By AAMI
Thought leaders and subject-matter experts from the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) and its robust healthcare technology management (HTM) community have crafted two valuable resources that can be immediately put to use by ambitious and professional HTM departments.
Completion and Compliance
The first of these resources, Planned Maintenance Compliance and Definitions Guide is a white paper developed by AAMI’s Technology Management Council (TMC) Standardization Subcommittee. The document helps to clear up confusion surrounding The Joint Commission’s (TJC’s) medical equipment Environment of Care standards.
These standards, in support of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services U.S. federal regulatory requirements, call for the 100% completion rate of manufacturer-recommended testing and maintenance, as well as 100% completion rate for alternative equipment maintenance (AEM) programs for all low- and high-risk medical device inventory.
“To this day, HTM professionals are still debating the interpretation of this standard,” explains TMC chair Heidi Horn, AAMIF, and her team. “Is 100% completion rate the same as completing 100% of the scheduled planned maintenance (PM) activities? Are there allowable exceptions to 100% completion and, if so, what are they?”
As its title implies, the document pays particular attention to terms commonly used within an HTM department, such as “compliance,” providing example scenarios with clear definitions. The guide also provides formula for important processes, such as calculating “on-time” completion percentages.
“Most likely, the definitions and recommendations in this guide are different than the practices of many health care organizations,” the subcommittee concludes, sharing their confidence that following this guide will help HTM departments align their practices with the expectations of TJC.
“Once the HTM community can begin standardizing definitions and procedures, it can begin sharing best practices, benchmarking performance, and identifying ways to improve as a collective industry,” said Danielle McGeary, vice president of HTM at AAMI. “AAMI hopes that HTM departments will adopt these recommendations and incorporate them into their policies and procedures.”
From the Basement to the Boardroom
Unfortunately, even if an HTM department is exceptionally efficient and rigorously compliant, they may remain among the “unseen” heroes of hospital staff. Not being recognized by health care system leadership can be a particularly troublesome burden for HTM departments as the HTM field faces staffing shortages and budgetary constraints. That’s why AAMI’s second new resource, titled Seen by the C-Suite: An HTM Guide to Emphasizing Your Value may prove essential.
“Having been involved with a few health care organizations in different capacities throughout my career, what has always surprised me was this contrast between supply and demand,” said Eliezer Kotapuri, chief clinical technology officer for Mass Technologies LLC and adjunct faculty at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. “There is often a gap between the HTM department’s ability vs. their health care organization’s readiness to receive the level of know-how the HTM department is capable of delivering.”
Kotapuri led a subgroup of AAMI’s Healthcare Technology Leadership Committee (HTLC) in writing the “Seen by the C-Suite” guide. The document explores in detail how a HTM department can bridge the “supply vs. demand” gap by leveraging what is called the “C-suite trifecta.”
- Understand the C-suite’s perspective
- Quantify your value to the organization
- Build relationships with executives
Specifically, the guide outlines how to identify telling data and craft the ideal annual reports. It also outlines more than 30 activities that will help HTM leadership better position themselves to connect with C-suite members and share their numbers.
“HTM professionals have good stories to tell about their work. To get the attention of the C-suite, though, it is important to back up the stories with numbers,” the authors write.
“Be honest and realistic with yourself,” they add. “There are many resources, such as this guide, that can help you get ready to ensure that your first impression is what you want it to be. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality test, books on emotional intelligence and self-reflection, the AAMI mentorship program, and executive coaches are all great resources.”
Kotapuri, who is currently collecting feedback from some of the document’s first takers, shared that one county hospital has already emailed him, praising the resource as “a recipe to go from a basement to a boardroom.”
Both new HTM resources can be found at store.aami.org and are free for AAMI members.