Conference considers effect of reform on clinical engineering
How will clinical engineering adjust as healthcare reform pushes more clinical equipment outside hospital settings and into nontraditional, non-acute care facilities—including homes? That’s one of the questions Barry L. Graf will ask attendees to contemplate at the second annual conference of the Clinical Engineering Association of Illinois in Oak Brook, Ill., Aug. 24 and 25, where he will be one of four presenters in a panel discussion on healthcare reform.
Graf, vice president of operations for Virtua Health, which operates four hospitals and multiple non-acute operations in southern New Jersey, told Healthcare Technology Management he hopes to challenge attendees to “broaden the scope of their thinking outside, to where and how care is going to be provided in the future. Think about those opportunities that are outside of hospital walls.”
Virtua recently opened a new hospital, said Graf, adding that some recounting of the experience will likely figure in his remarks as well. “We built it from scratch and I had a chance to be involved from the ground up. I’ll probably share some of what we learned about equipment planning, how we made decisions about the technology that we put in place, how we manage our assets—and how clinical engineering was involved.”
The other scheduled panel members are David Kuehn, sales and marketing VP for Philips Dunlee; A. Ray Dalton, president and CEO of PartsSource; and Paul Miklovich, administrative director of clinical engineering for the Cleveland Clinic. Panel moderator will be Jeff Yastine, former senior correspondent of PBS’ “Nightly Business Report.”
The Illinois conference also will feature presentations from George Mills, senior engineer with the Joint Commission, and Manny Roman, director of leadership development with Crest Services in Coppell, Texas.
“It’s a tumultuous time in healthcare, with major changes on the horizon,” concluded Graf. “I hope the participants will walk away with a view from the provider side—the changes we are facing, and how they as individuals and as companies may position themselves and change some of their strategic thinking about how to react to the changes that lie ahead.”
For details on the conference, click here.
Graf, vice president of operations for Virtua Health, which operates four hospitals and multiple non-acute operations in southern New Jersey, told Healthcare Technology Management he hopes to challenge attendees to “broaden the scope of their thinking outside, to where and how care is going to be provided in the future. Think about those opportunities that are outside of hospital walls.”
Virtua recently opened a new hospital, said Graf, adding that some recounting of the experience will likely figure in his remarks as well. “We built it from scratch and I had a chance to be involved from the ground up. I’ll probably share some of what we learned about equipment planning, how we made decisions about the technology that we put in place, how we manage our assets—and how clinical engineering was involved.”
The other scheduled panel members are David Kuehn, sales and marketing VP for Philips Dunlee; A. Ray Dalton, president and CEO of PartsSource; and Paul Miklovich, administrative director of clinical engineering for the Cleveland Clinic. Panel moderator will be Jeff Yastine, former senior correspondent of PBS’ “Nightly Business Report.”
The Illinois conference also will feature presentations from George Mills, senior engineer with the Joint Commission, and Manny Roman, director of leadership development with Crest Services in Coppell, Texas.
“It’s a tumultuous time in healthcare, with major changes on the horizon,” concluded Graf. “I hope the participants will walk away with a view from the provider side—the changes we are facing, and how they as individuals and as companies may position themselves and change some of their strategic thinking about how to react to the changes that lie ahead.”
For details on the conference, click here.
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.