Summary: AAMI’s new standard, ANSI/AAMI EQ110:2024, outlines minimum requirements for HTM educational programs, covering technical skills, soft skills, and workplace training. Intended for existing and new biomedical engineering programs, EQ110 offers a structured guide to ensure graduates are qualified, helping colleges and healthcare providers align student competencies with industry demands.

Key Takeaways:

  • EQ110 establishes a clear framework of core and soft skills, as well as real-world training, ensuring graduates are equipped for the evolving HTM sector.
  • Recognized by hospitals and hiring managers, this standard can bolster new and existing biomedical programs, validating program quality and graduate readiness.

The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) announced the release of its first-ever standard to establish minimum requirements for any college program that trains biomedical engineers. The new standard applies to BMET programs and excludes clinical engineering programs.

New Standard for Biomedical Engineering Programs

“ANSI/AAMI EQ110:2024; Healthcare technology management (HTM) educational programs,” is relevant to existing biomedical engineering programs and schools seeking to establish a new program. A program’s conformance with EQ110 will show hospital administrators and hiring staff that its graduates are qualified.

The standard addresses the technical proficiencies, soft skills, and workplace training that HTM students will need to succeed in a competitive job market and keep patients safe. These include:

  • Technical proficiencies like CMMS use, equipment maintenance and repair, IT skills, and human anatomy and physiology.
  • Soft skills such as communication, teamwork, business ethics, and an understanding of hospital structure.
  • Workplace training issues like benchmarking, infection control, equipment safety, OSHA and HIPAA compliance, device recalls, and more.

The document also addresses how to staff a biomedical engineering program, including baseline requirements for instructors, resources, facilities, and advisory committee staffing.

RELATED: AAMI Releases New AEM Standard

EQ110 Purpose and Origins

EQ110 was produced by AAMI’s HTM Education Programs Working Group, a volunteer committee of AAMI members drawn from HTM education programs, hospitals, and companies that provide HTM services.

James Linton, co-chair of AAMI’s Technology Management Committee and professor of Biomedical Engineering at St. Clair College in Ontario, believes EQ110 can support all types of collegiate programs. Per Linton, EQ110 is a useful guidepost for colleges.
“They can use this as a guiding document to say, ‘Here’s what we need to do; here’s what a biomedical program is,’” said Linton.

Committee co-chair Steve Yelton, professor of HTM at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, echoed this sentiment.
“EQ110 can provide a seal of approval for ‘programs that are interested in getting started in a college,’” said Yelton. “[It serves as a] formalized guidance document for not only colleges but also healthcare delivery organizations when they’re looking at a new technician.”