CHTM is a Certified Healthcare Technology Manager. It is one of the newest certifications from the AAMI Credentialing Institute. In the last Beyond Certification article I touched on it a little. It covers two areas: the management of healthcare technology operations; and, the management of personnel. The manager functions include participation in the leadership of the business enterprise. The manager is also expected to have the skills and understanding needed to perform strategic, business, and change management as well as employee relations.
Like the CBET, CRES and CLES there are minimum requirements to take the test. There are five different paths to meet these requirements. They are:
Path 1 – A current certification as a clinical engineer (CCE), CBET, CRES, CLES with at least three years of work experience as a supervisor or manager in the last five years.
Path 2 – Successful completion of the Department of Defense’s biomedical equipment maintenance technician (DOD BMET) training program with at least three years of work experience, military or civilian, as an HTM supervisor or manager in the last five years.
Path 3 – An associate degree in biomedical technology, related health care discipline, information technology or business with at least three years of work experience as an HTM supervisor or manager in the last five years.
Path 4 – A bachelor’s degree or higher in biomedical technology, engineering, related health care discipline, information technology or business with at least two years as a manager within the last five years.
Path 5 – Work experience with or without a degree not related to biomedical technology, related health care discipline, information technology, or business management. Seven years of work experience in the HTM field with three years of management experience in the last five years.
In each of these paths if you don’t have the title of supervisor or manager, you would have to confirm that you perform management duties either through self or third-party attestation.
The CHTM test questions will be based in five categories. They are: financial management (19 percent of test), risk management (12 percent of test), operations management (46 percent of test), education and training (11 percent of test), and human resources (12 percent of test). The questions will ask about recall, application and analysis of each category.
The CHTM test schedule is different from the other tests (CBET, CRES, CLES). It is available four times a year instead of only three .
If you work in a leadership role I think you should at least look into the certification. The CHTM Handbook can be found on the AAMI website at http://goo.gl/o1pzgD. Until next time, keep your journal up to date.