Once a problem squarely in the realm of IT, cyber attacks on medical devices—including viruses and information-stealing malware—are now a threat looming large enough to necessitate biomed intervention. As hackers get smarter about infiltrating health care networks, hospitals need to get more organized in how they deal with them.

While medical devices haven't been targeted specifically by hackers yet, they may become corrupted or damaged just the same if a hospital's network is breached, according to Axel Wirth, national health care solutions architect with computer security company Symantec Corp, out of Sunnyvale, Calif.

"Medical devices tend to be a weak spot" in a hospital's network, he says. This is especially true of older equipment. Since device configuration lies in the hands of the manufacturer in the US, biomeds need to cement a good working relationship with their vendors to make sure equipment is properly patched and up to date. Hospitals with several of the same older device are especially vulnerable. If networked, all devices could be affected during an attack.

24x7 will be focusing more on the growing threat of cyber attacks in an upcoming Focus On article, but first we want to hear what you've seen and heard at your facility. Have you spoken to your IT department? What's the best way to approach this subject? Also feel free to share any tips for working with corrupted equipment.

In our June issue, the “Focus On” section featured advice from leaders at four different associations from across the country. These members have served in various leadership roles and continue to participate in their activities. We asked their advice on how to start an association and also what they had done to help it expand. The answers—as varied as the location of these four associations—highlight the need for commitment from members to help them grow.

Are you part of an association? What best practices can you add? Comment here and share your ideas.  

At the recent AAMI conference in Tampa, Fla, I spoke with Mike Reed, general manager of education services with GE Healthcare. He said that there were a number of hospitals that had paid for training but had not sent the techs due to financial constraints. 

Mike said: “We’ve seen instances where hospitals purchase tuition but the biomeds weren’t able to attend because they couldn’t get the money to travel to class.”

A serious problem, considering how important training is to everyone. When budgets tighten and “no travel” policies are implemented, what’s the solution? 

Mike’s suggestion, get the whole package. “Get the training that also includes lodging and airfare.” 

A great suggestion, thanks Mike! We’d also like to know your best practices for making sure training that’s been paid for is received. We hope you’ll comment here and share your ideas, to the benefit of everyone.

The Service Solutions article in the June issue of 24x7 focused on an overview of the electronic medical record, or EMR. The thorough article provided insight from biomeds working on the implementation process. One of those interviewed, Derrick W. VanKampen, a biomedical device integration analyst 2 in the IT department of Tampa General Hospital in Tampa, Fla, shared this information:

“There are a lot of items that facilities and clinical engineering will have to look at, assess, and complete in a very short amount of time, which means there are a lot of organizations that are going to have a lot of work coming their way very fast.”

The article probed decisions, testing, responsibilities, and other aspects of getting an EMR operational in a facility, and we’d like to know if the article helped you, and also if you’re working on EMR implementation in your hospital. If you are, please share your insight and best practices to smooth the way for those who will have to work on this—sooner rather than later. Thanks!

When Southeast Alabama Medical Center (SAMC) in Dothan, Ala began to hear about the difficulties in finding hospital assets in a timely manner from patients and staff alike, the complaints did not fall on deaf ears.

For one thing, biomeds found the process of performing preventive maintenance cumbersome. “As the month goes on there’s less and less PMs that are due for maintenance and it gets tougher and tougher to find them,” says one SAMC biomed.

Furthermore, patients were also getting lost in the shuffle. “There were certain instances where patients were at the front door waiting for wheelchairs and they were starting to get disgruntled,” says Scott Lapham, senior network engineer at SAMC.

The hospital evaluated the concerns and implemented a wide-reaching RTLS, which tracks a variety of equipment and non-equipment assets, helping to clear up these issues—particularly helping biomeds with PM compliance. And people have started to notice, as Lapham says he hears staff praise these new efficiencies almost every day.

We’re interested in hearing other best practices for evaluating feedback and making changes. How is feedback given and received in your facility? And feed free to share any specific instances.

Valdez Bravo, a biomedical equipment support specialist at Portland VA Medical Center in Oregon would appreciate your input on how to create a biomedical equipment repair forum that biomeds in developing nations could access to interact with US biomedical equipment techs—or biomeds from other countries as well—to assist with locating literature, parts, solutions, etc.

Here’s what Valdez said: “The idea stems from my time in March 2008 when I traveled to JFK Medical Center in Monrovia, Liberia. I was there with a nonprofit called Project HOPE. We were rebuilding the medical center that had basically been destroyed during Liberia’s 10-year civil war. The experience was amazing, and I was able to fix a lot of things, but many issues could have been resolved if the Liberian’s (who speak English) could have had an e-mail address or forum location to direct questions to. These were very smart individuals who were excellent in electronics, but needed just a little bit of info in order to do a lot of good.”

He doesn’t want to “reinvent the wheel” so if you know of a good site already in operation, or you have ideas, please comment here and see what you can all “virtually” build together. Thanks!

In our May "Up Font" column, we discussed the risk of exposure we all face through the growing availability of patient information disseminated to many people through multiple devices. Earlier this year, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal filed a lawsuit against Health Net of Connecticut, claiming the company did not secure patient medical records and financial information prior to a security breach that affected 446,000 Connecticut enrollees.

Has your organization taken steps to encrypt patient information? Share your best practices on how your facility and department work to mitigate this serious risk to our privacy.

At the end of June, the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) will hold its annual conference and expo. In addition to numerous educational sessions, organizations hold special roundtables and sessions, there’s a career fair, networking with colleagues, and an exhibit hall. How do you make the most of your time? How do you decide what sessions to attend?

Comment on this blog and share your best ideas on how to maximize your time at AAMI and other conferences.

I recently received a call from Simon Miranda, chief of biomedical engineering services at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. He wanted to know if there was any definitive information on how to determine an individual’s workload in the industry.

He has a method but is open to ideas. 24x7’s current poll asks a related question: In determining the minimal staffing level required to run an effective biomedical engineering program, is the unit of service (UOS) based on inventory or patient adjusted discharged?

At this point, 89.8% have said inventory, but how do you determine this? Do you look at the complexity of the device? The equipment’s age? We hope you’ll comment on the blog and help answer Simon’s question: How do you determine an individual’s workload in the industry? Thanks!

In our "Up Front" column in the April issue, we discussed the new device tax included in the new health care reform bill and what it might mean to the industry. “Section 9009; Imposition of Annual Fee on Medical Device Manufacturers and Importers,” provides for a 2.3% excise tax to begin in 2013.

G. Wayne Moore, BSc, MBA, FASE, president, advanced development group and chief strategy officer of Unisyn Medical Technologies, said:  “The new 2.3% tax will put additional pressure on innovation, as the base cost to bring new novel medical products to market will increase,” Moore said. “Some companies, such as Medtronic, have already indicated that the new tax will cause them to lay off some employees as well as throttle back on advanced research and development initiatives.”

What do you think about this? If you work for a device company, have any changes been discussed in light of the new bill? Click on the comment tab and let us know your thoughts.