Unprecedented Campaign Promotes Value of Field
A major campaign is being launched this month to promote the value of the healthcare technology management (HTM) field to hospital executives, clinicians, information technology (IT) personnel, and prospective students.
Quotes from Marketing Materials |
|
| "Healthcare technology management
professionals understand
the complex interactions within
and between systems, bring clarity
to the complexity, and offer
tremendous guidance not just on
what technologies . . . should be
deployed but how they should be deployed to ensure success." —Ken Olbrish, communication product manager with Arthrex California Technology |
|
| "Healthcare organizations need
professionals with deep knowledge
of the complex issues
associated with today's healthcare
technology challenges. In our
view, [HTM professionals] are ideally
suited for this role and have
a great opportunity to become
a critical part of any healthcare
organization's future success." —Tony Montagnolo, executive vice president and chief operating officer at ECRI Institute |
|
The centerpiece of the campaign is a series
of marketing materials that can be used to
promote the field, which includes clinical engineers, biomedical equipment technicians, and others who manage healthcare technology.
The materials include:
- Posters promoting specific attributes of members of the HTM field, including their expertise on safety issues, financial stewardship, and state-of-the-art technology
- Fact sheets
- Four information sheets to promote the field to specific audiences
- A PowerPoint presentation detailing the importance of the HTM field
Print versions of the materials will be available for free. You also can download them at www.IamHTM.org. Additional resources will be added throughout the year.
The materials were developed by AAMI's Technology Management Council (TMC) and participants of the two Future Forum meetings convened by AAMI. The Future Forum participants included representatives from hospitals, government, manufacturers, educators, biomedical associations, the American College of Clinical Engineering, and ECRI Institute.
"These resources were designed and written to emphasize the importance of our profession," says TMC Chair Dave Francoeur. "We need the help of everyone—national organizations, individuals at hospitals, and biomedical associations—to use and distribute these materials."
The campaign also features a series of posters with such messages as "We ensure the safe and effective use of healthcare technology" and "I am a link between state-of-the-art technology and clinical care," The posters all include a unifying tagline: "I AM HTM."
The campaign grew out of the Future Forum events in 2011 and 2012. During the first Future Forum, 30 industry professionals recommended that "healthcare technology management" be the official name of the field responsible for managing the selection, maintenance, and safe and effective use of medical equipment and systems.
The group envisioned HTM professionals as fully integrated members of the healthcare delivery team influencing the management of all related technology. In addition, the career path will be better defined, with a supportive educational infrastructure.
Still, much remains to be done. "We all have a lot of work to do to increase the visibility of the profession and help increase the understanding of the skills HTM professionals bring to the table," says AAMI President Mary Logan.
A number of Future Forum participants have agreed to serve as official ambassadors by distributing the materials around the country. But anyone wanting to promote the field to senior leaders, clinicians, students, or other groups will have access to the materials via AAMI's website.
If you have any questions about this effort, please contact Patrick Bernat at pbernat@ aami.org.
AAMI News: June 2013, Vol. 48, No. 6