This week is Health Technology Management (HTM) Week celebrating and honoring all those who work in the HTM/Clinical Engineering/Biomedical department at provider organizations across the country.
Regardless of the department name, you know who they are. If you are a nurse, you know the HTM staff by name. HTM professionals make a difference every day ensuring safe patient care.
Over the past 9 years as an AAMI board member, I’ve developed a greater appreciation for this critical part of our health ecosystem and all the players involved. From HTM leaders to clinicians to educators to device manufacturers and government representatives. AAMI is an organization that brings all of them to the table. As described on their website, the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation® (AAMI), a nonprofit organization founded in 1967, is a diverse community of more than 10,000 professionals united by one important mission—the development, management, and use of safe and effective health technology. AAMI is the primary source of consensus standards, both national and international, for the medical device industry, as well as practical information, support, and guidance for healthcare technology and sterilization professionals.
The timing of my first This Week Health Townhall interview published last week was perfect. I spoke with Pamela Arora, AAMI’s new President and CEO. I have gotten to know Pamela as a CIO colleague and fellow AAMI board member the past 6 years. She will bring new perspectives and experiences to AAMI. Not the least will be a recognition that HTM and IT teams need to work more closely together at the micro level in provider organizations and at the macro level with professional health IT organizations. Closer collaboration will have a positive impact for the patients and communities we collectively serve.
In a blog post after the 2017 AAMI conference titled “HTM and IT: frenemies or collaborators?”, I shared what I heard HTM professionals say in response to the question: What one thing do you want IT leaders to understand? I closed that post with the following message that remains just as important today as it was then: “To my CIO and IT colleagues, let’s be sure to meet HTM more than halfway and be true collaborators. There is clearly a mutual benefit to our working together to serve our patients.”
In 2 weeks, I’ll be heading to my last AAMI board meeting having completed 3 terms over the past 9 years. This experience has reinforced that when you volunteer and find ways to give back you get as much from it as you give, if not more. The first in-person AAMI eXchange conference (June 3-6 in San Antonio, TX) since 2019 follows the board meeting. It will be good to see so many colleagues again and celebrate all they do to ensure safe patient care.
Related posts:
Celebrating, collaborating with, and learning from HTM