Company Showcase: The InterMed Group

COMPANY SHOWCASE

The InterMed Group

The InterMed Group is a dynamic provider of comprehensive healthcare technology management services covering a broad range of client needs. InterMed’s deep-rooted partnership philosophy drives all of its offerings, helping to ensure everything it does moves clients closer to achieving their goals. The diverse service offerings include fully outsourced programs covering all medical devices from the linear accelerators, MRIs and CTs through anesthesia, dialysis, and respiratory therapy, to the patient monitors, infusion pumps and beds and everything in between. A rather unique attribute of InterMed is its willingness to fill in the gaps for any existing program. If a client has a solid in-house program, InterMed is more than happy to take care of the areas they do not have the staff or the expertise to handle.

Expanding on this, InterMed also provides field service-based contracts on medical equipment. Roughly 50% of its technical team members are specialized in diagnostic imaging where it provides service contracts for specific devices in hospitals, imaging centers and veterinary hospitals.

To add value, InterMed is also able to offer new and pre-owned equipment to clients. InterMed provides clients with capital planning reports along with assessments of existing equipment to identify capital replacements that will best benefit the client. InterMed then also provides the clients with options to consider if they choose to move forward with a replacement.

Many years ago, InterMed established the JumpTeamsTM program as it saw the demand for temporary skilled technical talent. Whether a facility is trying to fill in for vacation time, adding skills for a recall or supplementing staff until a full-time technician is hired, the InterMed JumpTeamsTM can provide partners with qualified staff.

PANDEMIC (COVID-19) Like many, InterMed’s ongoing challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic is to keep all team members safe and healthy. That includes mental health as well as physical health. InterMed is still dealing with the toll COVID is having on the nation’s health care and front-line workers. Through all the challenges and unknowns InterMed has faced, the company found that a positive mindset is key to overcoming any obstacle. Working its way through the pandemic actually made InterMed stronger as a team, as an organization and, most importantly, for its customers, as a partner. InterMed embraced the challenges and turned them into opportunities to improve. The dedication to the safety of the InterMed team, its partners and patients is part of InterMed and continues to inspire everyone within the company to bring the best every day in every way. MEDICAL DEVICE SECURITY ENVIRONMENT There is not a day that goes by without the industry hearing about another health care cyber security attack. In today’s environment, hackers see health care as an easy target. The FDA issued a warning that other countries have made it clear that they are targeting health care.

The three main areas of concern are: • IT – The facilities network infrastructure (servers, computes, switches, routers and Wi-Fi) • IoT – Internet of Things, the other devices that communicate on the network (phone systems, video camera systems, cellphones, tables, etc.) • IoMT – Internet of Medical Things. This is a subset of IOT and includes medical devices such as imaging devices, patient monitors, infusion pumps and lab devices.

Most larger facilities have IT and IS departments and they mainly focus on the IT/IoT devices. This approach often leaves the IoMT devices at risk to vulnerabilities. Smaller facilities may not have an IT/IS team, leaving their entire network at risk. The biggest risk to IoMT is that there are still many facilities, regardless of size, that do not have a plan in place to evaluate currently known vulnerabilities, mitigate the risk, thus reducing their

Left photo: InterMed employees stay current with hands-on field training both internally and with OEMs to provide the best service to clients. Right photo: InterMed’s headquarters in Alachua, FL houses administrative offices, warehouse, and training space.

risk score. The first step is training your biomed teams and a good inventory connected and connectable devices.

InterMed has solutions to fit the needs of its clients no matter size or where they are in their cybersecurity journey, a journey that begins at procurement and lasts through the life cycle of the device.

STAFFING CONCERNS AND SOLUTIONS The industry has been facing a shortage of qualified technical talent for many years, with a large population approaching retirement age and a shortage of new technicians joining the workforce. Over the past couple of years, COVID has amplified the issue, with many highly experienced technicians choosing to retire. With an increased focus on addressing staffing challenges, InterMed continues to successfully recruit and maintain the most qualified individuals as part of the InterMed team. InterMed’s internal philosophy of constant and never-ending improvement is really highlighted by its training and educating all employees to be the best at what they do.

THE INTERMED GROUP’S GROWTH InterMed continues to grow rapidly as customers feel the impact a real partnership approach can bring to them. There has always been a strong dedication to finding solutions to customers’ problems, at all levels of the organization. InterMed’s flexible programs ensure its teams are focused on what makes a difference for each partner. The goal is to become the number one independent service organization in the market and in the industry for healthcare technology management services. InterMed has all the services and technical skill sets to provide each element of service needed, from infusion pumps to MRI. Over the past 10 years InterMed has grown, expanding from its headquarters in Florida, throughout the East Coast, midwestern and southwestern United States. InterMed looks to its relationships with customers as partnerships and becomes involved in the community. InterMed’s official charity is Tyler’s Hope for a Dystonia Cure. Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder with over one third of dystonia patients being children. InterMed and Tyler’s Hope are committed to finding a cure for dystonia. InterMed won’t stop until a cure is found. The company carries this focus into all that it does, working to bring hope to healthcare. At The InterMed Group, the team knows the industry will continue to evolve, so InterMed will continue to create solutions for tomorrow’s challenges.

For more information, visit intermed1.com.