As befits the annual conference of the national association of HTM professionals, this year’s program of educational sessions at AAMI 2015 includes something for everyone in the field. Because choosing just a few top events would leave out many more of vital interest, this listing focuses instead on some of the dominant themes in this year’s conference, including cybersecurity, PM compliance strategies, and the ongoing CE-IT convergence. Readers of 24×7 would be well advised, however, to refer to the entire selection of sessions on the AAMI conference page to identify their must-see sessions.

General Interest

One of the leading themes of this year’s conference will be introduced at 11 am on Saturday morning, June 6, by opening keynote speaker Billy Rios, founder of cybersecurity firm Laconicly LLC. His topic will be “Why the Healthcare Industry Needs to Work Together on Cybersecurity: A Hacker’s Perspective.”

Among the several interactive audience events at AAMI this year are two of broad interest. First, at 10:00 am on Sunday, Pat Baird of Baxter Healthcare and Erin Sparnon of ECRI Institute will lead a moderated open-format discussion of the “Top 10 Issues Facing HTM.” Discussion items will include managing devices on IT networks, integrating data into EHR systems, infusion pump integration, cybersecurity, and managing recalls. Then, on Monday at 10:00 am, perennial AAMI favorite George Mills of The Joint Commission will hold an hour-long question-and-answer exchange with audience members. If past sessions with Mills are any guide, it will be a standing-room only event.

Cybersecurity

Clinical Engineering Symposium: Privacy and Security Risk Management for Clinical Engineers
Saturday, June 6, 8:00 – 11:00 am
In this special session presented by the American College of Clinical Engineering (ACCE), Paul Sherman, ACCE president, will moderate a panel of cybersecurity all-stars including Mike Ahmadi of Codenomicon, Scot Copeland of Scripps Health, Carol  Davis-Smith of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Jennifer Jackson of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and Marcia Wylie of Scripps Memorial Hospital. They address the privacy and security risks in today’s medical systems and healthcare delivery organizations and how best to manage them.

Top 10 Ways to Prevent Cyberattacks on Medical Devices
Saturday, June 6, 3:15 – 4:15 pm
In response to the FDA’s recent summit on cybersecurity, AAMI’s Wireless Strategy Task Force (WSTF) has developed a list of strategies to help hospitals avoid potentially disastrous cyber attacks on medical devices. During this interactive session, WSTF members Steve Baker of Welch Allyn and Bob Zemke of Extreme Networks will share the strategies and answer questions from session attendees.

Medical Device Security: A Discussion between Manufacturers and Providers
Sunday, June 7, 11:15 am – Noon
The FDA has recognized that cybersecurity for networked medical devices is a shared responsibility between providers and manufacturers. In this panel discussion, Steve Abrahamson of GE Healthcare, Michael McNeil of Philips Healthcare, and Geoffrey Pascoe of Deloitte & Touche discuss ways the two groups can collaborate to make medical devices more secure.

Maintenance Strategies

Sustainability of Medical Devices: Elements of a Responsible Product Life Cycle
Saturday, June 6, 2:00 – 3:00 pm
Sustainability is becoming an increasingly important consideration in medical device development because hospitals and patients are demanding it. In this session, members of the AAMI Sustainability Committee will demonstrate how elements of sustainability apply to a medical device and how a commitment to sustainability leads to bottom-line improvements.

Using Your CMMS to Support Compliance
Sunday, June 7, 11:15 am – Noon
Demonstrating compliance with December 2013 changes by CMS to its equipment management program requirements is no simple task. David Dickey of McLaren Healthcare will show attendees how a simple GAP analysis tool can help them identify limitations within their current equipment management programs. He will share an example of how one CMMS program is being used to support a new equipment assessment scoring model.

Practical Strategies for Complying with the New CMS and Joint Commission Maintenance Requirements
Sunday, June 7, 2:00 – 3:00 pm
Led by well-known clinical engineering experts Matthew Baretich, Stephen Grimes, Malcolm Ridgway, and Arif Subhan, this session describes practical, cost-effective ways to comply with new requirements from CMS and The Joint Commission. Topics will include how to move from a risk-based equipment inventory to an inventory of all medical equipment and how to define high-risk medical equipment.

CE-IT Convergence

A Roadmap to Building an Integrated Medical and Information Technology Service Management Standard
Saturday, June 6, 2:00  – 3:00 pm
In this session, Stephen Grimes of ABM Healthcare Support Services suggests how the industry can adopt and adapt existing standards to develop an effective roadmap for HTM and IT collaboration and establish a common nomenclature.

Service-Oriented Healthcare Web Platform for Interoperable Medical Devices, Systems, and Apps
Saturday, June 6, 2:00 – 4:00 pm
The session will address challenges and opportunities of implementing modern medical IT networks as interoperable cyber-physical medical systems in healthcare environments. Presentations by Ken Fuchs of the Center for Medical Interoperability, Julian Goldman of the MGH Medical Device Interoperability Program, and four other speakers will emphasize issues and solutions to test and verify cyber-physical medical systems and IT networks and to comply with regulatory issues.

Floundering with Networked Medical Equipment—A Survivalist Guide
Sunday, June 7, 3:15  – 4:15 pm
In this session, Zachary Collins and Katherine Navarro of the Department of Veterans Affairs will present case studies showing how one biomedical engineering department has taken on a greater management role in the procurement, maintenance, replacement, and protection of networked medical equipment.

For more coverage of AAMI 2015, see 24×7‘s Show Preview and Expo Preview.