AAMI President and CEO Mary Logan announced her plan to retire at the end of this year during the fall AAMI Board of Directors meeting. Her departure will come almost eight years after she took the helm of the association.
Logan, only the second president and CEO in AAMI’s 48-year history, said her decision was based on personal and professional reasons. Personally, Logan, who will be just shy of 63 when she retires, said she wanted to spend more time with her husband and family, and enjoy a new chapter in her life. Professionally, Logan said she believes the end of next year would be good timing for a leadership change because the association would be in the middle of a three-year strategic plan, providing a new president with a clear path forward.
“This was a difficult decision because I love AAMI and all that it represents. But it’s the right decision,” Logan said. “I think I’ve been the right president for AAMI during a pivotal period in its history. Looking ahead, AAMI will need a fresh perspective so that it can continue to grow and fulfill its mission in setting the standards – literally and figuratively – for healthcare technology and advancing the cause of patient safety.”
Under Logan’s leadership, AAMI has positioned itself as a champion of healthcare technology and patient safety, enjoyed robust financial health, and vastly expanded its portfolio of resources for members and others in healthcare technology.
“It didn’t take very long for everyone to recognize that a new energy arrived at AAMI when Mary became president and CEO,” said AAMI Board Chair Michael H. Scholla, global director of regulatory and standards at DuPont. “Mary quickly learned the subtleties of various membership constituents and put plans in place to add more value from being an AAMI member. If I were to pick three major accomplishments they would be: being a great voice for our association in all situations, reinventing the role of the AAMI Foundation by focusing on key problems not addressed by other organizations, and leading by example.“
When making her announcement, Logan emphasized that her work was far from finished.
“Anyone who knows me understands that I am not one to sit on the sidelines,” she said. “It’s been my honor to serve our members and work with AAMI staff, and I’m going to give it my all over the next 14 months.”
The process to find a new president for AAMI will begin in the next few months with the formation of a search committee and the selection of a search firm.
HTM Professionals, Industry Find Common Ground During Supportability Forum
Healthcare technology management (HTM) professionals have voiced concerns for years about the supportability of medical devices – from the availability of service manuals, documentation, and training from manufacturers to the cost of replacement parts. That discussion reached a new level when HTM professionals sat down with manufacturers to address one another’s interest and concerns head on.
During the Forum on Supportability of Healthcare Technology, more than 30 stakeholders representing HTM, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), regulatory bodies, academic institutions, and service providers met at AAMI’s offices. Holding a meeting like this where all stakeholders could finally talk face-to-face was a major goal of the AAMI Supportability Task Force.
Although the participants took time to identify the major supportability issues from both an HTM and manufacturer perspective, the workshop focused on developing solutions, not airing grievances. The major output was a “roadmap” that will guide future projects and initiatives.
“The HTM and manufacturer communities came together to identify prospective solutions,” Michael W. Lane, associate director of the University of Vermont’s Technical Services Partnership, explained. “Some of these solutions will be easier than others to effect. However, as author Seth Godin writes, ‘I learned that a long walk and calm conversation are an incredible combination if you want to build a bridge.’ The solutions from the Supportability Forum are part of that long walk.”
The “low-hanging fruit” along this path – the actions the group agreed would help improve the situation with the least difficulty – included:
• Creating minimum competencies for servicing and supporting healthcare technology
• Remotely delivering training at lower cost
• Having HTMs and other device users provide manufacturers with feedback to improve drive design
• Developing service manuals with parts lists and schematic diagrams and offering these resources online
• Creating and deploying templates for service licensing agreements and service strategies
The group also identified solutions that would have a major impact on supportability but would be much more difficult to implement. Such items include mutually agreed upon accreditation standards for individuals who support and maintain devices and a web portal to exchange data and other important information between HTMs and manufacturers.
Despite the difficulty of the road ahead, both HTMs and manufacturers said they are hopeful.
“Change is possible and will happen because HTMs and manufacturers are both committed to doing what is best for patients and the clinicians who care for them,” said Michael L Mestek, program manager, medical affairs at Medtronic.
Mike Capuano, manager of biomedical technology at Hamilton Health Sciences, agreed.
“I consider the AAMI Forum on Supportability a success. Not because it resolved the issue then and there but because it showed that it can be resolved and that continued focus on the issue will give it momentum towards resolution,” Capuano said. “Representatives of the OEM and HTM sectors interacted like colleagues. This is a very good sign, and I look forward to continued work with them on this important issue.”
New Video Promotes HTM as a Career Option
A video highlighting healthcare technology management as an exciting and cutting-edge career choice is now available. It was created for AAMI with help from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).
The video features students in the Healthcare Engineering Technology Management department (formerly called Biomedical Engineering Technology department) of IUPUI.
The video opens with the words, “Looking for a Rewarding Career? Consider a Career in Healthcare Technology Management.” It closes with the URL www.IamHTM.com – a website created by AAMI to promote the HTM field. Other than those words, the video shows captivating footage of work with healthcare technology, with musical accompaniment.
“I’d like to thank Barb Christe of IUPUI, and her IUPUI students on this terrific video,” says Patrick Bernat, AAMI’s director of healthcare technology management. “The video is brief, sleek, and of very high quality. It really hits the mark.”
Christe is the associate professor and program director in the department at IUPUI.
The video is available on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1iTyvkwj3o. It was produced by Aaron Turner (www.aaroturn.com).
For more information, please visit www.aami.org/benchmarking.