To Be the Best, Department Starts 'Cert Now!'.

When the Technical Services Partnership (TSP) at the University of Vermont (UVM) read the first edition of the AAMI HTM Levels Guide in 2014, the department found that it didn’t quite meet the criteria for an “advanced” health technology management (HTM) program. Reaching the top level— level 3, according to the guide—would require a majority of TSP’s technical staff to hold a professional certification. At 15% certification, TSP stood a bit short of that goal. “We’ve always had high levels of certification with our clinical engineering staff, but we identified a need to put forth the effort and energy to increase the level of certification within our organization as a whole,” said Mike Lane, associate director of TSP at UVM. “We firmly believe that certification adds value, as an organization and also for our staff. It promotes being at the top of the field.” To reach the highest HTM level, TSP leadership needed to engage staff to want to become certified biomedical technicians (CBETs). They had to provide tools to gain knowledge, despite working at facilities spread throughout three states. And ultimately—they had to pass the test. To face this challenge, TSP developed a 14-week certification course and webinar series called Cert Now!