Healthcare technology management (HTM) professionals face a number of challenges as they make sure the equipment they maintain provides safe and effective care. A recent survey, which includes responses from 195 hospitals across the United States, reveals what problems keep them up at night, according to AAMI.
Ensuring that networked devices and systems work properly topped the list of medical device-related challenges, according to the results of a survey commissioned by the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI), a nonprofit organization that supports the healthcare community in the development, management, and use of safe and effective medical technology.
The survey, the results of which appear in the September/October issue of AAMI’s BI&T (Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology) journal, found that 62 percent of those surveyed rate the networking issue as “challenging” or “extremely challenging.” Meanwhile, 52 percent name integrating data into electronic health records as their top concern. Maintaining infusion pump systems (44 percent) came in at number three.
The results reflect those seen in previous AAMI-commissioned surveys, indicating that there are no easy solutions for these ongoing complex problems. Other challenges making the list are cybersecurity, device incident reporting, recalls, spectrum and wireless management, battery management, endoscope management, and non-hospital devices being brought in by patients.
For more information, visit the AAMI website.