By AAMI
HTM Week Events to Promote Learning, Pride — and Fun!
AAMI’s annual Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) Week celebration, running May 19-25, seeks to promote awareness of – and appreciation for – the critical work of professionals who manage and maintain the vast assortment of health technology found in health care delivery organizations.
This year’s schedule of events, planned by AAMI’s Technology Management Council, is designed to encourage collaboration and professional development, as well as promote this vital career to a new generation of HTM professionals. Events will include:
“HTM Best Practices in Large Health Systems” Webinar
May 21, 2-3 p.m. ET
During this special HTM Week webinar, leaders who manage in-house HTM departments at Intermountain Health, Texas Health and Advocate Health will share industry-leading practices they successfully implemented across their systems. You can use these tips to enhance operational efficiency, performance and productivity in any size HTM department.
“Using HTM Data to Drive High Reliability Healthcare” Webinar
May 23, 2-3 p.m. ET
This webinar will describe how HTM professionals at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reduced variability across the system’s 170 medical centers. It will also explain how the VA uses data to improve patient safety, monitor and benchmark program performance, strategically plan for new medical technology and manage medical equipment cybersecurity.
High School Essay Contest
What will the HTM field look like a generation from now? For this contest, high school students must use their imaginations to share a vision – in 600 words or less – of their HTM career in 20 years, as well as how the technology of the future will be used to improve patient care. Gift cards will be awarded for first ($500), second ($300) and third ($200) place. The winners will be announced on May 24.
Video Competition
What makes being an HTM professional awesome? Show off your department’s pride by recording a short video using an AAMI-produced musical track composed entirely of medical device sounds. Gift cards will be awarded for first ($400), second ($200) and third ($100) place. Visit www.aami.org/HTMVideo for instructions. The winners will be announced on May 24.
Visit www.aami.org/HTMWeek for the full list of events, resources to help you celebrate and information about how you can get involved.
Workshop Teaches How to ‘Do Smarter’ Healthcare Technology Management
The AAMI Exchange will play host to a special one-day forum for healthcare technology management (HTM) professionals focused on utilizing alternative equipment maintenance (AEM) programs as an efficiency and quality improvement strategy. The workshop, which is scheduled for June 7 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Cleveland, Ohio, will be led by Frank Painter, professor of the clinical engineering graduate program at the University of Connecticut, and Matt Baretich, president and CEO of Baretich Engineering based in Fort Collins, Colorado.
“It’s clear that there continues to be a lot of interest in AEM programs, albeit tempered by trepidation about exactly how to implement one,” said Baretich, who literally wrote the book on AEM programs.
In his “AEM Program Guide: Alternative PM for Patient Safety,” Baretich outlined the three major objectives of AEM programs:
- Saving time (and money) on planned maintenance without compromising safety and compliance.
- Achieving the same level of equipment safety for medical devices in the AEM program as for medical devices that follow manufacturer recommendations.
- Being in full compliance with regulations and requirements from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and accrediting organizations, such as The Joint Commission.
The workshop at the Exchange is the latest in a cross-country “roadshow” that Baretich and Painter have been facilitating to help HTM professionals better understand the value of implementing an AEM program.
“The slide deck I use is updated continuously, but I always start out with those three objectives. Later in the workshop, we talk about what words to actually use in our AEM policies, and I suggest ‘optimizing the use of maintenance resources’ as more appropriate than ‘saving money’ as an objective,” Baretich wrote in a post on the AAMIBlog. “We don’t want to make it sound like we’re just trying to cut corners and save a couple of bucks.”
The workshop utilizes an interactive format intended to provide attendees with a strong understanding of how to create and execute an AEM program. Attendees also receive sample policies and procedures that they can leverage to produce significant time and cost savings for their departments and health systems.
“I hope that the HTM professionals who attend these workshops go home fully prepared to kickstart their AEM programs,” Baretich said. “Sound AEM principles, carefully considered, really do give us tools for evidence-based maintenance – that holy grail we’ve been seeking these many years. That’s not just rhetoric; it’s an opportunity to do smarter HTM.”
To register, visit the AAMI Store, www.aami.org/store, and search for product code AEM190607.
How to Claim Continuing Education Units for ACI Certifications
Since the AAMI Credentials Institute (ACI) updated its recertification process in 2018, earning continuing education units (CEUs) toward a continuing practice journal has become far less costly and even more attainable, according to Certification Program Manager Martin J. McLaughlin. Rather than the nearly 120 hours of professional development that were required with the previous 15-point format, the current 30-CEU journal can be completed with roughly 30 hours.
With the new format comes a stricter requirement for proof of CEUs earned, according to McLaughlin. “As an ANSI-accredited program, it is essential that ACI is able to verify the completion of CEUs claimed by each certified individual,” he explained. “If a journal is submitted without proper CEU documentation and it is selected for audit, then the individual could face revocation if he or she isn’t able to provide documentation in the time given.”
To make the recertification process easier, McLaughlin provided examples of how proof for each CEU type can be claimed when submitting a journal.
Additional HTM-Related Certifications (15 CEU maximum)
ACI-certified individuals can claim CEUs for each additional healthcare technology management (HTM)-related certification earned during the three-year reporting period. Certifications directly related to HTM are worth five CEUs, while those indirectly related, such as a business- or technology-related certification, are worth two CEUs. It is important to note that maintaining a previously earned certification is not worth any CEUs. To properly document these CEUs, the individual must include a certificate or letter when submitting the journal. The letter must include the type of certification, name of the individual, date earned and expiration date.
Leadership Roles (15 CEU maximum)
Holding an active role on a committee, workgroup, or other appointment within AAMI or another HTM society or association is also worth CEUs, with the amount based on the total number of hours invested in the role. If the role demands 30+ hours per year, the individual can claim four CEUs per year; however, if the role demands less than 30 hours per year, only two CEUs can be claimed per year. Proper documentation for these CEUs can either be a roster that includes the individual’s name, role, and term, or a letter from a member of the group’s board detailing the individual’s participation.
Educational Content Development (15 CEU maximum)
Another way to obtain CEUs is by publishing a technical, peer-reviewed or opinion-based HTM article or HTM book content. The number of CEUs for the items in this category vary and can be found in the CEU guide located in the continuing practice journal document available at www.aami.org/aci. To claim these CEUs, the published article, which shows the individual’s name and publication date, must be included with the journal.
Professional Development (15 CEU minimum, no maximum)
Individuals can earn one CEU for every hour of in-person or web-based training they complete that is directly related to HTM and 0.5 CEU for training indirectly related to the field. Instructors of these courses can earn two CEUs per hour. To properly claim these CEUs, ACI requires a certificate of completion for each training course or webinar documented in the journal. Each certificate must include the individual’s name, title of the training, length of the training and date it was completed.
College or University Courses (15 CEU maximum)
College or university courses taken to obtain an accredited degree in the HTM field, such as an associate degree, bachelor’s degree, Master of Business Administration, or doctorate, are also eligible for CEU credit. A grade of “C” or above must be clearly documented on a copy of the transcript as proof of attendance.
Work Experience (6 CEU maximum)
As long as the accredited individual is working full-time in the HTM field during the reporting period, a total of 4.5 CEUs can be claimed in the journal (1.5 CEUs per year). An additional 0.5 CEU per year can be claimed for working part-time or for military reserve duty. Verification of these CEUs are supported by a supervisor’s signature on the journal itself.
