I’m going home
And when I wanna go home
I’m goin’ mobile
Well, I’m gonna find a home
And we’ll see how it feels
Goin’ mobile
Keep me movin’
Is it possible Pete Townsend and The Who may have had a visionary glimpse of the Healthcare Technology Management service professional of the future? “Goin’ Mobile” in the new HTM service paradigm has so many meanings and definitions.
The historical and traditional methods of HTM service professionals “Goin’ Mobile” usually meant lots of windshield time and driving from location to location. Service report paperwork was done on the steering wheel “desk” and the back seat was generally a holding bin of fast food bags as meals were “scarfed” down between service visits on the road. Miles driven per year by the traditional HTM service professional could range from thousands to tens of thousands! Here’s another throw back to a time gone by before cell phones – the HTM service professional was armed with a pager! When the HTM service professional may have been traveling in between sites and was “paged” the search to find a “pay phone” ensued so the HTM professional could return the paged call! Think about how much of a hassle that was in the daily grind!
So what does “Goin’ Mobile” mean for the present day and future HTM service professional? A little bit of the historical past will always be there but windshield time is being replaced by the power of technology. The abilities to “vpn access” into systems remotely, viewing screens “real time” and through the power of device operating system software actually being able to resolve issues without putting “bodies on site” but instead by proxy. Using technologies like “Face Time or Skype” can enable HTM service professionals in distant locations the ability to work together by “visual remote capability” in troubleshooting and resolving medical equipment service events and tasks. As health systems continue to expand their footprint across geographies the “Goin’ Mobile” HTM work force will be the model all service organizations, in-house or outsourced, will adapt and employ. See the future – be the future.
