“Writing the compendium is roughly the equivalent of capturing everything I know about medical device integration in about 50 pages,” said Melendez, who is associate director of clinical device/biomedical device integration with Partners HealthCare in Boston. “What made this most difficult, besides having a demanding full-time job and family responsibilities, was the challenge of distilling all of the information. It reminded me of the line attributed to Mark Twain, ‘I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.’ The compendium would have been easier to write – and may have taken less time – if it were hundreds of pages long versus 50.”
“Medical Device Integration and Informatics” covers the fundamental concepts of multi-vendor device integration, medical device data archival systems, and room automation systems.
“This compendium’s focus is the integration of medical devices with [electronic health records] EHRs – a topic of keen interest right now – and the burgeoning subspecialty of medical device integration and informatics (MDII), a hybrid of health care technology management (HTM) and information systems (IS) skills and abilities,” Melendez wrote in the executive summary.
The compendium provides insights for planning, implementing, and sustaining integration initiatives. It covers regulations and standards, organizational structure, project management, system selection and implementation, security, and operations and support.
A complimentary copy of the compendium is available at http://s3.amazonaws.com/rdcms-aami/files/production/public/FileDownloads/HTM/MDII_Compendium.pdf.
AAMI Releases Updated Study Guide, Practicum
Last month at the AAMI Conference & Expo, two new resources to enhance the skills of HTM professionals made their debut.
One resource, the revised and expanded “BMET Study Guide” has 850 interactive questions and answers – each with a detailed explanation. Covering topics ranging from anatomy and physiology, to electricity and electronics, this is a popular resource for those preparing for the certification exams, but equally valuable for those just seeking to reinforce their knowledge.
“We had a much larger team working on this revision than any previous edition,” said Ethan Hertz, a clinical engineer at the Duke University Health System and project manager. “Questions were written by a team of seven writers and independently reviewed by several HTM professionals. We want to make sure that this edition of the study guide helps those who are interested in taking the CBET exam feel as if they are well prepared.”
AAMI would like to thank TriMedx, Stephens International Recruiting, and Universal Hospital Services for their sponsorship.
The other resource, the second edition of the “Practicum for Healthcare Technology Management,” covers everything from health care facility management and medical device safety to human factors engineering and evidence-based medical equipment maintenance management. Based on Les Atles’ “A Practicum for Biomedical Engineering and Technology Management Issues,” the book includes chapters on benchmarking, customer satisfaction, use errors, wireless spectrum management, and more.
“When Les passed away in February 2013, I resolved to ensure that his passion for motivating and assisting the new generation of HTM professionals become better at what they do would live on,” said Malcolm Ridgway, a former chief clinical engineer at Aramark Healthcare Technologies. “We thank our colleagues who have made this continuation of Les’s vision possible.”
To purchase these resources, visit www.aami.org/store.
Johnson & Johnson Donates Sterilization Conference Proceedings to AAMI
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has donated the published proceedings from conferences on sterilization of medical products to AAMI, which will make the material available online as a complimentary service to the sterilization community.
Primarily, the proceedings come from what are known as the Kilmer Conferences, events that brought together leaders in sterility assurance and sterilization. Held every two to three years between 1976 and 2003, the Kilmer Conferences were organized and hosted by J&J, a reflection of the company’s commitment to advancing sterilization science and related health issues.
Joyce Hansen, vice president of J&J sterility assurance, donated the archived material during AAMI’s Sterilization Standards Week, which ran April 27-30 in Annapolis, Maryland.
Additionally, J&J announced that the Kilmer Conference – an invitation-only event – would return in the spring of 2016. Specifically, J&J will host the next Kilmer Conference on May 2-6, 2016 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The conference, Hansen said, will focus on manufacturers’ needs and considerations with sterilization, looking at the total life cycle of a product. AAMI has agreed to serve as a supporting organization to the conference and will develop a separate workshop focusing on some industrial sterilization basics in conjunction with that conference. The Parenteral Drug Association will also serve as a supporting organization.
AAMI President Mary Logan thanked J&J, saying the donation of the conference proceedings and the reinstatement of the Kilmer Conference reflects an appreciation for the fact that the sterilization community must do more to groom the next generation of leaders in this field.
“AAMI is very committed to supporting a strong community of experts in the field of sterility assurance, and we feel fortunate to work with partners such as Johnson & Johnson,” Logan said, noting that AAMI is developing certifications for industrial sterilization professionals. Additionally, AAMI published “Industrial Sterilization: Research from the Field” in 2013. A second edition of that publication is now in the works. Finally, AAMI University offers several courses and programs that cover industrial sterilization topics, such as ethylene oxide fundamentals and radiation sterilization for medical devices.
The proceedings from the Kilmer Conferences have been published in eight separate volumes, and they are rich in what they cover. Topics include: environmental controls in manufacturing; the importance of bioburden in sterile processing; pyrogen testing; ethylene oxide sterilization; regulatory considerations; gamma sterilization; and validation challenges. Presenters at the conferences came from a variety of backgrounds, both nationally and internationally. J&J also donated two volumes of material on sterilization by ionizing radiation.
AAMI is creating a website to showcase the material and will announce its availability at a later date.