V.B.A. News - April 1997

President's Note:

Colonial Williamsburg will be the hot spot come September. Al Strickler has got an outstanding Annual Meeting planned for us September 10-12. Golf and some very new subject matter should make it a must in your plans.

The Winter Meeting again was a good mini class and fun break in the middle of winter. A new addition - the Biomed competition was the highlight thanks to the MC talents of Chuck Templeton and some very sharp techs. The questions were put to a group of three so no one person had to be in the spotlight. Everyone had a great time including the audience. The teams were: In-House Biomed, Third Party Biomed and Manufacturer field service. For the sake of harmonious relations i won't mention who kicked b--, but everyone came away with a great prize and lots of laughs.

We are getting some committees going again. I am glad to see that people can start to get back involved with VBA after two rough years.

Thanks to the efforts of Mark Freeman we have a new website on the net. This has so many exciting possibilities! I would love to have a chat room during the dat at work that Biomeds can communicate and ask questions, share information and help one another. What a great personal resource and could also be a big value to your company.

We had some changes in the board and executive committee this year which is great. VBA will be moving forward with new ideas and energy. I know Steve Haupt and I have been heavily involved from the beginning of this organization but his giving up the treasurer this year and my giving up the presidency at the end of the this year does not mean we will give any less to the VBA. We still believe in the need and value of this group, we just will use out talents elsewhere. Step forward with your TALENTS!

Countdown to Destiny - or how to smoke the Joint and stay sober

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations surveyed Centra Health Inc. of Lynchburg Virginia in March of 1997. JCAHO's agenda for change has been around for several years, but did it change? The process was similar to past inspections.

Unchanged from years past, preparation for JCAHO involved many long days and nights. Panicky directors and unit managers continually requested last minute assistance keeping out department busy and on edge. The Clinical Engineering (CE) department completed corporate wide sweeps to ensure surveyors would not find equipment inspected in 1987.

Something new, JCAHO would not give the survey team's itenary of hospitals. The internet easily solved the problem with a search of JCAHO. Information found included a hospital surveyed weeks before Centra Health. Knowing a survey team's emphasis helps in developing review documents. A word of advice, give surveyors' documents in a format they like.

The survey team spent time talking with a lot of hospital employees. The physician surveyor liked having BMET's part of the "healthcare team" when inspecting various nursing units. The administrator spent 8 hours on facility inspection. Review of the Equipment Management Plan took over an hour as part of a 3 hour meeting on the Environment of Care. The administrator specifically asked how capital equipment purchases worked with CE department involvement. In another meeting of 25 department directors later that day he asked the same question. Thankfully my coworkers explained the same process.

It takes several months to learn final survey results. However, the exit conference listed no CE deficiencies. The process changed very little from previous inspections ( many other hospital departments cannot make that same statement). As always, have good documentation, aggregate your data, and keep equipment together during the inspection. Do not give the surveyor a reason to search for problems and worry will be the only Type I to contend.

We want to print a war story every newsletter about JCAHO inspections. Send them to ben.clark@centrahealth.com

Wintergreen '97

The 1997 VBA winter meeting was held at Wintergreen Resort January 22-24. Attendance was split between Biomeds and vendor reps about equally.

Marquette and Physio Control reps gave inservice training seminars. Marquette on the MAC-8 ECG cart and Physio Control on the LP-9 defibrillator. Both seminars were well attended and provided an abundance of information. Anyone having (or planning to service) MAC-8's or LP-9's got a lot of practical information. Lots of tips and how-to information was passed along from experience by the marquette and Physio Control engineers

THANK YOU VENDORS!!

Vendor support was once again demonstrated by their attendance and assistance throughout the meeting.

On 1/23/97 the board of directors met. New officers were elected. Committee reports were given. The board allocated money to develop a VBA web site on the Internet. The summer meeting was discussed in detail on how to increase member participation. The next Board of Directors meeting will be held May 1, 1997 at 10:00 AM at Chippenham Hospital.

The new Biomed Competition proved to be both enlightening and entertaining (see President's Note)

Even with the unusually warm winter there was plenty of snow to keep the skiers among us occupied in their free time. For those who don't (or didn't) ski there were several restraunts overlooking the slopes to provide entertainment watching the ones who did.

Reference Essentials

For those considering additions to their library or preparing for the certification examination, you may want to consider purchasing the following literature (if you don't already have them). Almost everyone in the biomedical field is aware of, if not very familiar with, the many sample tests available for those interested in obtaining certification. These are very helpful for self-quizzing and getting an overall feel for what types of questions are on the exam but cannot be used as an effective reference in the future. Concise and complete references for biomedical professionals are somewhat difficult to come by and the choices are limited. I would like to discuss some options that are relatively inexpensive and useful for all biomedical professionals (not just those pursuing certification).

The first item on "the list" is Spacelabs' Biophysical Measurements and Clinical Information series. These are written by leading authorities in their respective areas and completely cover pertinent information while leaving some of the more obscure or strictly clinical aspects for the individual to research elsewhere (references for these are provided in the bibliography section of these publications). These books utilize numerous graphs, drawings and pictorials to enhance understanding and clarify ideas presented in the text. If you haven't seen these and especially if you are new to the biomedical field I strongly recommend you look into getting some or all of the series. To get more details about the series, contact your local Spacelabs representative.

The second "must have" is Biomedical Instrumentation and Measurements (Leslie Cromwell, Fred J. Weibell & Erich A. Pfieffer, Prentice Hall ISBN 013-076448-5). This is considered by many to be the "Bible" for biomedical technicians. While many of the photos reveal the age of this text, it is still an excellent reference. The detailed information and diagrams of human anatomy, special devices and their application as well as biomedical electronics are all contained between its covers. The youngsters can see what some of the older equipment looked like in "the good old days" and wonder how any of us survived. Information about a specific area is easy to find quickly and is one of its greatest strengths. This book is available through most bookstores although I doubt it's a stock item.

The final component for the "must have" group and the most recently published is Marquette Electronics' Biomedical Reference (ISBN 0-7872-0065-4). This book is very complimentary to the previously mentioned literature because the approach and emphasis are distinctly different. This text was designed as a reference guide from the beginning. A large number of definitions and descriptions (a "just the facts" approach) comprise the first half while a condensed but complete reference area for electronics fills out the balance. There are some excellent charts and graphics throughout. In addition, there are also a number of appendices containing conversion formulas and charts containing a variety of useful information. Contact Marquette Electronics for more information.

Knowing the kind of information contained in these publications can enhance the value of biomedical professionals. These, combined with other efforts in continuing education can make technicians better resources than just "fix-it" folks.

Brian Blackwell, CBET
Centra Health, Lynchburg
brian.blackwell@centrahealth.com

IEEE 1073 "MIB"

For all of you folks that ate "connected" (on the internet, that is) out there, there is a lot of information about the long awaited MIB ( Medical Information Bus). Go to your favorite search engine and search for "LinkTech Inc" They have a lot of information on chipsets and technical data for the MIB. Also search on IEEE1073. That will get you a lot of background on the development of the 1073 standard over the past 2+ years.

If you search directly for "MIB" you'll receive lote of "hits" for "Management Information Base" rather than "Medical Information Bus". Happy Surfin'