AAMI Offers Three New HTM Resources
AAMI has published three new resources for healthcare technology management (HTM) professionals to help enhance their careers and bring greater value to their organizations.
The BMET Study Guide is an indispensable resource for professionals preparing for the certified biomedical equipment technician (CBET) exam. The newly revised version features more than 100 additional questions that address new topics included in the latest version of the test.
The BMET Study Guide has evolved, said author Ethan Hertz, a clinical engineer at Duke University Health System, who has participated in the revision of the guide since the 1980s, and led the team that wrote the last two revisions. Today’s study guide is much more than a quiz with questions and right answers. “Instead,” Hertz said, “it has become a true learning resource to help those preparing for the CBET exam – and a demonstration of AAMI’s continuing commitment both to maintaining a relevant CBET certification process and helping those interested in becoming certified by developing study materials that provide a good basis for reviewing material likely to be on the exam.” Hertz emphasized that a large team of question writers is responsible for the guide’s success. The study guide also has become much more comprehensive over the years. It started with about 150 questions in the early 1980s and now has more than 950 questions – almost six times as many questions as are on the exam.
The recently published Healthcare Technology Management Manual is the successor to the Medical Equipment Management Manual. Although previous editions, which were published under a different title, focused on regulatory compliance, the eighth edition covers “all aspects of running a successful HTM department,” from accreditation and standards to HTM operations, personnel, and services, according to author Al Gresch, vice president of client success at Accruent. “Financial pressures in health care today require greater business acumen and good people management concepts to be successful and bring maximum value to your organization,” Gresch said. “In addition to information about regulatory compliance, this edition also provides guidance on department operations and lays the foundation to achieve a higher level of financial and operational performance.”
In the not-too-distant past, acquisition decisions and processes rested with a limited group of participants, and the processes varied widely across health care organizations. Today, there is a better understanding that technological systems interact within a larger, diverse ecosystem of people, practices, environments, and organizations, causing a shift in acquisition processes and strategies. AAMI’s new Acquisition Guide for Clinical Technology Equipment lays out seven stages and a set of concentrated activities in the acquisition process. It is intended to help organizations make optimum decisions that will serve them well throughout the equipment’s life cycle by taking a wide variety of stakeholders into consideration.
“The guide was written inclusive of all perspectives to encourage greater levels of collaboration,” said author and AAMI Board member Carol Davis-Smith, president of Carol Davis-Smith & Associates. “As such, the guide will support experienced clinicians along with HTM, facilities, IT, supply chain, and finance professionals to enhance support of their organization’s effort to acquire medical devices and systems more strategically and effectively. Additionally, new professionals will find the guide to be a comprehensive introduction to the acquisition process regardless of their position or organizational size.”
AAMI intends for the guide to serve as a baseline document for a future voluntary national standard on the acquisition of healthcare technology and would like to receive feedback on its content.
For more information about these resources, please visit the online AAMI Store at www.aami.org/store.
New Members Selected for HTM Leadership Groups
AAMI has appointed new members to its Technology Management Council (TMC) and Healthcare Technology Leadership Committee (HTLC). The TMC represents thousands of biomedical equipment technicians (BMETs), clinical engineers and other professionals who manage and service medical technology around the world. The new members are:
- Wesley Reid, CHTM, CBET, SEC, healthcare technology manager and Army service lead for the Department of Defense BMET Training Program at the Medical Education and Training Campus in San Antonio, Texas.
- Jojo Gonzales, CBET, CHTM, lead BMET at Kaiser Permanente San Diego Medical Center and the AAMI and GE Healthcare 2019 BMET of the Year.
- Mark Manning, division chair of healthcare technology management at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
- Joseph Deater, CBET, BMET III at Munson Healthcare in Traverse City, Michigan, and adjunct instructor in biomedical engineering technologies at Northwestern Michigan College.
- Blake Collins, director of clinical engineering at Christiana Care Health System in Newark, Delaware, and adjunct lecturer at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) School of Engineering.
- Nader Hammoud, biomedical engineering manager at John Muir Health in Walnut Creek, California.
- Lucas Marsh, chief of healthcare technology management service at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Charleston (South Carolina) Medical Center.
- Colleen Haugen-Ortiz, CBET, site lead and client service technician at GE Healthcare for Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego, California.
- HTLC members play a vital role in advancing the professional interests of clinical engineers, promoting the importance of the field, and serving as an important resource to AAMI staff. The new members are:
- Larry Hertzler, CCE, vice president of technical operations at Healthcare Technologies, a TRIMEDX company.
- Samantha Jacques, PhD, FACHE, director of clinical engineering at Penn State Health.
- Shelly Crisler, CCE, biomedical engineer for the VA Center for Engineering & Occupational Safety and Health in St. Louis, Missouri.
- Angela Ferguson-Bennett, director of clinical engineering at TRIMEDX for Ascension Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
- Cory Blacketer, HCISSP, CISSP, CAHIMS, medical device security consultant at CynergisTek.
