Rendering medical service to our country’s veterans is the special mission of the Veterans Health Administration. The HTM professionals in America’s largest integrated health care system are an integral part of its mission. In one part of the South, this important work is being handled by a dedicated biomedical engineering department; including several members who have walked in the same shoes as the patients.
The Department of Veterans Affairs Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (TVHS) is an integrated health care system comprised of medical centers that include the Alvin C. York Campus in Murfreesboro, Tennessee and the Nashville Campus and several community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs) in Tennessee and Kentucky.
The integration of the Nashville and Murfreesboro VA Medical Centers in 2000, to the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, brought about the current system. The original Supervisory Biomedical Engineer was Richard Kress.
“Biomedical Engineering covers the main medical centers and approximately 13 CBOCs,” according to Supervisory Biomedical Engineer Geminia Hopkins, ME, VHA-CM, CCE, FAC P/PM.
The team of HTM professionals strongly supports the mission of the VA, she says.
In addition to Hopkins, the department is comprised of Biomedical Engineer Elizabeth Byers, MBA, CCE, Biomedical Equipment Support Specialists Pam Collins, Owens McCain, Knight Roche, Sheila Plowman, Michael King, Albert Carter, Jason Knight, Monroe Boyd, Dale Gambino, Felix Lake and Kenneth Varbanoff. Medical Equipment Repairers Martin King and Devellion Crutcher are also key team members.
The Medical Equipment Management Program at TVHS functions to “promote the safe and effective use of medical equipment used for the diagnosis, treatment, monitoring and care of patients,” Hopkins says.
The program has processes in place for selecting and acquiring medical equipment, maintaining that equipment and keeping an inventory, to be included in the management program.
The biomedical engineering department at TVHS supports more than 10,000 assets.
“In FY2014, Biomedical Engineering completed 6,692 equipment repair and preventive maintenance work orders and supported almost 10,171 pieces of medical equipment,” Hopkins says.
“The TVHS Medical Center Inventory is estimated to be approximately $83.8 million, including over $26.8 million of imaging equipment. Biomedical Engineering also supports an estimated $2 million in non-medical equipment. The in-house Biomedical Engineering Department’s professional services have provided a yearly cost savings of over $4 million to the Healthcare System,” Hopkins adds.
The HTM professionals at TVHS also collaborate with their Information Resource Management (IRM) colleagues. Both have a common goal of caring for veterans. The biomedical engineering staff meets with the IRM staff weekly. Project updates on newly deployed medical systems, and follow up on problem resolution, are discussed.
Capturing data is handled in a uniquely VA approach.
“Data collection is accomplished using a Department of Veterans Affairs Engineering Package, Automated Engineering Management System/ Medical Equipment Reporting System (AEMS/MERS),” Hopkins says.
“The VHA Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) Program Office provides oversight for the VA Medical Centers Biomedical Engineering programs and identified ten (10) key performance indicators that are collected quarterly, which include trend analyses for personnel, work load, service production, resources, benchmarking, and program value. These metrics are aggregated and distributed to VA leadership every three months,” she adds.
Current Year Projects
Along with the more routine daily projects, the team at TVHS has tackled some major undertakings, including some that impact both campuses. This year, they have a full agenda.
One project has them reconfiguring, expanding and upgrading their Philips Telemetry, PIIC and Network topology. This project will cover both campuses to upgrade the Philips Patient Monitoring System.
“This includes expanding the current wireless monitoring capabilities of the telemetry suite,” says Hopkins. “Providing emergency room patient overview within the main telemetry suite, addressing compliance issues related to end of life for key components within the system, and reconfiguring servers and network switches to allow for increased patient load and future expansion.”
Biomedical engineering is also handling an ICU documentation system project. Also involving both campuses, it involves the acquisition and deployment of a computer information system for the ICUs, specialty areas and operating rooms, according to Hopkins.
“The system shall use advanced technological methods in the integration of health care data to improve patient quality of care, reduction of medical errors, and increase in cost savings,” she says.
Imaging has also had the group’s attention. The Nashville campus was the location for the replacement and upgrade of an existing MRI unit and suite. This included construction for proper zoning to protect patients and staff, and upgrade to replace outdated imaging systems to provide optimal care for patients.
In terms of service contracts, the department’s supervisory biomedical engineer manages that task. Included are more than 30 medical device service contracts, estimated at $4.1 million annually. An analysis is performed by staff to compare repair costs between in-house maintenance and OEM or third-party maintenance.
“Biomedical Engineering staff develop a statement of work as the contracting officer’s technical representative (COR), detailing the expectations and requirements of need from potential vendors,” Hopkins explains.
“After vendor selection is made, biomedical engineering staff monitors the work performed by the field service engineers (FSEs), and ensures medical device systems are returned to the specific manufacturer’s specifications,” she adds. “Vendor service reports are maintained for all maintenance contracts and are reviewed for payment and vendor evaluations.”
Supporting Colleagues
“Recently, a large hospital in the Nashville area contracted out their biomedical departments to save on costs,” Hopkins relates. “VA biomedical staff reached out to their fellow biomedical employees and provided them with words of encouragement and support. A number of TVHS Biomedical Engineering staff members have served in the U.S. Military, and 32 percent of TVHS staff members are Veterans. Therefore, there is a vested interest with utilizing in-house biomedical staff to maintain these critical medical systems versus contracting out services.”
Outside of work, members of the department are active in the Healthcare Technology Management Association-MidTN and the Society of Women Engineers.
“TVHS biomedical engineering staff are fulfilling the promise to care for those who have served and take pride in what they do,” Hopkins says.