Familiar Themes In A Changing World: AAMI Survey Identifies Top Medical Device Challenges

Abstract

Sean Loughlin is director of publications at AAMI. E-mail: sloughlin@aami.org Managing medical devices on the information technology (IT) network and integrating device data into electronic health records are the top device-related challenges for healthcare technology management professionals, according to a new survey commissioned by AAMI. The survey results offer a microcosm of sorts of the changing world of an HTM professional— one in which routine duties, such as preventive maintenance (PM) checks, are part of a workday that increasingly contains more sweeping responsibilities, such as helping to implement a hospital-wide medical device integration plan, and often with fewer resources. One thing became abundantly clear in follow-up interviews with multiple biomeds: Their days are jammed packed, moving from one task to another with little, if any, time in between. “There isn’t really a typical day for me as every day brings something new,” said Anthony McCabe, a radiology equipment technician with the Department of Clinical Engineering at the Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. McCabe and other professionals —biomeds, consultants, and manufacturers— responded to questions posed by AAMI after the survey to get a better sense of the challenges. The survey results are very similar to those of the first AAMI survey on this issue last year, a reflection of the fact that many challenges are long term in nature, dealing with complex “systems” issues that often require the involvement of other departments. The results also underscore the evolving nature of healthcare in general as technology plays a bigger and bigger role in how both clinicians and HTM professionals do their jobs and, ultimately, in how patients are treated. According to the survey results, the top 10 medical device challenges are: 1. Managing devices and systems on the IT network (72%) 2. Integrating device data into electronic health records (65%) 3. Broken connectors (50%) 4. Battery management (50%) 5. Alarm management (49%) 6. Maintenance of infusion pump systems (48%) 7. Cybersecurity of medical devices and systems (47%) 8. Setting preventive maintenance strategies (44%) 9. Medical device incident reporting and investigations (42%) 10. Medical devices brought in by patients (42%)