES

TRAINING

EQUIPMENT

and real world service.

Tri-Imaging Solutions is an independently owned replacement parts, support services, training, and pre-owned equipment sales company for the diagnostic imaging industry.

VISIT WWW.TRIIMAGING.COM ISO 13485:2016 CERTIFIED

OR CALL 855.401.4888 (24/7/365)

THE BENCH

TOOLS OF THE TRADE KROHNE

DK32 with Electrical Signal Output

ROHNE, a world-leading manufacturer and supplier of solutions in industrial process instrumentation, has announced that its DK32 variable area flowmeter is now available with an electrical signal output. The new version of the DK32/ESK3x with 4-20mA/HART 7 communication can be used for continuous monitoring, logging or control of low flow applications with liquids and gases. The KROHNE DK32/DK34/DK37 variable area flow meters are economical and versatile instruments designed to measure the flow of gases and liquids. Featuring a simple design that requires no auxiliary power, the DK32 and DK34 are ideal for applications such as fine metering, gas chromatography and minimum level monitoring and control.

KROHNE DK32 variable area flow meters feature horizontal connections and a standard metering valve in the foot or head of the device. The DK34, on the other hand, features vertical process connections and no valve. Both meters are designed for low-flow applications. The flow rates for liquids is 0.007 to 0.7 gpm and the flow rate for gases is 0.009 to 2.825 scfm. Standard accuracy is ±4.0% of measured value. The meters can be directly connected to a differential pressure regulator in order to ensure constant flow in the event of fluctuating operating pressure. The DK37 variable area flowmeters can either be equipped with a mechanical or electronic indicator and are suitable for measuring gases and liquids. The KROHNE DK32 and DK34 variable area flowmeters feature sturdy, all-metal design ensuring high resistance to pressure, temperature and media while standing up to extreme application and environmental conditions. The meters utilize simple float technology in which the position of the float is magnetically transmitted to an analog indicator to display the measured value. The DK32 and DK34 are ATEX and FM approved for hazardous areas.

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

FEBRUARY 2021

TECHNATION

THE BENCH

WEBINAR WEDNESDAY

2020 Webinar Wednesday Series Sets New Highs STAFF REPORT

he last Webinar Wednesday session for 2020 was “Honoring Our Extraordinary Healthcare Workers by Providing Reliable, Automated Tools like RTLS to Keep them Safe and Sane.” The presentation was sponsored by Sonitor & ZulaFly and eligible for 1 credit from the ACI. It was presented by Sandra Rasmussen, senior vice president, North America sales and global marketing, Sonitor Technologies Inc. and Stephanie Andersen, managing partner, Zulafly.

The 60-minute webinar demonstrated that the best way to honor health care workers is by providing them with reliable, automated tools to keep them safe and sane. RTLS can provide the automation and immediate access and notifications required to ensure the safety and sanity of caregivers. Workplace violence can have a significant toll on health care workers. In fact, studies show that an alarmingly high number – 50 to 80 percent – of health care workers claim they’ve been victims of workplace violence. The discussion focused on how RTLS can minimize staff safety risks and provide automated nurse enablement tools that

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

“ I thought it was a unique topic, i.e. to link RTLS to caregiver’s safety. It introduces a new use for this technology. I also thought the presenters were clear and articulate.” – R. RESNICOFF, SENIOR CLINICAL ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN help keep staff secure. The webinar drew almost 100 individuals for the live presentations and more have viewed a recording of the session online via an on-demand option. Attendees praised the webinar in a survey that included the question, “What did you like most about today’s webinar?” “Interesting to hear all the applications of their RFID badges,” Biomed Coordinator S. Richardson said about the webinar. “I thought it was a unique topic, i.e. to link RTLS to caregiver’s safety. It introduces a new use for this technology. I also thought the presenters were clear and articulate,” Senior Clinical Engineering Technician R. Resnicoff shared. “The speakers were very informative,” Perioperative Clinical Engineering

Supervisor T. Cordes said. The 2020 Webinar Wednesday series had 6,453 attendees with an average of 150 attendees per session. The series awarded nearly 6,000 CE certificates in 2020. For more information about the Webinar Wednesday series, including recordings of this and previous webinars and information about the 2021 webinar series, visit WebinarWednesday.Live.

Thank you to our sponsors:

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

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:

FEBRUARY 17 | NUVOLO Save the date for this live webinar. Participation is eligible for 1 CE credit from the ACI.

FEBRUARY 24 | ORDR Save the date for this live webinar. Participation is eligible for 1 CE credit from the ACI.

ON-DEMAND WEBINARS:

sponsored by MEDIGATE Why Biomedical Professionals Should Care About Zero Trust - Thomas Finn

sponsored by CER TECHNOLOGY How to Start Your Own HTM/Biomed Business - William Bassuk

sponsored by VIZZIA TECHNOLOGIES AND CENTRAK RTLS Asset Management: Clinical Best Practices for HTM - Danielle Updegraff, Chris Thompson, Dave Wiedman

ON-DEMAND PODCASTS:

SERIES 1 EPISODE 4

This episode, titled “Selling New Ideas to Your Leadership Team: The importance of good salesmanship,” is presented by Al Gresch, VP of Healthcare Strategy, Accruent; Mike Zimmer, Senior Solutions Engineer Accruent; and Mike Finnegan, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Excel Medical.

WE’LL KEEP YOU CONNECTED. webinarwednesday.live

THE BENCH

SHOP TALK POWERED BY

VALLEYLAB FORCE FX

GE HEALTHCARE OEC 9800 PLUS

My Valleylab Force FX does not work with any bipolar coag function at both holes of the bipolar receptacle. In other words, the unit does not provide any output power in bipolar-coag mode at all. Can anyone help?

Do you have the footswitch for bipolar? Bipolar doesn’t work without the specific foot pedal. Coag, however, is another issue. Does cut work? What type of REM pad(s) are you using? What kind of pencil are you using?

Try the clear K1 relay, also look at its socket and make sure it’s not burnt. Check to see if you have output in mono 1 and mono 2. Also check the mono 1 and mono 2 foot switch to see if you get output.

Remove k1 and look at the socket with a flashlight. If you don’t see the silver shiny contacts inside the socket you need to replace socket and relay.

I have the software on a CD but see no place to load it. I need to reload the software to change the language from French to English. Can anyone assist me?

You must copy the file onto a floppy 3.5-inch disk. The OEC 9800 does not have a CD-ROM but only a floppy drive in the back of cabinet.

A: A:

Or you could connect a CD unit to the OEC SBC.

First and foremost, you must find out which version of the software you are running on the system. If your software is above version release 26, then you will be able to use a sim disk with the help of utility suite to load software. However, if you simply wish to change the language from French to English then you only need the OEC utility suite program. PHILIPS SURESIGNS VS4

ARIZANT BAIR HUGGER MODEL 775

Q: A:

Why is it overheating?

The hot air outlet may be blocked because it is put under the blanket. Try to control it without putting it under a blanket.

You can also check the error log for any specific errors by pressing the Alternative Mode button (Bair hugger logo) and the 32°C button simultaneously for three seconds.

I am trying to use a third-party battery and keep getting a “battery unrecognized, slow to charge” message. The unit just came back from repair with A.07.25 software. Any suggestions?

Not sure what is causing your issue, but I have seen issues with non-OEM batteries in some equipment. Just recently, I had a Philips EKG machine with a similar issue as yours. It was a third-party battery pack sold as a direct replacement battery for our

machine, but it was slow to charge and would never fully charge. We tried replacing the batteries and still had the same issue. I contacted the OEM battery manufacturer that supplies the batteries for Philips and the engineer told me there is special Philips firmware that’s installed in the battery packs that the machine looks for. I then purchased OEM batteries and it worked fine after that. Either verify they are using some special firmware/software in the battery pack or try a good set of OEM batteries.

Yes, this is a new “feature” that was incluced with A.07 software. The error message cannot be cleared. I was told by Philips that you need to specify at the time the monitor is sent in to NOT upgrade the software. If you try to downgrade the software yourself, it will wipe out the purchased options. The monitor would then need to be returned to Philips to have the purchased options added back on. There is a service manual addendum that talks about the new battery error messages.

Needs firmware 7.33. You can get them from Philips for just over $100 or if you get a third-party battery make sure the firmware is 7.33.

We ran into this issue as well. OSI Batteries sells the battery much cheaper than Philips. They explicitly list that their batteries are compatible with Philips A.07 firmware. I can confirm this as we recently updated 60-plus monitors and used this battery with no issues.

SHOP TALK

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

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

ROUNDTABLE

ROUNDTABLE CMMS

these interfaces is the ability to collect utilization data on these connected devices. Also important is the ability to automatically ingest MDS2 data from a reliable source. The CMMS should also incorporate a security assessment tool that will indicate key vulnerabilities and determine what actions may need to be taken against those vulnerabilities.

echNation contacted several companies to find out the latest regarding computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) that healthcare technology management (HTM) professionals use as an important tool. Industry experts replied with insights and knowledge on a variety of CMMS topics including cybersecurity concerns, the latest features and what to look for when purchasing a system.

Participating in this roundtable article on CMMS are Accruent Vice President Healthcare Strategy Alan Gresch, Nuvolo’s Kyle Holetz, Phoenix Data Systems Inc. President and CEO Ben Mannisto and EQ2 LLC Product Manager and CBET Rich Sable. Q: HOW CAN A CMMS HELP HTM PROFESSIONALS ADDRESS CYBERSECURITY CONCERNS?

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

Alan Gresch Accruent GRESCH: Any modern CMMS should have the ability to interface to, consume data from and provide alerts/notifications from a myriad of network monitoring tools such as Zingbox, Ordr, Medigate, CyberMDX, Asimily, etc. One side benefit of

HOLETZ: A CMMS system with the ability to drive a dynamic data model can assist an organization, regardless of its maturity level, with all aspects of recording cybersecurity data and remediating threats and vulnerabilities. Not all devices are created equally, and the system should not treat them as such, this starts at the ingest of equipment from any of the many departments it may have been purchased from; data must be controlled through all stages of a device’s life cycle. Strong integration capabilities are also a must have for any organization looking to contextualize security/vulnerability events, discovery

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

ROUNDTABLE

events and utilization events coming from any of the newer “next generation” IoT monitoring tools (Asimily, Medigate, Zingbox, etc).

and be useful to other departments in the enterprise. Generally, this takes a system that can be conformed and configured to the needs of the HTM department and the workflow that works best for them. As opposed to being a “what you see is what you get” type of system that makes the department function a certain way because that’s how the CMMS works.

MANNISTO: It is important that the customer first have complete IT information in the CMMS for all connected medical devices. The CMMS should include all required fields with an opportunity for additional, customizable fields to meet hospital needs. Through integration with a cybersecurity application, this inclusion of data is key for identification, notification and mitigation of any found threats. SABLE: First, the CMMS functions as the hub for your asset management system which contains your complete inventory and all the network and software attributes for those inventoried assets. With this data populated in your system, either manually or automatically, the CMMS can interface with your cybersecurity appliance for real-time scanning of your organization’s network or manually search for IT field information. When the cybersecurity appliance detects an alert, a work order can immediately be created and assigned to a technician to respond to the alert. Other benefits include the ability to identify all devices with a particular operating system or software application which may have a cybersecurity alert initiated by the vendor or FDA.

Kyle Holetz Nuvolo

Q: WHAT FEATURES SHOULD HTM PROFESSIONALS LOOK FOR WHEN PURCHASING A CMMS?

tion – schedules\inspections management, procedures and sub procedures, parts\materials for issues and usage, basic contract management, customizable workflow engine, allowance for custom fields, robust reporting or allowing third-party report platforms, integration engine for third-party applications, and available-anywhere connectivity. The CMMS must also allow for standardized code usage, document management, flexible labor and parts\materials recording, and have a robust reporting and real-time data visualization platform. It should accommodate recording procedure results and readings for historical and reporting purposes as well as asset CMDB, networking and other related critical data values. AEM assessment capabilities is a must for decisions regarding frequency and procedure changes.

GRESCH: Best-in-class CMMS will have a feature set focused on the core functionality of an HTM service department including work orders, service request and equipment distribution portal, enterprise asset management (EAM) and the ability to accommodate all phases of the capital equipment lifecycle – from pre-planning and acquisition through final disposi-

HOLETZ: This tends to vary quite broadly depending on the organization, and the maturity level of the HTM department. In my eyes, a system that can both accomplish today’s needs and the needs that may arise five years down the road is very important. A CMMS shouldn’t be a point in time purchase, it should be a strategic tool to the organization that helps foster HTM evolution internally

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

MANNISTO: Ease of use is key. Phoenix’ goal is to make AIMS 3 as efficient as possible, keeping technicians out of the software and on the floor repairing equipment. Integration with third-party applications – such as cybersecurity, parts procurement and purchasing – can help streamline activities. Data integrity capabilities within the CMMS is crucial to ensure accurate reporting for inspections. Meanwhile, mobile device use and dashboards are necessary for all CMMS users. SABLE: First, HTM professionals should consider their present solution and identify their vision for what an ideal CMMS solution would help them accomplish. Using this vision, the HTM professionals will be able to identify the features needed when purchasing a new CMMS. For example, tools to assist with regulatory compliance reporting along with the allowed exception handling, tools to assist with alternative equipment management (AEM) programs, dashboards for program management and key performance indicator (KPI) reporting in real-time, tools to create advanced reports with automated distribution lists, and specialized analytics for reporting and benchmarking and capital asset planning. Recently, many customers are requesting mobility products that function either online or offline to simplify work order completion for their team. Finally, choose a CMMS with modern application program interfaces (APIs) to ensure your new CMMS can interface with other software informa-

FEBRUARY 2021

TECHNATION

ROUNDTABLE

tion systems (ERP) and hardware appliances such as cybersecurity devices. Q: CAN YOU TELL READERS A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT YOUR CMMS OFFERS? GRESCH: Our Connectiv product provides all the current must-haves in a CMMS (workflows, core modules, standardizations, reporting, flexibility, availability, etc.) while also providing solutions for cybersecurity, CMDB, interoperability, configurability and expandability. It’s available across multiple platforms, allowing users to access it regardless of OS or browser. Due to its world-class backbone, Connectiv allows customers to consolidate all their service departments onto a single platform while also providing the uniqueness each will need. We provide: • Full asset life cycle management from pre-assessment, acquisition, support to final disposition and data insights • Ability to build flexible workflows with a configurable rules engine – without code or SQL • Predictive analytics to allow for AEM implementation • Robust and updated capital planning data • I mproved communication between clinical engineering, operations and IT teams • Big data for better analytics • Automated parts procurement process with industry-leading vendors • Connect systems and automated process with out-of-the-box integrations with RTLS providers, parts vendors, product recalls and alerts, network monitoring tools, RRPs and time and attendance platforms • Ability to proactively secure medical devices and protect against cyber threats HOLETZ: Nuvolo is truly a CMMS system that is meant to be an “enterprise asset management” system supporting the

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

Ben Mannisto Phoenix Data Systems Inc. entire workplace. It is best used by organizations who want to track all clinical, facilities, and all connected equipment that is in between. It is a very configurable system that excels in data visibility from the clinician creating a work order, the tech responding, the CFO making major purchasing decisions and the CIO deciding on equipment that imposes the least amount of risk on the organization. MANNISTO: AIMS 3 is Phoenix’ all new, browser-agnostic CMMS for use on any device. AIMS 3 offers a customizable user interface, data integrity for accurate reporting, detailed security at the field level, a full system audit trail, calculated downtime that includes the departments’ hours of operation for accurate reporting, custom critical messages and a new chat feature that allows technicians to communicate with each other inside the application to quickly solve problems. AIMS 3 also includes all of the functionality in the earlier AIMS.NET platform, such as data exports, reporting, dashboards, mobile use and more. Additionally, AIMS 3 can interface with any third-party software, including ServiceNow. SABLE: EQ2’s HEMS Enterprise offers the hospital a flexible implementation, hosted or cloud (SaaS-software as a service) solution. The solution is modular, meaning the HTM team can

determine their needs and purchase only those features required for their solution, knowing that they can easily add to their system in the future to address their evolving needs. Additionally, HEMS provides tools to assist with AEM implementation, dashboards, performance and benchmarking analytics for KPI reporting, department dashboards for enhanced customer communication, easy-to-use technician applications for work order management, a mobile application that operates offline and easy visibility into recalls and network security risks. We also have an advanced call center/dispatch board with automatic multi-level escalation based on time elapsed, location, problem, shift, etc. Finally, EQ2’s HEMS Enterprise offers several modern APIs for interfacing to additional systems making HEMS the central asset management hub. Q: HOW DO YOU WORK WITH CUSTOMERS AND POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS TO UPGRADE A CMMS TO MEET THE EVER-EVOLVING NEEDS OF HTM PROFESSIONALS? GRESCH: We regularly seek input from industry thought leaders (both customers and potential customers) on current feature-set improvements as well as anything our CMMS may be missing. Through our “Voice of the Customer” (VOC) process we have made enhancements to our Connectiv and TMS products that solve specific industry needs (like cybersecurity, workflows, standardized codes) while providing future expandability through integrations and data management tools. When we identify a new requirement or trend, we seek guidance from a myriad of sources to identify the impact and potential solutions to those trends. We also have industry thought leaders on our team who have worked several decades in the industries we serve that monitor and predict industry trends and work with our product development team to stay ahead of those trends. HOLETZ: Generally, Nuvolo starts that process with a deep assessment of the

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

ROUNDTABLE

current needs/pain points and business outcomes the HTM department is looking for in switching CMMS systems. Current customers have access to a dedicated customer success team who act as the tip of the spear for engagement with support, innovation or even Nuvolo subject matter experts – like Heidi Horn and Dustin Smith – to help with business process and tactical areas of focus. In terms of solving for ever-evolving needs, that is tricky. I would never say any system is perfect. Some systems have features that are incredibly important to some organizations and not so important to others, beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder. To help address this, Nuvolo pushes out four major releases a year with enhancements to our Suite of Connected Workplace application. Many of which are to address changing compliance needs or innovation requests coming from customers. MANNISTO: Our implementation team works with customers to complete the conversion of their current CMMS by moving all data into AIMS 3. This ensures that every customer has an accurate conversion for full access and usability in one system. Unlike other CMMS products on the market, users don’t have to use their old system to access historical data, while using the new system for current data entry. We set real delivery dates for every step of the implementation including training, workflows and data normalization. Full implementation can be achieved in as little as 90 days, with some completed in even less time. SABLE: EQ2 is one of the few CMMS vendors solely focused on health care. So we are fully in tune with the unique needs of health care as we conduct product demonstrations, interviews and meetings for both clients and potential clients. With this combination, EQ2 can be certain that we fully understand the CMMS requirements needed by health systems and that we can provide a strategic demo and pricing for the product(s) that will help achieve their goals. Naturally the discussion of

absolute gold mine of data that can be used strategically by many other departments across a health system.

Rich Sable EQ2 LLC mobility, workflows and interfacing with other systems is discussed as this has been trending for existing and potential clients. Regular communication with our clients enables our product to be ever evolving to meet regulatory, workflow, reporting and interface needs.

Q: WHAT ELSE SHOULD TECHNATION READERS KNOW ABOUT CMMS? GRESCH: Health care organizations that leverage advanced CMMS and asset management technology can increase utilization rates and breakdown operational silos. In addition, systems that employ these solutions can lower associated costs, increase equipment availability, and offer patients, visitors and staff a better experience and greater peace of mind. Beyond technology, the provider you partner with should be able to offer expertise to evaluate your current processes, key performance indicators and highlight step-by-step improvement recommendations to make your healthcare technology and biomedical departments a strategic asset. HOLETZ: As mentioned above, the CMMS system should act as a strategic tool to the entire organization – not just a work order system and asset tracking system. If set up and managed properly, the CMMS system is an

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

MANNISTO: It is important to do your research when replacing your CMMS. While many vendors offer similar CMMS systems, longevity with respect to the vendor and the software are important. Quick and easy access to technical support services for efficient issue resolution should be considered. Choose a CMMS vendor that builds their software based on user and industry requirements, while incorporating technological advances. SABLE: A CMMS is more than just a software application – it is a complete system to bring your department’s strategic goals, policies, procedures, processes, workflows and reporting needs to fruition. It’s important to choose a vendor with proven experience in the health care environment and a vendor dedicated to customer service to help you achieve your goals as you configure your CMMS. If you are upgrading or changing your CMMS, you should prepare to clean your data, determine your reporting needs, and determine any additional system interfacing and mobility needs. Also be sure to involve your IT department, since they know if the system should be hosted or cloudbased, the sign-on security configuration, and the hardware and software standards for your organization. No doubt, the CMMS is your greatest means for a centralized asset management system which allows you to configure your department’s KPIs, asset classifications, and interface with other information systems such as cybersecurity or ERP. Finally, the CMMS is used to measure and report on this information, automate workflows, assist end users and help desk personnel with requests, and for capital asset planning using your actual data.

FEBRUARY 2021

TECHNATION

YOUR SOURCE FOR GE EQUIPMENT SALES AND SERVICE WE SPECIALIZE IN • • • • •

Sales of Cardiology and Monitoring Equipment Depot Service Parts Loaner Equipment Available to Minimize/Eliminate Downtime

MEDICAL EQUIPMENT SALES AND SERVICE

Call or email us today to learn how we can work for you. Toll-free: 888.310.7322

info@sebiomedical.com

www.sebiomedical.com

Our U.S.A. Manufacturing Is Growing Call Us To Learn More

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

Enhance Patient Safety with Clinical Zero Trust. Expand your protected surface beyond any one device to include the processes and procedures within each service line that the device (or set of devices) is involved in. This takes looking at both the cyber and physical aspects to understand exactly what is at risk and how it needs to be protected.

Learn more at https://bit.ly/zero-trust-strategy

COVER STORY

HTM’s Role During

k c a t t A r e b y C Cybersecurity Best Practices

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS

hile 2020 will be chronicled as one of the most tumultuous years in modern American history, the focus for most has remained on the impact of the pandemic, the civil unrest and a presidential election.

What has been largely unnoticed, outside of the cybersecurity world, is the substantial increases in cyberattacks and data breaches that have plagued all segments of the economy. The security of cyberspace has become an international focus as government regulations, new laws and agencies have been created to protect it. In November of 2018, President Donald Trump signed into law the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act of 2018. It created the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to protect government networks. There are incidents when cybercrimes occur that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must get involved. DHS focuses on both asset response and threat response. The FBI terms some of the worst of these cybercriminals; “advanced persistent threat (APT) actors.” Along with Health and Human Services (HHS), the FBI and CISA issue alerts warning of the newest threats discovered and details about their behaviors and signs of compromise. During a period of time when resources everywhere are engaged in a battle against a novel coronavirus pandemic, the incidents of cyberattack have continued to rise. The health care sector, which has been especially hard hit and often strained to the point of exhaustion, is a primary target of these attacks. Health care organizations offer special appeal to cybercriminals because patient information can include social security numbers, credit card information and medical records. Some cybercrime gangs have claimed that they would avoid attacking health care organizations during the coronavirus pandemic, but security experts doubt the validity of this claim. This did not stop criminals from hitting health care facilities while they were already down. Instead, the incidence of cyberattacks during the pandemic are up 300 percent. As technology has evolved, and Internet connectivity has exploded, the days when just a desktop computer was the EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

only device in a home or business that accessed the Internet is a thing of the past. Today, the number of connected devices includes an array of unmanaged devices that make up the Internet of Things (IoT) and, in health care organizations, the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). This broadens the challenges of cybersecurity to identify devices that might otherwise fly under the radar. In a smart home, everything from the washer to the refrigerator to a smart assistant and the doorbell might all be connected to a router. A home’s thermostat and security cameras can be connected. Along with information stored on computers, tablets and phones, the potential targets and entry-points for hackers are numerous. According to a Nokia study, “IoT devices are responsible for almost a third of all mobile and Wi-Fi network infections.” HEALTH CARE – AN ATTRACTIVE TARGET In the health care setting, the growing number of devices that are connected to the network, or which feed information to the EMR are numerous. The organization’s computers, as well as personal devices using Wi-Fi, make the number of devices that share the network vast. Some devices that show up in centralized purchasing can be flagged for vulnerabilities, but many personal devices may be left off these lists. Any personal health information (PHI) that is fed into a patient’s electronic health record (EHR) creates dollar signs in the eyes of cybercriminals. Its value on the black market makes it a prized target. For all the advantages that electronic health records have provided, they have also opened the door to many vulnerabilities that didn’t exist with paper records. Long before a coronavirus pandemic was even a thought, a cyberbreach in 2015 of data at Anthem Inc. affected 78 million records. For Anthem, the nation’s second largest health insurer, the breach resulted in a $115 million settlement. In September of 2020, a German hospital patient died as

FEBRUARY 2021

TECHNATION

COVER STORY

a result of a delay in care caused by a ransomware attack. According to CISA, “Ransomware is a type of malicious software, or malware, designed to deny access to a computer system or data until a ransom is paid. Ransomware typically spreads through phishing emails or by a victim unknowingly visiting an infected website.” PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS The vulnerability of connected medical devices provides an easy target for cybercriminals. Many IoMT devices don’t have built-in security measures and many use legacy operating systems that are no longer patched or supported by the manufacturer. One study showed that 20 percent of devices were running unsupported systems. Some estimates put this number above 70 percent. Many were designed to be stand-alone devices. Network segmentation is one step to help protect patients from these attacks. Non-medical devices and guest devices must be segmented from medical devices. The incursion of consumer devices into the health care space is a concern and a problem. Sometimes an electric car or exercise device, that is linked to the Internet, is connected to a medical device network. Organization-wide cybersecurity training would prevent workers in all capacities from making critical mistakes that could jeopardize the organization’s brand, staff, patients and visitors. “As healthcare technology management (HTM) professionals struggle to navigate through the dark space of information security, it has become apparent, particularly this year, that we still have much work to do to clearly and safely negotiate this challenging environment,” says Jojo Gonzales, BSHA, CBET, CHTM, A+, Net+, Sec+, Healthcare IT Certified, lead BMET in the clinical technology department at the Kaiser Permanente

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

San Diego Medical Center. “Organizations are deploying solutions, but technician training is lagging behind. The effectiveness of those tools will increase significantly if the operators know how to properly utilize them,” Gonzales adds. INSIGHTS FROM HTM SPECIALISTS HTM teams have had to evolve in their role as medical device repair and maintenance experts and become educated and proactive in monitoring connected medical devices. Some teams have members in a hybrid role taking on this function and others have a specialist assigned to this task. In addition to hardening the network alongside IT colleagues, the HTM team should have protocols in place for documenting every effort. “It’s important to keep in mind during a cyber event that any damage done has the potential to end up in a criminal investigation, or an insurance claim, or both. In today’s environment, more and more hospitals carry some kind of insurance policy hedging against cyber events. Claims can be made for things like damaged equipment or lost revenue,” says Brandon White, clinical systems engineer who works for Renovo Solutions in the biomedical engineering department at Hoag Hospital Newport Beach in California. He says that the insurance companies require more than the good word of people to prove that everything within their power was done to provide reasonable security and response. “Therefore, you should document basically everything you can. These documents will end up with the hospital’s legal team to make the best case for the hospital to the insurance company and criminal investigators,” White says. “HTM professionals should establish a communication line and task tracking protocol with the CIO/ CISO, or whoever is leading the response to the attack. This will be important for problem solving,

documenting issues, and proposing and getting approval for solutions. It’s a good idea to get senior leadership-level approval for anything you propose to do,” White adds. He says that data breach events, much like a ransomware attack, are considered crime scenes. “If, for example, all the records are stolen off of the laptop that controls the stress test equipment, then much like the CT, every step should be taken to keep the affected parts in as-found conditions to allow for an investigation,” White says. He says that much of the same processes for the response to the ransomware attack will apply here, too. “In the case of breaches of ePHI, the hospital will have to report them to the government. So, the documentation of what kind of ePHI was lost, the kind of intrusion used to take it and how many people are affected will be important pieces of that report,” White adds. In addition to your preparation or response to a cyberattack, there are several practical tips that can be put into practice that will help to mitigate the threat and harden your system. “First and foremost, knowing what you have increases your security effectiveness. Conduct a thorough inventory of cyber vulnerable equipment,” Gonzales says. He suggests that HTM departments create and implement user awareness training. Gonzales says that it helps strengthen the organization’s security posture. “Remove/rename default admin usernames and passwords and establish policy and limit use of removable media,” Gonzales says. He also says to apply security patches in coordination with the OEM, use hardening guides and be wary of increased phishing and social engineering activities. INSIGHTS FROM THE THIRD-PARTY SPECIALISTS The problem of cybersecurity is so

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

Benjamin Stock Ordr

Jojo Gonzales Kaiser Permanente San Diego Medical Center

pervasive that it has given rise to an entire industry to address the threat. Some of those specialists have shared their insights into the management of medical devices when hardening the network is crucial. Daniel Brodie, co-founder and CTO at New York-based Cynerio agrees that HTM professionals need to ascertain that devices have the latest OS and firmware installed. “However, updates are often unavailable due to long device shelf lives and unsupported legacy OS (e.g. Windows 7). Updates from vendors are often delayed, and implementation processes can be long and arduous due to dependence on mission-critical devices that cannot be taken offline,” Brodie says. He says to mitigate risk, and reduce the attack surface, teams can employ more sophisticated compensating controls, such as 1) safe segmentation policies to block all unnecessary communications, and 2) device port hardening to limit third-party vendor access, ensuring only critical maintenance services are conducted on specific ports on specific devices at scheduled times. Hardening the system against cyber-intrusion is often a joint effort between biomed, IT and security says Benjamin Stock, CBET, director of healthcare product management at Ordr in Santa Clara, California. “When we look at all the ways an organization can be impacted, we generally rely on the fundamentals,” Stock says, offering several examples. “Active, accurate and continuous asset inventory – knowing in real-time what devices are connecting to your network, that they are properly

Daniel Brodie Cynerio

classified with make, location, operating system, serial number, and application/port usage, and that there is no impact to the device or the environment,” Stock says. “Updating default passwords and storing them appropriately. (LastPass, etcetera) can help ensure that the devices are not compromised based on known, public passwords that are on all of the same make/model of device,” he says. Stock also points to the importance of patching and firmware upgrades – limiting the amount of time devices are unpatched, have security flaws or need firmware upgrades means less of a likelihood that there is a hole or weakness. He also says that when allowed, all devices should be identified and should be classified with whether or not they have AV installed or if they need to be segmented as high-risk devices. “Update virus definitions (automatically or manually) – ideally this would be an automated function but if it is not, having an up-to-date definitions library is critical,” Stock says. Stock says that credential access controls are important and to make sure that all LDAP (ie. active directory) information is associated to the correct user(s) – allowing only provisioned sharing of information from users to systems, networks, services and applications throughout the network. Segmentation is an important step, as well as knowing any possible weakness in your system, but don’t over-segment, according to Shankar Somasundaram, CEO and co-founder of Asimily, based in Sunnyvale, California. “Understand the entry points into

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

Shankar Somasundaram Asimily

the network for an attacker; understand how an attacker can spread out and compromise connected devices and the impact of such an attack on the clinical operations and data. This would provide HTM/biomed with targeted mitigation actions they can take to protect themselves against an intrusion and make the mitigation plan simpler and effective,” Somasundaram says. He suggests that HTM professionals first understand the inventory. “And then, just segment the network for different medical device types or for legacy operating systems which should provide some level of protection (not as effective as doing the prior suggestion). This needs to be done carefully since excessive segmentation can overload the network, be hard to maintain and, if not done correctly, can cause operational issues,” Somasundaram adds. He also recommends creating a standard “configuration” template which specifies what ports and applications should be open/used for different device models from different manufacturers and apply them across the network. “Hospitals, clinics and health care facilities, depending on size, have IT departments that look after their overall communications and data flow – this is fine and does cross over into patient-data controls. Here is where the big hole and break in this system occurs – they do not include the actual medical devices – and the security of them into their working matrix,” says Peter Loehfelm of Medical Equipment Doctor in Anaheim, California. “Patching these devices is key to closing up the scenario of patient data FEBRUARY 2021

TECHNATION

COVER STORY

“ When buying new devices, run a risk analysis and understand how risks can be mitigated when bringing into the environment so that the problem is contained and manageable.” – Brandon White, Renovo Solutions being stored on insecure clouds or even worse on a USB portal in the pocket of a well-intended staff member,” he says. BEST PRACTICES Many protocols, that can be put into daily use can reduce the risk that an HTM team needs to react to a cyberattack that was successful. There is a long list of best practices that can reduce vulnerabilities and fortify clinical networks. Stock says that medical device security best practices start with aligning closely with the hospital’s IT security team. “This will help ensure compliance and ePHI security, help keep tabs on device utilization patterns to schedule downtime and maintenance without disrupting clinical services, and assist with ongoing risk assessments and recall tracking,” he says. Stock says that biomed/HTM teams should also consider requesting MDS2 forms from vendors to understand out-of-the-box device-level security, identify devices that store and track ePHI, and ensure devices adhere to organizational security policies. “Although the list might seem short, these best practices are no small feat,” Stock says. He says to have multiple backups stored in cloud and physical media for a resilient set up. “Not only have a real-time asset inventory but audit the inventory to ensure it is accurate. Don’t simply trust that when AV/patching maintenance is performed that it is complete, but verify it was accurately performed. Establish a removal process and corresponding documented for removal of individuals from the LDAP system,” Stock recommends. He also suggests defining PHI removal policies and having clear

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

documentation for decommissioning equipment and creating and maintaining internal documentation of workflow(s) for suspected PHI exposure. Somasundaram recommends 10 best practices that could be applied regularly, which include keeping up HTM’s understanding of the inventory, maintaining physical and cyber access controls so that only specific authorized users are accessing the device and to turn on logging and user credentials where possible to ensure user access is logged and monitored. He also recommends closing unused ports and services on devices. “Monitor the devices for vulnerabilities; understand which ones pose the highest likelihood and impact in the network and mitigate risks from those vulnerabilities and monitor the network for anomalies and security threats,” Somasundaram says. He also suggests segmenting the device where possible. Again, segmentation has to be done carefully to be effective and not cause other issues and patch devices when validated and approved patches are provided by the manufacturer. “When buying new devices, run a risk analysis and understand how risks can be mitigated when bringing into the environment so that the problem is contained and manageable. Train staff to ensure they are cyber-aware and that they understand how connected devices should be managed from a cybersecurity standpoint,” Somasundaram adds. White says it is important to communicate with critical clinical staff that there is the potential for issues with equipment and set up a communication procedure for them to follow in case they experience attack-related troubles. “This is super crucial, because it’s

impossible for the biomed staff to be all over the hospital at once, and the medical staff are the ones much more likely to notice something first. It’s best to start in the most critical places first, such as the ICU or OR, and work your way down the intensity levels of your hospital,” he says. “Talk to the manager, talk to the staff on the ground. Get approval on exactly what to say from the response team first. Image and reputation control are a big part of the response, so messaging is important,” White adds. White says that in the case of ransomware, it’s entirely possible for medical equipment to be affected. “Once a problem related to an attack is identified on a piece of medical equipment, that device should be considered a crime scene. It’s important to maintain the condition of the device so an investigation can be conducted. It’s a good idea to treat these devices like it was involved in an adverse patient health outcome event,” he says. “Set them aside, keep the memory and settings intact, keep the battery charged, all that sort of thing. For devices that absolutely must come back online immediately, such as the only CT that services the ER for example; obviously down-time is critical,” White adds. He says that the vendor will more than likely be called to re-install the entire operating system to get such a CT running again, but it may be possible to make a copy of the hard drive, or ask the vendor to install a new hard drive altogether and keep the affected one so a cyber forensics team can do an investigation on it. “If memory or the BIOS is corrupted and needs to be replaced, keep all these parts for the forensics team and don’t let the vendor take them in an exchange. Pay the extra money and hold on to them. Document all these steps, in detail. Decisions on what to do with critical medical devices like this CT should not be made in a vacuum; all of these solutions should be communicated with the ones leading

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

the response, and approval for a plan of action should be agreed upon by senior hospital staff,” White says. He says that it’s entirely possible that they will have a special response team who are trained on these steps to do the technical part, and they may not want the in-house biomed touching anything at all. “In any case, document absolutely everything you do, you’re asked to do, who asked you to do it, etcetera. A ransomware attack is considered a crime scene, and you may be required to justify your actions someday,” White adds. “For DDoS attacks, the technical solution for getting devices back up and running could be as simple as removing the device from the network temporarily and having the clinical staff save files locally until the attack is

stopped. IT and cybersecurity will take the lead on stopping the actual source of these attacks and restoring the network, but at the individual device level, HTMs play the critical role of managing current conditions during the attack,” White says. He says that the technical and work-flow logistics of that will depend on what devices are affected, and again, the decision to take these steps should not be made in a vacuum. “Just like with the other two scenarios, an investigation may be conducted, and it will be important to document the state the device was found in, how much down-time there was, etcetera,” White says. In summary, keep criminal investigations and insurance claims in your mind during a response. “Document everything you do and

propose. Know that the hospital’s legal team will be heavily involved. Set up a communication procedure with the response team and the clinical staff. Prioritize critical areas and equipment. Utilize your incident response protocol to quarantine affected devices,” White says. White reminds his colleagues that HTM professionals can play a huge part in the response to cyberattacks. “Our knowledge of equipment itself, as well as the relationships to third-party vendors who help support it, and the clinical staff who use it will make an HTM professional a valuable addition to a response team. Get approval for everything you propose and do. Document everything. Communicate difficulties you face. Be available to help,” he adds.

Now Offering Replacement Parts for BD Alaris Pumps

For over 35 years, AIV has been providing quality, cost-effective solutions for healthcare facilities.

Visit our website or give us a call today to review all parts available.

877.266.6897

aiv-inc.com 735A

EMPOWERING THE BIOMEDICAL/HTM PROFESSIONAL

FEBRUARY 2021

TECHNATION

EXPERT ADVICE

CAREER CENTER

Seasoned Pros Navigate Challenge of Younger Bosses BY KATHLEEN FURORE

n late October, CNBC featured a story about the plight of older workers, noting that they were having a tough time finding work after being let go during the pandemic. What I’ve heard from friends in that position is that when “mature employees” ultimately do find work, their boss frequently is someone young enough to be their son or daughter – or even their granddaughter or grandson! That made me wonder how people in that position can leverage their years of experience without offending their much-younger supervisor.

Career coach Chelsea Jay, founder of Seasoned and Growing and a nationally certified resume writer and online branding specialist, has worked with clients who have run into that scenario. And she says there are ways during an interview to gauge if a prospective supervisor will be open-minded and value learning from seasoned professionals. “Mature workers sometimes enter a new role with pre-conceived biases toward younger supervisors and with the mindset of ‘they think I’m too old and don’t value me,’ ” Jay explains. “Success in today’s workforce boils down to mindset and transparency ... I always suggest learning more about

TECHNATION

FEBRUARY 2021

your boss before you accept the role, and once hired, continue having transparent conversations about expectations and desires.” She suggests asking a few questions that can help gauge your future boss’s personality and openness to learning from mature professionals. Some examples are: • W hat are you hoping that I bring to the table? • W here do you need the most support? • W hat type of employee characteristics and skills are you looking to add to your team? “Often, younger supervisors who value a mature employee’s history will answer these questions and allude to [needing] historical knowledge and experience,” she says. “This helps give upfront clues to whether or not the position will be a good fit and one where a seasoned professional is valued.” If you’re on the job and feeling under-valued, Jay recommends keeping the lines of communication open and being fully transparent with younger bosses. “Say something like, ‘As you know from my interview, I have over 15 years of experience and knowledge in this industry, and my goal in this role is to add value by providing historical

Kathleen Furore references when needed to make decisions that will drive excellence across the organization. Are you open to that?’ ” Jay says older workers also might ask something like, “How can I support you with the knowledge I have, and how do you prefer I bring things to your attention?” In the end, it all comes down to communicating with empathy. “Setting a solid foundation of understanding and respect ultimately helps younger and older employees work together in harmony,” Jay says. KATHLEEN FURORE is a Chicago-based writer and editor. You can email questions to kfurore@yahoo.com.

WWW.1TECHNATION.COM

Your HTM teant does so ntuch ntore than just ntaintenance. Your CMMS should too.

Iii J!:

Cross-Department Functionality Support better patient care together, on one system, to get work done faster and more 3fficiently.

Financial Analytics :ontrol costs without compromising quality by having a complete view into your hospital's 3quipment and facility maintenance expenses.

-II ii

Reporting Ensure safety and regulatory compliance through automated inspections and comprehensive reporting.

Operations Simplify your Alternative Equipment Maintenance (AEM) program with automation and reporting.

Medical device security. Yes, we help with that too.

We automatically update your medical

device inventory directly from discovery and monitoring tools. This provides you with an accurate inventory and automated response across IT, HTM and Security if there are vulnerabilities or threats to your connected medical devices. To learn more about the Connected Workplace for Healthcare, visit www.nuvolo.com or contact us at sales@nuvolo.com.

EXPERT ADVICE