A document intended to help health care technology management (HTM) professionals keep medical devices functioning efficiently and effectively has made its debut.
ANSI/AAMI EQ89:2015, Guidance for the use of medical equipment maintenance strategies and procedures, identifies commonly used practices. It is intended to help HTM departments standardize and document their maintenance procedures, as well as provide guidance to select the most appropriate maintenance strategy for a given type of device.
“It’s a good document,” said George Mills, director of engineering at The Joint Commission, the nation’s largest accrediting body for health care. Participating in an AAMI roundtable discussion on preventive maintenance (PM), Mills commented on the new standard. “We get a lot of blank stares” when we ask how facilities get their PM strategies and activities in place, Mills said. “The field should really benefit from the guidance that’s provided in this document.” More of Mills’ comments and a transcript of the entire roundtable discussion appear in the March/April issue of BI&T (Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology).
The development of EQ89 started several years ago and picked up steam after the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced in December 2011 that hospitals should adhere to the manufacturer’s recommendations on PM activities for medical equipment in almost all instances. That move ignited an uproar in the HTM community, with many professionals saying it would be impractical, expensive, and that it failed to recognize the value of some alternative strategies with a proven history of safety and success. Two years later, CMS adopted a more flexible posture, giving HTM departments some latitude in setting their maintenance activities.
As EQ89 notes, “A maintenance strategy is not a one-size-fits-all approach. HTM departments should develop a plan that will keep the devices functioning and available without expending resources unnecessarily.” However, HTM professionals should be able to provide documentation on why they have chosen certain procedures, and ensure that procedures comply with any applicable authorities having jurisdiction.
The document also advises that before any changes are made, facilities should check the maintenance recommendations of the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), if they are available. It also names several considerations HTM professionals should take into account when determining a maintenance strategy: the process used to determine the strategy for similar devices; fail safes; the availability of back-up critical devices; and the available evidence and rationale.
In addition, the document names factors to consider when there is a potential change to a maintenance strategy, including the consequences of a device failure, the clinical environment in which the device will operate, and the impact of the physical environment on the device (e.g., temperature and humidity, portable versus fixed location).
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AAMI Foundation Launches Coalition to Champion Infusion Therapy Safety
The AAMI Foundation, in cooperation with industry partners, health care providers, and national organizations, is launching an ambitious initiative to develop and promote solutions that improve patient outcomes with infusion therapy.
The National Coalition for Infusion Therapy Safety held its kick-off meeting in Annapolis, Maryland, March 12-13, marking the latest effort by the AAMI Foundation, through its Healthcare Technology Safety Institute, to address a key patient safety issue.
Over the next two years, experts from a variety of health care and health care technology backgrounds will develop data-driven strategies to overcome a lack of compliance with drug libraries, create educational resources for multiple line infusion therapy, and share methods to reduce non-clinically actionable infusion pump alarms. The overarching theme is to find ways to improve patient safety in the context of infusion therapy.
These solutions that will be developed are intended to address several priority issues identified in a report developed as a result of a landmark summit on infusion device safety held by AAMI and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“For years, the FDA has received reports of adverse events associated with infusion device therapy. However, it is believed that these reports don’t show the full scope of the problem,” said Marilyn Neder Flack, senior vice president of patient safety initiatives at AAMI and executive director of the AAMI Foundation. “During the 2010 summit, members of the health care technology community vowed to work together to confront this ongoing patient safety challenge. This campaign is the next step in combating this problem.”
The campaign is expected to roll out in two phases. After the coalition’s kickoff, the AAMI Foundation will host webinars, develop publications, reach out to key opinion leaders, and create web-based directories for self-guided learning.
The current industry partners are CareFusion, Hospira, Baxter, B Braun, PMD Solutions, Smiths Medical, Cerner, Fresenius Kabi, Ivenix, Star Luminal, LLC, and ZynoMedical.
New Online Community Makes Debut
AAMI members have an additional way to connect with their peers through a new forum.
AAMI Connect – boasting topic-specific communities designed to enhance the user experience – has replaced the eForums. Conversations dating back to the inception of each eForum community are available in each AAMI Connect community. Each community also has a resource library that houses attachments and resources for easy accessibility.
“The community was designed to empower relationship building for AAMI members,” said Allison Rafti, director of membership marketing. “We believe these communities will enable members to tap into the collective knowledge of their fellow professionals and connect with others who are passionate about the same health care technology issues. AAMI Connect is easy to use and intuitive. These re-envisioned communities put information and resources at the fingertips of our members and makes networking easier than ever.”
Current eForum users have been automatically subscribed to community and may access AAMI Connect with their AAMI user names and passwords. Please visit www.aami.org/connect to get started today.