Attracting and retaining biomedical technicians has become a challenge in recent years. This is because the existing cohort of staff ages, while fewer younger graduate technicians are available.
Across the board, medical training has become harder as placement numbers have reduced in hospitals and clinical environments. As a result, the supply of biomedical technicians requires rethinking to boost availability.
What’s The Role of Biomedical Equipment Technicians (BMETs) in Healthcare?
Biomedical equipment technicians are the clinical team members who keep the process running. When a doctor or surgeon relies on a piece of equipment to deliver, it has to be ready to go.
- The BMET team is the support structure that makes sure essential equipment functions at peak reliability and performance.
- Tech staff are not usually found on the front line with patients, but their expertise is directly connected to patient safety.
- It is a mixed, often complex skillset that includes an understanding of legislation, such as compliance with HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).
- Many tech staff will require an understanding of how to manage service contracts, and the clinical supply chain, be IT literate, and have medical knowledge.
Why There’s a Growing Shortage of Qualified BMETs
It is a twin-pronged issue. On the one hand, fewer trained BMETs are coming through the system, while on the other, medical practices are using more and more medical equipment.
Advances in medical technology in recent years have led to a boom in the amount of specialist medical equipment being used by clinicians, but with fewer tech staff available, many hospital departments are finding it hard to keep up.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics has predicted that the demand for biomedical technicians will rise by a minimum of 18% in the years to 2030. The expectation is that there will be, on average, more than 7,300 roles that will require filling year on year, to cover retirees, job transfers as well as sector growth.
How to Address a Shortage of BMETs
There are several ways to address staff shortages in a clinical setting. The role of a biomedical technician may seem too specialist to recruit for, but basic competencies in engineering, data, and electronics are foundations that can be built upon.
Increase Awareness and Promotion of the Field
There may be a rich vein of talent out there just waiting to be tapped, but unless potential clinical technicians are made aware that this career path exists, they could be lost to other disciplines.
Developing an awareness that this is a growth sector within the medical industry as a whole will help to attract new personnel. Raising starting salaries, and offering ongoing professional development, is another strategy that has proved successful in other spheres.
Reduce Strain on Biomedical Technicians
Your existing biomedical tech team will be the first to tell you how overworked and under pressure they are. The good news is that there are several ways to mitigate the pressure on existing staff, improving efficiencies without over-taxing their resources.
Planned maintenance
It sounds obvious, but developing a regular schedule for maintaining clinical equipment, and then sticking to it, should help to end last-minute technical issues.
Clean up your data
A basic failing in administering biomedical tech is not having a comprehensive database with common nomenclature, which makes it hard to track equipment numbers and conditions.
Getting your team to carry out an audit to make sure everything is properly listed on the database so it can be tracked and managed effectively.
Staff rostering
How many times have you heard a complaint that a level 3 BMET is spending too much time on basic entry-level equipment while a level one or two is struggling with a skills gap on more advanced equipment?
Rostering so that all levels of BMET capability are supported throughout the medical shifts can help to prevent dissatisfaction with workload and burnout.
Hire the Right Talent
Getting the right people in place can sometimes seem like a dark art. If your clinical practice does not have an experienced HR department, recruiting specialist staff may be daunting.
Be specific with your personal specifications:
- Do your technicians require a high level of dexterity?
- Are BMETs required to lift heavy items?
- Can your technical staff expect flexible scheduling?
Maintaining important medical equipment can be challenging. You need people ready to take on the demands of the role.
Train the Existing Staff
Level 1 and level 2 BMETs may have the aptitude for further training to attain advanced level 3. Co-opting the best qualified and experienced staff as mentors for newly qualified or less experienced staff can help to close the skills gap.
Online and in-person continuing professional development covers many areas of expertise, from regulatory compliance to electromechanical biomedical device maintenance.
If your clinical practice has specialized equipment, ensure all the technical staff are familiar with the main causes of failure and are confident with making emergency repairs, resetting devices, or identifying when a replacement is required.
Offer Paid Apprenticeships
Training can be expensive, and high fees may prevent talented people from pursuing a career that many find rewarding. You could open up applications from candidates with an associate’s degree in biomedical technology or engineering rather than holding out for graduates with a bachelor’s degree.
Your new hires could then be trained in the specific requirements of the clinical environment inhabited by your business. Developing their skills in this way may also help to lower staff turnover and maintain a competent team.
Collaborate with Staffing Agencies
Staffing agencies can often look like the expensive option, still, partnering with a specialist biomedical supplier may be an effective way to save time and money when resourcing staff. An agency will likely have access to a pool of talent that can be called upon during busy periods, or seasonal fluctuations.
If you have a particular person specification to fulfill, a staffing agency can shorten the time taken to select suitable candidates. An agency can deliver pre-screening for experience, aptitude, technical ability, and education level.
Biomedical technicians are an important part of the support team that keeps a clinical practice or hospital running smoothly. To make sure that your staff levels are adequate several actions can be put in place today to safeguard patient care.
There may be pressure on the supply of qualified technical medical staff, and it may not improve quickly unless clinical practices strategize effectively to manage the situation.
With proper planning and partnering with the right people the future of patient care in your practice can be balanced and effectively future-proofed.