HTM On The Line with BRYANT HAWKINS SR.
This Podcast is the place where we celebrate the hardworking professionals in the field of Healthcare Technology Management. It's going to be for HTM by HTM, and more importantly this podcast is going to be fun. This is where you will hear HTM professionals getting the exposure and credit they ALL deserve.
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HTM On The Line with BRYANT HAWKINS SR.
From Lab Technician to Duke University Hospital: The Allison Woolford Story
Ever wondered about the inner workings of the healthcare technology management (HTM) industry? Our guest for this episode, Allison Woolford, MS, CBET a biomedical equipment specialist and team lead at Duke University Hospital, gives us an inside look. Allison is a powerful example of perseverance and dedication; In the last 18+ years she’s navigated her way from a lab technician role at the American Red Cross, through a stint as a ninth-grade earth science teacher, to her current position at Duke University Hospital.
Allison shares her experiences working with cutting-edge healthcare technology and the importance of communication within this field. She provides a comprehensive look into her work, including her dealings with anesthesia machines, and the necessary collaboration between IT and HTM professionals. She talks about her goals, such as her pursuit of a Certified Healthcare Technology Management certification and her involvement in trade shows, giving us a true window into the life of a biomedical equipment specialist.
But Allison doesn’t stop at technology. She brings a unique perspective to the table as she discusses her transition from technician to adjunct professor at Durham Technical Community College. She provides a peek into the future of the HTM field and her personal mission to bridge the gap between HTM and IT education. We also get a glimpse of her role in assisting to expand the program with three new classes in the fall of 2024. The conversation wraps up with a reflection on the human side of the HTM industry, reminding us of the people behind the Medical Equipment she services and the importance of their work. Tune in for this enlightening discussion with a true trailblazer in the HTM industry.
This podcast is sponsored by The College Biomedical Equipment Technology. You can find out more information about this outstanding institution at CBET.EDU.
Welcome to HTM on the Line, the podcast that is for HTM by HTM. I'm your host, bryant Hawkins Sr. In today's episode we're privileged to have Allison Wolfert, a biomedical equipment specialist and team lead at Duke University Hospital. Allison is not just a guest. She's a living testament to perseverance and dedication. Over the past 18 plus years she's journeyed from a lab technician at the American Red Cross to a night-grade earth science teacher and now stands as a team lead at one of the most renowned hospitals in the United States.
Speaker 1:In this episode, allison sets light on the crucial role of communication within the HTM field and emphasizes the collaboration needed between IT and HTM professionals for seamless operations. Yet Allison's story doesn't stop there. She brings a unique perspective to the table by discussing her transition from a technician to an adjunct professor at Durham Technical Community College. As the conversation unfolds, we delve into the human side of the HTM industry. Allison reflects on the people behind the medical equipment she services, emphasizing the profound importance of HTM professionals' work in health care. Tune in for an enlightening discussion with Allison Wolford, a true trailblazer in the HTM industry. Let's get into this week's episode with Allison Wolford. Allison, welcome to HTM on the 9. I'm so glad me and you can finally get together how you doing today.
Speaker 2:I am doing wonderful.
Speaker 1:Great, great. Before we get started, can you please give us a little background? What led you to where you are today?
Speaker 2:My background so currently I am a biomedical equipment specialist over at Duke University Hospital in Durham, north Carolina, where I am also the team lead for the periop shop. So we manage all the equipment for the operating rooms. Mainly anywhere there is an anesthesia machine, we take care of it. Prior to that, I was over at UNC Rex Hospital in Raleigh where I spent about four years managing various areas, including outside clinics, nicu, helping out with patient towers and working in the ORs and then, prior to that, I spent about 10 years with the American Red Cross.
Speaker 2:Hard to believe, but they actually do have a bio med group within the Red Cross to help manage their care. They do have a bio med group within the Red Cross to help manage their equipment for testing and manufacturing blood products that are donated.
Speaker 1:What inspired you to do this? Did you go to school? Right out of high school into the HTM industry?
Speaker 2:No, I knew nothing about the HTM history when I got out of high school, even before when I went to a magnet high school. So my concentration there was environmental science. But I've always wanted to be in the health field. I actually wanted to be a pediatrician. So I found out about Xavier University of Louisiana and New Orleans and found out that they are the top school for getting African Americans into medical school. So I wanted to go there. Parents weren't really too happy about it, but ultimately they were. They gave in to me and allowed me to go.
Speaker 2:So I went to New Orleans and I graduated from Xavier with a bachelor's in biology and chemistry and as a grade of a student as I was in high school, college is so much different and I didn't fail but I'm doing as well. And I discovered that I am not that great of a test taker and so that kind of scared me away from taking the MCAT. So about taking the MCAT is kind of hard. Again to medical school. So I kind of let go of that dream and figured I would just use my bachelor's degree doing something else and go into teaching. So when I graduated I actually worked. I went to work, I had to find a job. So I worked at February 21, got a job at a mall and I substitute. So I was a substitute teacher for Mecklenburg County school systems down in Charlotte, north Carolina. I did that for about six months before I got a lateral entry position.
Speaker 2:So I taught earth science to ninth graders and that was actually pretty interesting with going into the school and getting. As I'm walking through the halls I get told why aren't you in class? And I have to constantly tell people I'm a teacher here and make sure I had my badge on me to show everybody that I am a teacher and I'm not one of the students walking the hall.
Speaker 1:So you went from a prestigious college in the great city of New Orleans.
Speaker 2:Louisiana.
Speaker 1:And from there you went to work in the mall. Then I think you said you was a substitute teacher and then a ninth grade teacher. Yes, all the list before you ventured into HTM world.
Speaker 2:I love teaching and I went and joined the American Red Cross National Testing Laboratory. So I was actually a lab technologist and, using my science background, I was testing the donated blood for viruses. I started out with a lot of manual testing where you had to watch the time. You had machines but you're the one that had to feed the test tubes in, make sure that it pipetted correctly into the dishes, and then you had to put the dishes into incubators and at a certain amount of time incubator will go off and then put it into another machine mix up reagents.
Speaker 2:So it was a lot of manual testing when I first started at the REC cross and eventually it moved over to an automatic system where you're able to directly put the test tubes into the machine and it did all the work for you. You just sit there and watch it and look, make sure results come out, make sure you have all your controls on, and then that data gets automatically transferred over to our database. We also worked with the various vendors who would come in and they would teach us little tricks here and there just to make sure that we are able to fix the machine without messing up any credibility of it. So as I was learning that, I was like okay, this is pretty interesting to go ahead and see these big analyzers and be able to take them apart. And that's how I discovered my first HGM or you say, biomed group.
Speaker 2:It was five ladies who managed all the equipment at the National Testing Laboratory in Charlotte. They will come in on Mondays and get the maintenance completed for the equipment. And it was like an eye opener to see okay, these ladies are actually coming in doing repairs, checking temperature monitoring systems, but it's something that they can repair. Call the vendor in and you get to see the vendor. So I was like, hey, I want to join this group, this seems fun. So I applied and they hired me on. So I became part of the team and I actually had the opportunity to go down to Texas for avid training on one of the big analyzers. So I was down there for a week and when I came back I was then able to train them on some of the techniques I've learned and ultimately fix the big analyzers whenever we couldn't get the FSC in, and so I had the opportunity to help manage the equipment throughout the Southeast, from Virginia down to.
Speaker 2:Georgia over to Alabama, tennessee and a couple of times. Actually opportunity, because they did a big equipment rollout where I went to Oregon and Washington State and then helped set up the shop in Puerto Rico.
Speaker 1:Man, that's amazing. So how many years we talking right here from let's just timeframe this from the moment you graduated from savior to now what you just mentioned? How many years are we talking right here?
Speaker 2:I was actually at the work across for 10 years.
Speaker 1:As a female professional in the HTML-dominated industry, have you faced any challenges that you had to overcome?
Speaker 2:I would say the biggest challenge is people looking at me as if I don't know what I'm talking about or they see me as like do you really think you can do that? And it was a big thing when I was with the Red Cross and because, again, a lot of namely within the Red Cross women are part of collections. They are the nurses who are there to assist the patients, to set them up, and normally anybody else who was doing repairs for the equipment. It was all guys and within our group there was three women within our whole area. So them to see me come in and I'm like, ok, I'm actually going to go and troubleshoot why you don't have connectivity for your blood drive or to figure out, ok, your data is not crossing on your bus. And then they come, look at me like, oh, you're going to actually fix it.
Speaker 2:I'm like, yeah, I'm going to fix it. I'm going to help fix this printer that is damaged and pull parts from one other printer to fix this printer. I was like, yes, I'm the one that's going to sit here and fix it. Or I'm going to troubleshoot over the phone with you on why you don't have a Wi-Fi signal on your handheld device, or why your CD duplicator, which produces all the CDs that go on to the master computers, isn't working and help you troubleshoot or might even remote into it. So once they so, I have to say, once I prove myself and it's sad to say that then it's seemed as if that's when they all started to respect my knowledge that I do know what I'm doing. And even to this day, if I go and I end up talking to somebody, one of the patients, if we just have a simple conversation at the bus stop and I tell them what I'm doing.
Speaker 2:They look at me like you do what it's like. Yeah, I can sit here and go into the operating room and if there's an issue with the bed I can troubleshoot the bed. Or I was going in and troubleshoot the anesthesia machine and they really are amazed when I walk around carrying the ladder because I have to fix drifting operating room lights and they're like look at you in the ladder, it's like, yeah, I do it all.
Speaker 1:Now you mentioned a lot about how you had to sometimes instruct or teach the end user how to use the equipment. So that takes some type of collaboration skills, which we know is very crucial in what we do. So how do you foster effective collaboration between you and the end user?
Speaker 2:I try to speak on a level that everybody will understand.
Speaker 2:We have a lot of the technical knowledge from going to the training and various trainings for the various pieces of equipment, and I have to realize that my expertise is different from their expertise and I just try to simplify it as much as I can to help them to understand.
Speaker 2:One example is everybody looks at I don't know this old school technology, but the handheld PDMs. If you look in the upper right hand corner trying to figure out if the wire is connected to Wi-Fi, you will see bars. The bars indicate that you have a signal and then the notice connected to the Wi-Fi. Also, you have this little Y symbol that looks like an antenna. So you always tell everybody hey, look in the upper right hand corner, you're going to look for the hills and a martini glass. If you have an X over the martini glass, you're not connected to the Wi-Fi. And by saying that it clicked for everybody to understand what was going on. And then by building a relationship of going around and talking to people, even if they're not having a problem, just checking in and saying, hey, how are you doing? What's going on? It helps them to make them feel more comfortable when there is a problem and you do come in and talk to them about it.
Speaker 1:Now, do you have any certifications?
Speaker 2:Yes, I do have my CVET and my goal is to get the CHTM.
Speaker 1:Now, do you go to any trade shows?
Speaker 2:Yes, whenever I can, I try to go. Sometimes it's hard, but I'm not just the CHTM trade shows, I'm trying to go to others. I recently went to the NC Tech Associations Women in Tech Summit that took place in New Bern last week, where it was almost 300 women in the tech industry. So there was a lot of people in IT, but it was great to. But they didn't focus the lessons or you say this little sessions on just IT things. They focused on how to become better mentors, how to get sponsorships and how to motivate us to pursue advancements in our career.
Speaker 1:Yes, because all those things are important. You need that sponsor, the mentor and actually IT is really becoming to the forefront of what we do with the repairs of the medical equipment, as you mentioned, with the Wifi situation there and since we own that. Have you ever had any issues in surgery, say, where you and IT had to work together? Have you ever come across something like that where you probably had to put on your IT hat?
Speaker 2:Oh yes, there is always that blur line between HTM and IT, especially with all the newer equipment that's coming to place all the various robots and navigation systems, with everything that now goes to Epic. You have to know something about computers and how it works and the process A lot of times. I have recently had to deal with one of our navigation systems because it was new. They had for a while but they normally didn't hook it up to the network. So it was going through the new security protocols for IT to get it so that it's allowed to be on the network. So I had to go down to the clinic and actually work with the vendor to get the necessary MAC addresses, ip addresses and various information behind the screen of the software for the device, as well as checking which jack the computer was going to and that the system was going to be connected to so that it makes it through our firewalls. So it seemed like a little bit of every day I have something where I have to tag team with IT to get the work done.
Speaker 1:So you mentioned surgery and you mentioned youth service anesthesia machines. Do you have to deal with what's that? I think it's like a capsule that I guess that's used for the EMR. Are you familiar with that or do you deal with that at times?
Speaker 2:Oh, so we have a couple rooms using the capsule neurons, but for the most part we are actually well. We're actually transferring over to the capsules from the Unity ID boxes. So currently most of our anesthesia machines are using the Unity ID box which then connects to the epic computer which is attached to the anesthesia machine and that's how the gas information and the vital signs information goes into epic. So there's times where I have to make sure that we see the green lights on Unity ID, make sure it's powered on. Sometimes that cat five cable that goes from the front of the vital signs machine on anesthesia machine is damaged.
Speaker 2:So I have to replace that out, but as of right now we're currently so. That's where I spent a good portion of the past couple days this week actually installing the new capsules onto the machines that in I think about 20 rooms so far this week have completed. Where I put the capsule on, had to make sure that there was a data drop in the room for plugged it in. Data drop is working and if it wasn't, then I let the project manager know so that they can work it out with it to either activate the port or even put in the jack so that we can use for the capsule projects.
Speaker 1:Listen that yourself, you probably don't realize what you just said.
Speaker 1:You said something about MAC address, ip address, firewall, unity, id box, wi Fi symbol, cat five cables, data drops, activating the ports. You pretty much speaking it language and if you was to walk into a bio man shop A lot of technicians may not know what you're talking about. So I don't know if you know enough, but you're very first in it terminology. So definitely you are gravitating to the future of htm and that's like you said, that blur line between it and power man is blending and you definitely are what the ball mesh need to be able to understand and talk to and they have classes to teach exactly what you're sitting here explaining. So whether you know that or not, you already crossed that line.
Speaker 1:You, you speak in both languages there. I'm just sitting there listening to you and I'm amazed at all the different things you just flowing with. So that shows that you are definitely keeping up with the future or the changes that's going on in healthcare and that's to be committed. The htm industry is very diverse and it's growing every single day. Do you know of something that's very different? In htm, professional may want to aspire that he may not know exists.
Speaker 2:So it seems like everybody always thinks of htm. Well, for those who find out about it, it's in the hospital or it's the field service engineers who come in and fix some equipment in the hospital. But it seems that we always seem to forget about all the other places where there is medical equipment. One example of that is on cruise ships. Cruise ships actually have a small clinic on the cruise lines and I don't know if it really came out where you really thought about it when coven it and you have people who are getting sit on the cruise line. But for the most part, whatever equipment you can think of in a clinic or in your hospital, you're going to actually have it on the cruise ship and they're going to have a medical center.
Speaker 2:It might not be as fabulous or as fancy as the hospital would have, but they're going to have the procedure, like they're going to have the exam chairs. You're going to have an AED everywhere, just like when you go to a stadium or the airport, there's an AED almost in every corner. So they're going to have AEDs, they're going to have D-Fibs, they have their EKGs, they're going to take your vitals and they do have lab equipment. It might not be the fancy big on the floor Siemens, or huge thermal fish or incubators, but they're going to have some of those smaller analyzers that are tabletop ones so that they can help test any patient that might be coming through might be sick. You want to make sure that you treat them with the care they need so that when the helicopter comes to get them off, that then they can truly go into the hospital to help them out. Or might be something simple where they just have motion sickness and you just want to make sure that they're okay.
Speaker 1:So what you're saying is there's an HTM professional that's living on a cruise ship.
Speaker 2:Well, no, they don't. So they don't actually live on the cruise ship. There is a company of Biomeds and not only do they manage the Biomeds, they also help manage the nursing staff that's on the cruise ship and they, wherever the cruise ship is docked, they will fly out to that location, take care of all the PMs, whatever repairs are needed for that medical equipment on that ship, and then they have to be back off the ship before the ship disembarks to go to its next journey. So they're not actually living on a ship, but they are flying to wherever the ship may be. If the ship is in Australia, there's actually a group in Australia who would do the cruise ships that dock in Australia. There's people in.
Speaker 2:Europe who will get the ships that are docked in Europe. And there's some people in the United States who will fly over to Greece, fly over to Germany, amsterdam, spain. There's also been people gone over to Japan and manage their inventory and their equipment on their cruise ships. Besides, even all the little cruise ships that travel up and down the East Coast or go throughout the Gulf, even those small little yachts I think one is American Cruise Line is an example of that small ship that goes up and down the East Coast, along the Northeast and towards those little areas. That's amazing.
Speaker 1:So I guess I never thought about that. But I know they had nurses that travel with cruise ships but the nurses have to have medical equipment. So it makes sense that an HTM professional would also be somewhere involved with that cruise ship and taking care of that medical equipment. Wow, that's what I never thought of. That's an eye opener. Let's switch gears a little bit here. What type of advice can you give to an aspiring female in the HTM industry?
Speaker 2:I have to say the same thing to the students I currently teach at Durham Tech, through the interns that come through a hospital Do not be afraid to ask questions, even if you might think it's a dumb question. Still ask it. That is how you're going to learn. Also, take the initiative to follow behind people. Once you're in the hospital setting, once you're on the intern, if you're new to the field or even if you've been in the field for years, follow people, go with them. If there is a situation that's going on, especially with the way technology is advancing and how we are having that blurt line between HTM and IT, go, follow them to go find out about that new device or how to troubleshoot that new device.
Speaker 2:There's instances where I actually sit in on the end services that the OR staff have reported to various new devices. I checked it in and got the paperwork from the vendor. I don't really know how it truly works. I don't know what it's being used for. I know that it's good to go. I sat in on a robot end service to see exactly what is this robot used for. It helps to bridge that gap between, okay, we have these devices in and we're managing them, making sure they're okay, why?
Speaker 1:do we take care of them?
Speaker 2:Why are we managing them? We're managing them so that the patient that goes on there to get their knee replaced is taken care of. They're using the latest technology for that knee replacement surgery.
Speaker 1:Let's back up a second. You kind of slipped that in there when you was talking about all the good advice. You're trying to tell me you're an instructor. I thought you said you taught the night grad. What kind of instructor are you now?
Speaker 2:I am actually an adjunct professor at Durham Technical Community College for their biomedical equipment technology associates degree.
Speaker 1:Now wait a minute. You went from hearing about this to now teaching about it. How's that going? Tell us a little bit about that. How is that part of the industry going now that you're on the teaching side of it? How does that feel to look on that side?
Speaker 2:Even with my other two degrees. I was asked to go and even already had my experience. I was actually asked to go and get this associates degree. I went to Durham Tech while I was working at UNC Recs and got the associates degree as I was in the program, as I was working in the hospital. I realized this disconnect between what we're learning but what I'm actually doing. I wanted to help bridge that gap back, because technology is advancing and it seemed as if the program really wasn't advancing. With the technology we learned a lot about the theory of electronics, we learned about medical equipment. Nowadays we don't do a lot of soldering, we don't do a lot of physical repairing, replaying components, because everything is board replacement. So we're replacing boards and then we're getting it back up to the field and getting it back up to the operating rooms.
Speaker 2:So when I graduated, they asked if I went to mind teaching. So I said, sure, I can't do a full time because I have my full time job in hospital, but I have about here and there. So I teach the intro to BioMec class which, when COVID hit and everything went online, discovered that there are certain classes which can be taught online. In certain classes you do need that hands-on experience. So the intro to class with one of those classes that's capable of being taught online. So I teach that in the fall.
Speaker 2:And then the funny part is, in the spring, I teach a we call it a software for technicians class, which is not geared just for BioMecs, it's also geared for electronic students, where I also teach C programming. It's basic C programming but I teach the C program class and again, that is also all online. So I'm able to do that while I still work at the hospital. And actually we actually just got approval from the board at the community college to expand the BioMec program and we're actually going to be introducing three new classes in the fall of 2024, I believe, where we will have a medical laser class, an extension to the biomedical instrumentation class and then a separate class for hospital safety, if I remember those three classes correctly. And so starting next week is when I'll be working with the director and one other professor that they hired on to make up well, not really make up, but get those courses situated, get textbooks that are needed, get the materials we need so that we can move forward with starting those classes in 2024.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's amazing. I mean you have to be a one of one. I've never met someone who's gotten their bachelor's degree, master's degree and then went back and got an associate degree. Most people would just take their bachelor and master and use that and get into the industry. But the fact you went back and got your associate degree, then when you finished getting an associate degree you started teaching, that's got to be a one of one too. I don't know anybody that graduates with an associate and turn them on, begin teaching unless you had the other product credentials. I mean that's amazing. You're not only making a, bringing awareness to it, but you're doing it by literally teaching it. Are there any other ways in which you are bringing awareness to the HTM industry you could speak on?
Speaker 2:Well, when I can, I did complete one presentation with the students at Durham Tech so that they actually know what life is like in a hospital, and I'm currently trying to schedule them to come to the hospital so that they can see it firsthand. A lot of these students know about the program but don't quite understand what it entails and what life is like. So I'm trying to help that bridge again, bridge that gap between okay, this is a cool career, but what do you actually do? So I have attended a career fair at LNU School to speak to the kids about what it is to be in the HTM field, to be a bio med, and they seem pretty interested to hand out some brochures that I got from Amy. So I'm trying to go there and just try to speak and let people know and, more so, advocate for the field, because we have a lot of people retiring, a lot of people leaving, and we want to make sure that we can refill that gap.
Speaker 1:I'm just sitting here thinking about you talking, and every time you talk you throw another layer on top. So let me see if I can shuffle this deck. You teach at a community college intro into the BioMed program. You've spoken to high school students. You've went to career fairs for elementary children. Do you realize? Here you are hitting every aspect of humans to bring awareness to this industry. And that's awesome, man, that's to be committed, and I know that takes a lot of your time to do all those things. So I appreciate your efforts in that, because that's amazing. You should take a bow, because not many people are doing what you're doing. So I appreciate your efforts and I'm going to show whoever's listening to this podcast appreciate your efforts also. But you mentioned so many great stories and accomplishments. Can you share one of your most memorable success stories that you are particularly proud of?
Speaker 2:I have to say I'm proud of every, every time I'm able to fix something, regardless of how small it is, because I know that by me fixing it, it is helping the surgeons and the nurses do their job.
Speaker 1:What type of I guess I want to say not advice, but what kind of motivation you could share with the industry, something you think that can we all can take from your knowledge, or just give us some type of encouragement or motivation. What could you share with the industry?
Speaker 2:This funny guy actually asks today what is it that I love about my job? And the first thing that came to my mind is are the people, Not just the hospital staff I work with. Yes, being in the OR is a stressful situation and their stress is sometimes not working because they're getting it from the surgeon. The surgeon wants everything to work perfectly because they don't want anything to happen to their patient, but ultimately, it's what we all do to make sure that that patient on that table is okay and gets the care that they need, and we just all just need to realize that our bigger picture is that person. We seem to sometimes forget that we come into the hospital to fix a D-Fib or to fix a vital science machine or an allerious pump, but we have to realize what's happening once we fix that allerious pump.
Speaker 2:What's happening once we fix that vital science machine is going to go on to a patient and to make sure that they're okay, and that is our job A lot of people we forget. We just forget that we forget the human side of what we do and, even though we might not get thanked by the patient or even by the surgeon, we're that person that's behind the curtain getting things done, but we are also there to help and we also care for those people.
Speaker 1:Right, well said, allison. I appreciate you, and anytime you want to come back on here, you always welcome. Keep doing what you're doing. You're doing a great job. Allison and the HTM field is a better place because you're a part of it. Thank you very much for coming on.
