AAMI Project Tackles Technology Management in Hospitals

The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI)s Technology Management Council has launched an ambitious project that could help chart the future of the medical equipment management profession.

The project aims to determine the status of technology management in healthcare facilities and hospitals, and what challenges lie ahead for biomeds and clinical engineers.

"A primary goal of this project is to define resources that could enhance technology management as a field," according to a project description. "What types of resources do managers need to enhance their careers and the benefits they provide to their organization? What resources are available, and what needs to be developed?"

The first step of the project is to identify 10 hospitalsof varying size and location, and including some with in-house medical equipment maintenance and others that outsource such servicesfor in-depth study.

"We wont just interview biomed or clinical engineering managers in a wide spectrum of hospitals," says Frank Painter, president of Technology Management Solutions, a consulting group out of southwestern Connecticut that was chosen to lead the project. "We are going to talk to administrators, and find out what they feel is the value of technology management."

The interviews are intended to shed light on several issues, including whether there are major needs that technology managers could fill, and determining the visibility of biomeds and clinical engineers to C-Suite executives.

After the interviews at the 10 hospitals, the consultant will send out a similar survey to all AAMI members. The results will be compiled into a white paper that will:

- Profile the current state of medical technology, and the state of a technology managers relationships with colleagues, supervisors, and other hospital staff

- Provide a vision for the future of effective equipment management in healthcare facilities

- Identify barriers or challenges to achieving that future

- Recommend potential projects to move the field forward

The white paper, expected to be complete in June, will be distributed to all AAMI members, and act as a springboard for future projects.