Healthcare Technology Solutions Ready to Kick Off New Imaging Engineer Training Program

Among the shortages of key personnel facing the US healthcare industry is a need for qualified imaging engineers to service the vast and growing amount of medical imaging equipment in US hospitals and Imaging centers. To help solve this issue, Crothall’s Healthcare Technology Solutions (HTS) division has developed and piloted a training program designed to help its own biomedical technicians (BMETs) enhance their careers by training to become imaging engineers.

Crothall’s training platform offers BMETs the opportunity to advance their careers while investing in ways to address the talent shortage and improve efficiency. Identifying and training people with different roles enables Crothall a unique opportunity to make its in-house and regional teams more flexible.

The program can help solve two critical issues: a labor shortage of qualified engineers that is adding significant costs to any hospital needing repairs to sophisticated medical equipment.

“Many of the industry’s experienced Imaging engineers have started to retire,” says Raymond Chong, HTS’ Director of National Imaging. “As more healthcare facilities are built and more equipment is installed, there are a lot of openings for qualified engineers. We see an opportunity to be proactive by identifying and training our own people. Providing this new career growth path not only boosts morale and retention but saves our valued customers time and money by allowing Crothall to be more agile in our response to the changing Healthcare manpower needs.”

The labor shortage right now means that hospitals nationwide are paying significant sums to repair equipment, and on-site Imaging engineers should be able to reduce those costs. With some original equipment manufacturers’ (OEM) T&M rates of nearly $1000/hour (standard), it can cost between $5,000 to $30,000 and more for labor alone to repair one piece of equipment. Some hospitals have contracts with OEMs for repairs on a single system that reach close to $200,000 annually.

HTS leaders believe its size and resources give it an advantage compared with other organizations. Crothall employs a significant number of biomedical technicians across the country, so it can generate a high number of qualified candidates in-house who already have a strong base of knowledge.

“It is important to remember that a BMET must have a strong technical foundation of skills to begin with, so those chosen for the Imaging training program are not starting from scratch.  This provides the advantage of a reduced learning curve to transition to an imaging engineer,” Chong said.

How Allison Wolff Transitioned to an Imaging Engineer

Allison Wolff is a great example of how the training program works. Following her graduation from Binghamton University with a degree in biomedical engineering, Allison joined Crothall as a biomedical technician in July 2019.

After working as a BMET supporting 12 hospitals in the Northeast, Allison was identified by her director and recommended for our BMET to Imaging Service Engineer training program. She began training as an imaging engineer the following year and completed it near the end of 2021.

Shortly thereafter, she was promoted to Imaging Specialist at Nassau University Medical Center in New York. Her duties included preventive maintenance, first look/troubleshooting, and repairs on a wide variety of x-ray equipment, ranging from portable machines to fluoroscopy rooms and Cath labs.

As an imaging specialist, Allison joined a regional team of specialists available to Crothall managers with specific Imaging service needs. She traveled to various sites to examine and fix specific equipment included in her training, such as C-Arm machines made by General Electric.

The training also aided in Allison’s career trajectory; she recently became an assistant on-site director for BronxCare Health System while still supporting the Imaging team.

How the Training Will Work

HTS leaders continue to utilize their relationships with 3^rd party/OEM National Training Centers to receive comprehensive training on all modalities. Crothall has national agreements with several medical equipment vendors/OEMs to source parts, so it can build on these relationships to send employees to their 3^rd party /OEM National Training Centers.

Each person selected for the training program receives the same core foundational training as prerequisites to the more in-depth training. All other                courses will be tailored to what would be most beneficial to the healthcare organization they serve and the unique needs of directors in each region. Total training to transition from a BMET to an entry-level ISE takes several months to a year to complete.

“We want the training for each individual to be tailored to meet the needs of a specific health system, site, or install base of medical equipment in a region,” said Chong.

For example, Allison Wolff’s two-part training was divided between x-ray equipment fundamentals and the advanced properties of this equipment, including fluoroscopy. She was also trained on x-ray imaging systems manufactured by Carestream and GE to fit her region’s unique mix of equipment.

The intent is for Crothall’s on-site Directors and its Regional Support Specialists, to identify and recommend ideal candidates for development. While candidates need to be technically competent and have a strong work ethic, they also need strong soft skills in communication. Imaging engineers speak often with medical staff and hospital management, so they need to be able to explain the impact of any equipment problems and servicing needs in a high-pressure environment. Although technical and soft skills go a long way in identifying ideal candidates for the program, associates who show ambition or consistently go above and beyond expectations and are interested in furthering their careers quickly rise to the top.

How to Find Out More

Resources are now available for Directors, Regional Support Specialists, and others interested in identifying candidates for the program. These resources include the BMET to ISE Training Process and the BMET to ISE Training Application. For more information on our training program, reach out to our dedicated recruitment team.