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.

If you’ve been spending time on the Internet the past few years, you’ve likely run up against the growing influence of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to help manage our ever-growing personal and professional lives. More recently, however, these same sites are now allowing biomeds to bring their once isolated profession into greater connectivity.

Specifically, biomed associations like the Intermountain Clinical Instrumentation Society are using interactive sites such as Yahoo to reach out to members about association activities.

Social networking can even give biomeds a single source from which to keep abreast of industry changes. Currently, the FDA/CDRH, AAMI, and even The Joint Commission all provide updates to followers on Twitter.

Recently, we’ve even been hearing about how social networking is being used to help job seekers connect with employers, and vice-versa.

24x7 (not surprisingly on both Facebook and Twitter) is interested in how you’ve used social networking in your job or association. Has it helped busy biomeds save time? Leave a comment and share.

What are you doing to mark National Biomedical/Clinical Engineering Week? Celebrated May 23 through 29 it is the perfect opportunity to showcase your department within the hospital and your profession within the community.

What have you done in the past that has worked to get the word out? Did you set up a booth in the hospital lobby? Put a notice in your hospital’s newsletter? Help your colleagues spread the word about the industry by sharing your ideas. We look forward to your comments.

In early April we posted a blog on behalf of Biomed Don Hang who works in a clinical engineering department in Ohio. He was interested in your suggestions about some design ideas he had. Once again on his behalf we invite your input.

Don says he thinks that, “Utilizing ground chains or ground brush wheels would help so that larger instruments (like anesthesia, neonate/infant incubators, warmers, etc) do not pick up static charge—which I have always felt probably does not help the electronics and definitely does not make the technician on the receiving end of static shock any more comfortable.”

What do you think? Any suggestions on how to implement this? Click on the comment link and let Don know how to accomplish this. Thanks!

When Southeast Alabama Medical Center (SAMC) in Dothan, Ala, was looking to implement a real time location system (RTLS) to track assets in their hospital, they took a step we mostly associate with HR departments looking into a new hire—they checked references.  

“When we started talking to a few of the references, they gave us a few of the key takeaways that they’ve learned, like how to set up a map to be more efficient,” says Scott Lapham, senior network engineer at SAMC. “By hearing what other people are doing, you may or may not go down that route but it at least gives you that thought process to make sure you’re thinking about everything that comes into play.”

When it came down to making the decision, the hospital had a lot of honest feedback to work with from others in similar situations. “We heard good things about certain vendors and we heard bad things about vendors and we had to take that into account regarding our unique situation,” Lapham says.

In addition to helping them choose the best RTLS, it also opened the door to a working relationship with peers. Since every hospital is in a unique situation, Lapham used RTLS as a common bond. “The way I look at it is it’s nice to be able to talk to your peers not necessarily from a reference standpoint, but to see their pains too,” he says. “A few people that we’ve talked have said things about what they’re looking at tagging that we hadn’t even thought about. It's a reference call but it’s more of a relationship with our peers trying to learn the whole process.”

How does your team connect with other biomeds and hospitals one-on-one, and what’s the easiest way to break the ice? We invite your suggestions.

In the April issue of 24x7, our “Beyond the Boundaries” article discussed the idea that in these changing times clinical/biomedical engineers who broadening their thinking can find new approaches to better support patient safety. One way to do this involves making rounds and participating in multidisciplinary teams.

Have you done that? Have you been on a patient safety committee or team? What did you learn?

Share your ideas with us by commenting here, you’re ideas are welcome. Thanks!