Phoenix Data Systems, Inc. was formed in the early days of specialized software based on the urgent need for hospitals to have a modern maintenance work order system. In 1984, after two years of design and development, the first AIMS system was delivered to eight Michigan hospitals. Today, AIMS is used in 3,000 facilities in 18 countries. Phoenix recently launched its fifth platform to carry AIMS users well into the late 2020s and beyond. “Our most exciting product is our fifth generation CMMS, called AIMS 3,” President and CEO Ben Mannisto says. “This is not just a facelift of our…
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By Ted Lucidi, CBET It’s a given that your service team needs ongoing, specialized and in-depth training on maintaining and troubleshooting the devices you have in your imaging departments. However, sometimes the soft training, training on strategies and processes for lowering your costs, optimizing performance and managing ROI is missed. From years of experience, we’ve discovered that employing this skill set often pays off the most for long-term savings, ownership costs and maximizing uptime. Here’s some tips about the soft side of training that can deliver some hard and real results: Process Analysis: It pays to engage an expert to…
I was born on Groundhog Day, but that isn’t why I love the movie. In this Bill Murray and Andie McDowell classic, a weatherman covering Punxsutawney Phil’s call on whether winter is ending is stuck reliving the same day over and over. He uses his time improving his interactions with people, focusing on impressing and courting Andie McDowell’s character. He finds out what she likes to drink, where she is from and even learns to master a piece on the piano. While Edge’s efforts are not nearly as funny or entertaining, we live our own version of Groundhog Day as…
Sponsored by By Abdul Alsaadi The medical equipment industry is growing rapidly in regard to the enhancement of devices and/or in the design of imaging and biomedical equipment. The engineer responsible for servicing equipment should be trained to perform preventative and corrective maintenance, however, training by itself is not sufficient. Knowledge and hands-on experience plays a vital role in maintaining and sustaining equipment. Hospitals have to be aware of this when purchasing equipment. A manufacturer that requires factory-trained staff to work or maintain medical equipment can cause delays in repairs, increase costs via rentals and risk patient safety due to…
By Bill Kollitz At some point in our careers, we all get one of “those” letters. The ones that strike deep, like a “Dear John” telling us that our trusted supplier for radiography equipment will no longer be supporting our existing systems. Telling us that our equipment is at the end of its life and we will need to find another supplier to support and maintain our systems. While these letters might not produce tears like a true “Dear John,” they can wreak almost as much emotional havoc, as well as financial. With some original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) discontinuing the…
As traditional, physical, medical device systems converge with IT infrastructure, hospitals can now automate and share healthcare data, workflows and processes. This enables new capabilities such as remote surveillance, alarm notification, smart pumps, clinical decision support systems and more. It also raises new challenges, from patient safety to how these medical device systems are managed and supported. The three co-founders of Medigate joined forces to create the first company focused solely on solving the device security and management challenges for healthcare. The market was ready, and Medigate’s focus on healthcare has been at the core of their success. “While other…
The oneSOURCE Biomed/HTM Document Database The Most Complete Online Collection of Manufacturers’ Biomedical Equipment Maintenance Documents With oneSOURCE’s Biomedical Database, Biomedical Equipment Technicians (BMETs) and engineers will spend far less time and energy obtaining, verifying and managing biomedical equipment preventive maintenance (PM) and related documents. Instead, they’ll be able to focus on their true mission – efficiently repairing and maintaining this equipment to promote optimal patient care and safety. The oneSOURCE Biomedical Database: Saving Time. Promoting Compliance. Protecting Patients. BMETs will have 24/7 access to service and PM manuals/documentation from thousands of manufacturers. The database is continually expanding as our…
Is your NAC system robust enough to protect against the specific threats emanating from the medical devices residing within your healthcare network?
Sponsored by: By Lyle Cmerek In the course of working with ultrasound systems in the field, there will inevitably be a time when a system experiences catastrophic software corruption and will no longer boot up. To successfully repair these systems, it’s important to gather all pertinent data about the ultrasound system and create a system backup. In this article, I will offer some tips for collecting and storing this information so it’s ready to use when needed. Each ultrasound system make and model varies as to what is needed to perform a software load and restore system settings. For example,…
By Matt Tomory The importance of being ISO 13485:2016 certified has been a popular topic in the medical device service industry for several years. Organizations that commit to the rigorous and costly process are signaling their commitment to operate at the highest possible quality level. In the clinical environment within medical imaging, there is a standard similar to that of ISO. Radiology, cardiology and other departments which utilize imaging within a hospital or clinic have the option of becoming accredited for radiology practices and quality assurance systems by the American College of Radiology (ACR), the American Institute of Ultrasound in…
