October 7, 2025 • 46 mins
FAN MAIL: Send a "Bearded Message"
Big news lands at the Uptime Dental Summit: we’re bringing the Dental Summit into AAMI Exchange with a full-on dental pavilion, on-floor education, and a technical training space designed to grow into a robust dental track. Not just a bigger stage—this is a smarter way to connect dental servicing with HTM, where sterilization, imaging, PM, and patient safety already overlap every day.
We talk through why this matters now. Dental practices are consolidating, health systems are integrating dental care, and in-office tech like CBCT is changing decisions in real time. That means higher expectations for uptime, cybersecurity, and standards—and a clearer career path for biomeds who want to specialize. Vendors are ready, the community is eager, and the opportunity is huge: millions of devices across independent practices, plus equipment inside hospitals and federal systems.
We also clear up recurring misconceptions about AAMI. We’re a neutral convener across multiple verticals, not a lobbying shop for a single profession. That neutrality brings regulators, manufacturers, providers, and service pros to the same table to build consensus standards and practical guidance. Certifications update on a five-year cycle, add domains like cybersecurity as job tasks evolve, and CEUs are accessible through free webinars and collaborative programming with regional associations. Volunteers are the engine—we provide the platform: meeting space, studio access, collaboration tools, and an upcoming website with integrated feeds and document workflows so good ideas move faster.
Do you have a CBET, CHTM, CRES certification to maintain? Then check out Bearded Biomed University to watch select episodes of the show and get issued an ACI approved CEU certificate. https://www.beardedbiomed.com/beardedceus
The Ohm’s Law Foundation is dedicated to supporting the next generation of Biomedical Equipment Technicians through scholarships, certification support, mentorship, and outreach. You can get involved by making a direct donation, purchasing apparel, or reaching out to partner with us to support the HTM community. Check out our interactive maps of biomed colleges, apprenticeship programs, and HTM associations at https://ohmslawfoundation.org
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We deeply appreciate the support of our incredible sponsors, who are dedicated to empowering and creating opportunities for biomedical professionals striving to grow in their careers. Be sure to explore the links below to learn more about how they can help you take the next step in your journey.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:39):
Let's start the show.
SPEAKER_04 (00:46):
Welcome to Bearded Biomed.
Hey everybody, we're sittingdown at I guess the first ever
table talk Bearded Biomed.
So we're at the the DentalSummit.
So uh the Uptime Dental Summit.
And if you don't know thesepeople, please get out of your
foxhole.
Danielle, Robert, Pamela, Iappreciate you sitting down with
(01:08):
me.
Um it's been a really coolconference.
And uh, you know, just I thinkthis is a good time to just kind
of take it in and uh just talkabout what's coming.
There's a lot of really uhinteresting conversations that I
think we've all had over theover this weekend.
So uh I think I'm always workingon the couple of things.
(01:29):
Let's start off with one of thebig announcements that you guys
just dropped.
SPEAKER_01 (01:33):
Yeah, so we are super excited that starting next
year in June of 2026 at the AmyExchange, this event will be
part of Amy Exchange.
So a dental summit will now beat the Amy Exchange.
We will have a dental pavilionon our expo floor.
It'll we have room for about 30dental vendors, whether that's
manufacturers or servicers.
(01:55):
And we'll also have a stage andtheater there where we can have
education.
In long term, we want to createa dental track as part of our
education, and we'll also bedoing technical training for the
dental community as well.
So we're just beyond excitedabout this.
I know my colleagues are aswell.
I mean, what do you think?
SPEAKER_00 (02:11):
Yeah, I mean, it's fantastic.
We're doing this in partnershipwith M Time Health, obviously,
which grew this uh conference towhat it is, and they're uh uh
platinum sponsor, whatever theright term is, for the next four
years.
So we're gonna be workingtogether really closely.
Um, and like you said, startingwith the dental pavilion, we're
gonna have a theater in thepavilion.
So there'll be education there.
There's also gonna be atechnical training area, so
(02:33):
we'll have a room for that.
Uh and then over time, we hopeit does become a full track
within Amy Exchange focused onthe dental services.
SPEAKER_01 (02:41):
So yeah, and it's just so exciting because there's
so many synergies there, right?
You think of the sterile, wehave a sterilization area as
well.
There's a lot of sterility indental servicing and in dental
um care.
So I feel like with Amy, it'sjust such a it's just such a
natural place for this to landbecause there's so much overlap
between the dental servicingcommunity along with the biomed
(03:04):
community because dentalservicing is a subset or a
specialty within biomed.
So we're just so so excited.
SPEAKER_02 (03:11):
I will say that while Danielle and Robert were
keynoting this morning and theQA occurred, I knew that A B was
the right place for the membersof this conference.
They were had so many ideas ofwhere they wanted to raise the
bar across the dental.
SPEAKER_04 (03:29):
Immediately went the standards.
Exactly.
SPEAKER_02 (03:32):
I mean, a lot of the ideas there.
SPEAKER_04 (03:35):
Yeah, match made in heaven.
Yeah, and somebody made a pointover the weekend too that dental
and HTM have been segmented forfar too long, even though,
again, there's so much synergyand cross-way, you know,
collaboration already occurring.
And the way healthcare is goingtoo, there might be more dental
practices joining hospitalsystems as is.
(03:56):
There are already.
SPEAKER_03 (03:57):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (03:58):
But the the future's already there, the the foresight
and the vision of where thatcould lead to.
And I mean, as a bio med, I Idon't like the idea of leaving
any sector of HTM segmented tobegin with.
Everybody should have the sameaccess to resources, training,
education, and of coursestandardization across their
sector, you know, specialty.
SPEAKER_01 (04:19):
Amen, Chase.
I think that's exactly why wedid this.
Like, Amy is a convener.
We bring people together, and Ithink you said it so well.
I mean, we don't want to leaveany specialty or subset of our
community out.
Because at the end of the day,we're all there to help patient
care.
We work on equipment throughcorrective and preventative
maintenance and through so manyother areas of health care too,
(04:42):
even thinking of sterilization.
So it's just so natural, and weneed to make sure that everyone
is included.
And like you said, everyone hasaccess, access to resources,
access to standards, because atthe end of the day, that affects
care and patient throughput, andthat's what we're here for.
SPEAKER_02 (04:57):
That path to the patient, the members here can
actually enhance the solutionsthat are out there relative to
that education.
They have so many ideas, and itwas coming out this morning.
It was beautiful to see.
SPEAKER_04 (05:10):
That's cool too.
If you if you can also look onthe forefront, and let's say
we're able to get moreclinicians, more dentists
involved, and there's literallya congregation of every facet of
healthcare from the technicianto the people providing the
patient care.
And then, you know, whatdiscussions could come from that
where you walk into an Amyexchange and you could literally
(05:33):
tackle issues overnight and puta plan together with every
individual from differentsectors of healthcare.
It's kind of cool, you know.
It's wicked cool, yeah.
You got Amy already, you seeimaging, you see sterilization.
Now there's gonna be a dentalarea.
SPEAKER_00 (05:48):
So we saw interest in the broader HTM community
already when Janesh uh keynotedlast year at Amy Exchange.
I mean, the room was very payingvery close attention to what he
was laying out about the growthin the opportunity, you know,
how how you know dental careimpacts health.
It's all tied together, and sothe interest to me, what I'm
excited about, is from bothsides.
(06:08):
This is not just folks on thedental side and the dental
specialty saying, yeah, it makessense to be a larger part of the
HDM community, it goes bothways.
Folks that are in sort ofmainline health care are pretty
interested in dental as well.
SPEAKER_01 (06:20):
So it's that cross-pollination, right?
Because when you think about it,we're at a deficit of people,
and I know I say these stats allthe time.
People say, Oh, Danielle comesout with this scary information,
but it's so true, right?
And when you think about it fromthat perspective, the dental
folks now have access to all theother biomeds and technicians
(06:41):
that will be there, right?
So there's like this umconnection point, and then on
the other end, for the otherbiomeds that are there and
technicians, now they haveaccess to a pathway that they
might not even know about.
Like they could go into dentalspecialty, and when we think of
recruiting, you know, it reallyhelps both ways because now you
have a bigger group of people topull from and that
(07:03):
cross-pollination.
SPEAKER_00 (07:05):
And we I've been sort of sharing the story that
I've been sharing about, youknow, I only just discovered my
dentist had a CT scan, CTmachine in the office a year
ago.
SPEAKER_01 (07:15):
You gotta tell it, it's too good.
SPEAKER_00 (07:17):
Okay, I was going in for a root canal.
The x-rays were kind ofinconclusive, but the dentist
said you have to have a youknow, a root canal, and then
when I got there, he got coldfeet.
He said, Maybe you don't have tohave a root canal.
And I said, Well, which is it?
He said, Let well, I think youneed a CT scan.
Well, I thought he was talkingabout going down to the
hospital, you know.
And I was like, Are you crazy?
Just not just do the root canal.
(07:37):
I'd rather that's a weight, youknow, to get the CT scan.
Of course, walked in, they hadthe unit in the office, which I
wasn't even aware of, and uhdidn't have to have a root
canal.
So I love that machine.
I absolutely love that thatcapability is in the office now.
And uh, so you're seeingdentistry get more and more
sophisticated.
And and in addition, you know,we all know that um in many
(07:58):
cases dental outcomes will drivelarger health care outcomes as
well.
Yeah, and so it's just it'samazing to see these leaps and
bounds that are happening, andlike you talked about with the
merger, you know, first of all,dental practices are getting
bigger.
There's fewer independents,they're merging into larger and
larger delivery organizations.
Then you see integrated healthsystems starting to bring those
(08:20):
dental practices in.
I would assume that's only goingto introduce even more
technology, more capabilities,or at least more flow back and
forth between the two.
And so it's a good time to bedoing this, I think.
SPEAKER_04 (08:31):
It's uh you never know.
What we could we could be downthe line and you know you go in
for your yearly checkup, andthen they're like, all right, go
down the hall and get get yourtooth, do your teeth, do your
teeth at the same time.
SPEAKER_01 (08:41):
Yeah, and there's a lot of ties to oral care to the
rest of the rest of your youknow, body.
You know, they found that a lotof the plaque you find in
between your teeth is the sameplaque you find in your heart.
You know, it's it's you know,good dental care starts with
good health care.
And you know, people that don'thave good oral care, there can
be negative, negativeimplications of that, and that
all comes back to having accessand working equipment to be able
(09:04):
to detect that and make surethat people's teeth are taken
care of the way they should be.
SPEAKER_04 (09:10):
Absolutely.
And I I think you guys also youmet a couple of the individuals
today.
There's biomeds already thathave gone into.
SPEAKER_01 (09:17):
Yes, I've met two or three of them that started and
made the job.
SPEAKER_04 (09:20):
They've they've put years into it already, they're
running their own businesses togreat career.
They've started their owncompanies too, which is very,
very exciting.
Yeah.
So this this isn't somethingnew.
We're just opening the pathwaysand the you know, the
information to everyone elsethat maybe didn't know about it.
SPEAKER_00 (09:41):
Right, right.
And you see for the establishedservicing companies, uh, some
some of whom are here that aremaybe at the medium size of the
market, you know, you grow, yougrow, you grow, and then there's
this whole other opportunity.
I don't remember what the statwas on how many independent
dentist office there are.
That's a lot of potentialcustomers, actually, for those
(10:01):
businesses.
SPEAKER_01 (10:01):
And it comes out to over five, like if you roughly
assume that there's five bays ineach, it comes out to roughly
like five million individualmedical devices between all of
those two.
And that doesn't count thedental that's inside hospitals
or the VA and places like that.
SPEAKER_02 (10:17):
I will say that the exhibitors have been commenting
too that they're excited.
They're so excited to Amy's uhvendor floor in Denver.
So that'll be a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_00 (10:27):
Actually, I think that's a very we said, did you
say it was in Denver?
I don't remember.
It's in Denver's here, yeah.
We need to make sure.
SPEAKER_01 (10:32):
May 29th through June 3rd.
Yeah.
We'll be there at the conventioncenter downtown.
And it's really interesting toobecause when you announce like a
merger, you you never know howpeople are gonna feel about
that.
You know, there's always thatchance with like, well, we love
our small homegrown conference,but the reaction was the
complete opposite.
I mean, it has been met withenthusiasm, the amount of people
(10:53):
we talked to today, the peoplethat even came up to you and me
at lunch while we were eating.
I mean, it's it's just they'vebeen welcoming it with open arms
and are very, very excited.
And many vendors came up toRobert and me and said, you
know, we're ready to book ourtables.
So our booth is not tables.
Sarah would be upset if I callit a table.
So it's a booth.
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (11:12):
Caveat on that.
Booths typically do have a tablelocated.
There is a table in the booth.
SPEAKER_01 (11:17):
We're talking semantic substantial.
Yes, I know, I know.
SPEAKER_00 (11:22):
But it's a big show for folks that haven't been to
Exchange.
I don't remember how many squarefeet the expo floor is, but it's
over 60,000 square feet forsure.
SPEAKER_01 (11:30):
Over 170 vendors will be expanding it with
dental, 3,000 people thatattend, nine tracks.
Yeah, it's a lot of fun.
It's a lot, and a lot of it,yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (11:41):
And there'll be a dental pavilion area.
SPEAKER_04 (11:44):
The dental pavilion will be usually after I
experience an Amy exchange, Igotta have like an unwinding for
at least a week.
Right, right.
We all do.
SPEAKER_01 (11:53):
You know, and I'd have to say, just the seg just
the segue really quick,unrelated to dental.
When you talk about the size andthe magnitude of our show, like
to me, it feels like magic.
Like we show up and you kind,you know, the floor, by the time
we get there, the floor is likesomewhat built, it's going up,
everything is on the city.
What's that about?
SPEAKER_00 (12:14):
No, I'm sorry.
Go ahead with go ahead with yourvoice.
Go ahead.
SPEAKER_01 (12:20):
Yes, I have been friends.
Um lose my train of thought.
But no, so like you show up andyou know it's partially built
out, right?
And then you walk into thatopening, all the vendors are
there.
And then, you know, the nextday, because we all have to stay
afterwards, you walk back bythere and there's nothing.
(12:40):
It's just, and you're like, holycow, like we just had this
amazing event with thousands ofpeople and this amazing floor.
It's almost like a wedding, youknow, like you know, there's all
this builds up to it, and thenall of a sudden it's done.
But it's just so miraculous howit comes together, and then in
an instant, you know, like theamount of work and all the teams
that we have that work behindthe scenes to make that all come
(13:01):
to life.
Like, I totally I call it magicevery year that we're there.
SPEAKER_04 (13:05):
Yep, it's pretty cool.
This will be the first time Iget to go to Colorado too.
So it's not a good thing.
SPEAKER_01 (13:09):
You will love it.
SPEAKER_04 (13:10):
Well, I hope it's gonna be a week and wine in
Colorado.
SPEAKER_01 (13:14):
I was gonna say, bring a lot of water.
SPEAKER_04 (13:21):
And then I need y'all to issue me an oxygen
tank.
SPEAKER_01 (13:23):
Yeah, there we go.
There you go.
Well, it's true, and people havean A and B there.
SPEAKER_00 (13:27):
So, how many months out are we?
You've got time to train thetrain.
Altitude training.
Yeah, I didn't think of it,though.
Now I'm worried.
I hope I don't pass out on likethe live show.
That would be awful.
SPEAKER_01 (13:38):
I'll just revive you on it or be reacting.
Maybe we get a lot of viewsthough.
SPEAKER_04 (13:42):
Maybe I should try and pass out on the live show.
If you gotta take a siesta onthe A5, you can jump in.
There you go.
So I I wanted to give you guys ashameless plug too, because I
know you just recently launchedyour own podcast.
So you're officially podcastersnow.
We are, we are.
SPEAKER_01 (14:02):
I really hope that we can live up to the bearded
Biomed that we make you proud.
SPEAKER_00 (14:06):
So you have a beautiful setup though.
We're we're still tweaking,we're still working out the
kinks in terms of the all thelittle things, like you talk
about the magic of the show.
Like you have a beautiful logoand all that kind of stuff.
And we did our first one, wedidn't even have our logo yet.
No, not yet.
We have the fluted wall though.
SPEAKER_01 (14:23):
Wait till you see the fluted wall.
It's really good.
SPEAKER_00 (14:25):
Yeah, we redid the wall, we got that done.
But it's it's gonna be great.
Yeah.
What are we doing four times ayear?
SPEAKER_01 (14:30):
Yeah, we well, it's three times in studio, and then
the fourth one is at exchange.
Okay, so yeah, well, so yeah,we're gonna start quarterly, see
how what the engagement that weget.
You know, we we're both verybusy, so to try to do it like
monthly might be a lot, butwe'll start quarterly and see
how it goes.
Hopefully, we don't get into afight and you know not want to
do it together anymore.
You know, we like break up liveon air.
(14:51):
Share the name.
Share the name.
Oh, yes, it's called FromBasement to Bedside.
SPEAKER_00 (14:56):
There you go.
SPEAKER_01 (14:57):
So obviously it needs no explanation.
SPEAKER_00 (14:59):
And we've got a sterilization podcast that's
been out for a while now,focusing on that community.
It's doing really well.
SPEAKER_01 (15:05):
Really well.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (15:07):
I'm gonna give you some advice from podcaster and
podcast.
I'll take it.
We'll take anything.
SPEAKER_01 (15:11):
Let us let's go.
SPEAKER_04 (15:12):
So consistency is everything.
So just make sure you follow theschedule you lay out for
yourself.
Yep, yeah.
You don't want to disappear offthe face of the earth for six
months and then show back up.
SPEAKER_01 (15:20):
We would never.
SPEAKER_04 (15:21):
And audio is always more important than video.
Yeah.
Boy, isn't that true?
SPEAKER_01 (15:25):
That is true.
That's always the same.
SPEAKER_04 (15:26):
If I can't hear you, then it doesn't matter how good
it is.
SPEAKER_01 (15:28):
Yeah, that's really true.
SPEAKER_00 (15:29):
That is very true, very true.
And that it's gotten a loteasier now.
A lot better than it used to beaudio.
So, yeah, the better mics,better AI.
We haven't even talked about it.
When is AI gonna make the scenein dentistry?
I assume soon.
I don't know whether it'll be.
Okay, yeah, that's true.
SPEAKER_01 (15:47):
It's already built up.
One of the technicians we aretalking to too says, you know,
he uses AI a lot from his phonethat when they get an error code
on a device that they've neverseen before, you can put it in,
it can help identify and quicklylook things up.
SPEAKER_03 (15:58):
So there you go.
SPEAKER_01 (16:00):
So yeah, and uh, we are gonna have, and I invited
Chase to be on our show atExchange to talk about rural
health.
SPEAKER_04 (16:06):
Well, there you go.
SPEAKER_01 (16:06):
So isn't that gonna be a great conversation?
Give a love Alan worry out ofthe way.
SPEAKER_04 (16:11):
Me and Al are are trying to put together a
presentation so we can do thatthere.
Okay.
Rural health is important.
SPEAKER_00 (16:17):
I mean my entire career has basically been taking
care of rural health.
So in Texas, that means a lot ofhours in the car.
Yes, a lot of driving in thecity.
SPEAKER_01 (16:27):
So it's funny, you said the same thing we were just
talking before.
I'm like in Massachusetts, youprobably have like one or two
we're all hospitals because it'slike it's rare that you're an
hour from a city if that, youknow.
SPEAKER_00 (16:36):
So um it's always shocking to people how far it is
between cities and Texas.
Yeah, four or five hours in someplaces, or most.
I mean, if you do the Dallas,Austin, well, you have Buckeys,
right?
Well, we have Buckeys, that'sright.
That'll get you there.
At least you could stop.
SPEAKER_01 (16:51):
So and fun fact at my trip for VBA, myself and my
colleagues stopped at Bucky'sbecause he talks about it
non-stop, like it's going out ofstyle.
And um, I had never even seenone before, so we stopped there
and experienced the Bucky'sexperience.
What do you think of it?
SPEAKER_04 (17:07):
I I've lived in Texas my whole life, so the
glamour is kind of worn off.
SPEAKER_00 (17:11):
Starting to wear off 200 200 gas pumps don't impress
you anymore.
SPEAKER_04 (17:15):
They have nice restrooms.
SPEAKER_00 (17:16):
Yeah, well, that was their whole thing.
Yeah, so Bucky started in myhometown.
That's our claim to fame where Igrew up in Lake Jackson, Texas.
Bucky's came from there and uhit started out very small.
But yeah, when I was coming up,there was a sign every 25 miles
the cleanest bathrooms in Texas.
So that's how they got theirstart.
SPEAKER_01 (17:35):
And last year we were in uh an A an annual
operating plan meeting.
Rob in the middle of themeeting, I learned Robert's
looking at his phone and hegoes, There's a Buckeyes coming
to Virginia, and I look at him,I'm like, what is that?
Like, what are you doing?
Why are you excited about this?
SPEAKER_00 (17:49):
Well, you guys have what Wawa?
SPEAKER_01 (17:51):
No, excuse me.
That that's Jersey.
That's very different thanMassachusetts.
We don't really have anything.
SPEAKER_00 (17:57):
Yeah, see, there you go.
unknown (17:59):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (17:59):
They want him to take wahwa and then.
Dunkin' donuts.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (18:04):
Duncan.
This has nothing to do with me.
We gotta get back on dragon.
SPEAKER_04 (18:09):
I have three of the prominent Amy folks sitting
right next to me.
Yes.
So thank you for saying that.
We've done if it's true.
Well, I hell so we got a Pamelasitting right next to the next
one.
One for sure.
So I I think it's also a goodopportunity to um, you know, if
I could put it plainly, what aresome misconceptions that I think
(18:32):
people have about Amy that maybeyou guys could help clarify?
You know, because I'm I'm in thebombing world.
And there's let me jump in onthis one.
Let's see if what I'm gonna sayis what you would decide.
SPEAKER_01 (18:45):
Probably is.
SPEAKER_04 (18:46):
I think I think there's there's some things that
you you guys probably attuned towhat your mission is, how it's
aligned, and just to clarify forfolks.
SPEAKER_03 (18:54):
Sure.
SPEAKER_00 (18:54):
I think uh what I was gonna say, and we'll see if
it's what you were gonna say.
Uh we are not a professionalmembership organization in the
sense that many associationsare, right?
They're the professional homefor a particular career field,
uh, they're there to serve, andand the the distinction is we're
certainly there to serve andhelp develop folks and HTML and
(19:14):
all the other areas that weserve.
But the difference is just that.
We're serving many communities,not just one.
Um, and the the other thingthose professional membership
organizations do that we don'tis advocacy.
So we don't have a lobbying arm,we don't go out and advocate on
behalf of the profession interms of policy or governance or
things of that sort.
Now, where it affects patientsafety, where there might be an
(19:37):
opportunity to promote the useof standards to raise guidelines
that make sense for theindustry, we do that.
But that's probably the biggestmisconception is when folks, and
it's not specific to HTM.
When folks come from one of ourcommunities, they don't
necessarily see all the workthat we're doing for the other
communities and they don'tunderstand that intersection.
And so that can sometimes createsome frustration because that's
(20:00):
not what we do, right?
And uh what we what we arereally there to do is to promote
the safe and effective use ofhealth technology.
It's our mission statement, andwe live and breathe it every
day.
And that involves all of thesedifferent stakeholder
communities, and sometimes,frankly, their interests collide
or their perspectives collide.
That's what makes our job fun,is we have to figure a way
(20:21):
forward even when they do.
Find the path that's best forthe patient, best for the
clinical outcome.
So I think that's probably themost important things for folk
thing for me, for folks tounderstand, is we're not that
professional membershiporganization in that way.
Now, career development, all theother things you do promoting
the field.
Absolutely.
But there's some lines there.
SPEAKER_02 (20:42):
Yeah, that neutral convener kind of role is a very
powerful one that we actually dofor those engaged in AIME
leverage, because frankly,there's things that we can get
done that if we were actuallydoing the lobbying, we would not
be able to.
SPEAKER_04 (20:58):
There's certain entities and organizations that
will not do business or workwith organizations that aren't
right.
Exactly.
SPEAKER_01 (21:04):
And that's how we get the FDA involved, the
National Academy of Medicine,the American Hospital
Association.
They come to us and you know, wehave almost power and leverage
because of our neutral position.
And we can bring people togetherand get people in rooms that
wouldn't normally go into roomstogether.
And you know, I do want to sayyou basically did kind of say
what I was gonna say.
I wasn't gonna say it in theexact way of that.
(21:27):
So we are not an HTMorganization, right?
We are Amy, we have threeverticals industry and emerging
tech, serialization, and HTML.
And before I started working atAmy, I only saw Amy as an HTM
association because I only knewof Amy about the conference.
Most people call it Amy, whereyou know, in the old school
folks in the field will stillcall our conference Amy.
(21:50):
But and I've had people come upto me in the field after
speaking at these events, like,wow, I thought all Amy did was a
conference once a year.
So I think it is just you know,you become myopic in the sense
that the only way you engage isthe only way you think it
exists.
And we do so much more thanthat.
So yeah, we're not an HTMassociation, so when the
advocacy comes up, you know, wehave a broad constituency that
(22:13):
we work with.
We can't just advocate for oneside of an argument, but what we
can do is bring people together.
The second um misconception thatI get a lot is around
certification.
I feel like it's constantre-education.
So one thing that I always hearis your certifications are
outdated, they're never updated,which is absolutely not true.
(22:35):
We're required to update ourcertifications every five years
at a minimum.
SPEAKER_04 (22:41):
And the CBET, you were part of that, right?
SPEAKER_01 (22:43):
And yeah, the CBET and C res, there's a brand new
test coming out this fallbecause of that.
So we do update them every fiveyears.
Last five years ago, when we didit, we added a cybersecurity
section.
So when people say it's updated,that is outdated, that's
absolutely not true.
We look at them every fiveyears.
We look at the job task analysisto ensure what we're testing
(23:04):
folks on aligns with the jobduties of the profession.
The other thing I often hear isthere's no way to get CEUs.
I let my certification labs,there's no opportunity for CEUs.
So building bearded universitiesaround.
That is right.
We have a new partnership thatwe should talk about.
Don't you like that segue,Chase?
(23:24):
I set that up really well,right?
Um so um, so yeah, so there areso many ways to get free CEUs.
You don't need to go to a fancyservice school if you're
hospital or employer has nobudget.
I just want to make sureeveryone knows you can get all
the CEUs you need for freewithout leaving your house.
There's lots of free webinarseries like through Amy, Tech
(23:46):
Nation, OR today.
If worse comes to worst, you canwatch 30 webinars and you you
don't have to leave your houseand it's free.
We also have a new partnershipwith you, Beard in University.
You want to talk about that?
I feel like I'm interviewing younow.
SPEAKER_04 (23:59):
I'm so sorry I flipped it, but um so we've
we've we've been working onbuilding a relationship for a
while.
Yes.
And you know, no relationshipsbuilt overnight.
You know, there has to bereputation, trust built, and
along with all that.
And at this point, like I said,my whole point of the podcast is
advocacy, awareness, education,and talking through topics that
(24:21):
can benefit the next generationor even the current generation.
So while I don't have everysingle episode on there, I have
select episodes on there that isdirectly going to give you
information to either possiblyfind a job or how to navigate uh
recruiting.
You know, things of that naturethat can be beneficial to
biomeds.
We're also, I've had multipleconversations with a lot of OEMs
(24:43):
and uh training uh companiesthat are going to provide me
technical training on firstlook, PM repairs of medical
devices on there, too, that theyare going to be working
alongside with me to providethat function.
So as a biomed, I want, and Ihear this a lot too with CEUs.
Well, we want more, you know,getting into the weeds with
(25:04):
equipment.
Well, that's coming.
Um, so that's one part of thattoo.
And I also want to speak to boththings that you guys said.
Um, I I would like to say thatmost people would at this point,
hopefully they see me as anadvocate for biomed, but uh
otherwise I might as well justhang it up.
SPEAKER_03 (25:21):
You're doing a great job.
SPEAKER_04 (25:22):
Yeah, doing a great the the consensus that I have a
lot I go to many conferences, Igo to many HTMA events, I I I am
embedded and entrenched in everyway and facet form of
communication with biomedics.
And for some reason I feel likethere is a an unfair
(25:45):
conversation that everybodyexpects Amy to solve everything.
And one, you guys are not set upfor that.
That's that's not whateverything that you said, that's
not the mission of it, and youhave many other verticals.
But when I talk about you know,if you are a true advocate or
you are wanting things to besolved within the HDM community,
(26:08):
you can do stuff as well.
Everything that I've built orI've worked on up to this point,
I took that charge.
And now here we are almost fiveyears into when I started
everything.
We have multiple children'sbooks, we have multiple
podcasts, we have so many otheravenues that weren't available
(26:29):
out there because people aretaking the initiative to drive
their local communities or youknow, do their part.
Right.
So for the folks that I I thisthis is just something that I
always say, if if you want tosee change, you have to put your
own, yeah, your own part intoit.
Right.
Um, it's not of one size fitsall, everybody has to contribute
(26:53):
in their own way, and some cansolve things that others can't.
I know there's some things thatI'll never be able to tackle an
issue for HTM, but I havecertain ideas and certain
projects in mind that I'mconstantly working on, like the
foundation I started, that canaddress certain things.
So instead of alienating orsaying that somebody should do
(27:15):
everything, we need as a fieldto look as a collaborative, you
know, collaboration andpartnership and every way.
Yeah, you know.
SPEAKER_01 (27:23):
And you just radiate it, right?
Leaders find problems but alsoidentify solutions.
You just don't identify aproblem and leave it.
And I feel like you just magnifythat so, so well in everything
that you do.
You know, part of I feel likeit's a professional privilege to
be in this job, in this field,to work with so many people.
(27:45):
And part of what I find soenlightening is finding people
like you out there that justgrind and get it done and just
want to help for the greatergood without any kind of
recognition.
You know, I think we all do itsilently.
We're not looking for awards,we're not looking for any of
that, right?
We're just doing it because it'sthe right thing to do.
We want to leave the field alittle bit better than we found
(28:06):
it, and we want to make adifference.
And hopefully our impactperpetuates, you know.
Um, we were saying, you know,even like promoting the field,
and you do so much of thatthrough Ollie the Biomed, your
book that my daughter loves, bythe way.
We read it often together, andyou know, it's so interesting
because you know, beingengineers and being technicians,
(28:27):
we want things that aremeasurable.
And when we go out and promotethe field, we talk to children,
we put these books out there, wemake HTM in the box, for
instance, all the work we'vedone together.
You really can't measure that,right?
Someone, a five-year-old couldread your book today, and you'll
never know if they go into thefield.
It's kind of like we're doing itfor the greater good, and we may
never know the outcome of this,but that's okay because that's
(28:50):
making an impact, and I feellike you're such a huge part of
that impact, and I just hopethat you realize that.
And like, I think on behalf ofeveryone at Amy, we love our
relationship with you andeverything that you do.
SPEAKER_00 (29:00):
And there's so many other people that are doing it
too.
SPEAKER_01 (29:02):
Yes, no, no, yes, I know.
I but figure here.
SPEAKER_00 (29:05):
I want to come back to the point you're making when
when people can be critical, andit's like this might be another
misconception.
I think, you know, I think somepeople think that Amy or Amy's
staff go in a closed room anddevelop standards or develop
certifications.
We're the language we useinternally, we don't use it
externally often, but as Amy asplatform or Amy as a service,
(29:27):
we're an enabler, we're aconvener.
We we we develop constantlyinvest it heavily in the
capabilities that we provide,but we do that so that folks
like you and other folks in theprofession can use those
capabilities to drive whateverchange you're trying to produce.
So when you're taking acertification, that's not
something Danielle wrote theexam.
That's something that wentthrough multiple iterations of
(29:48):
experts and multiple passes, andthat's what we do as a platform,
right?
We have very rigorous ANSI, wefollow ANSI guidelines.
SPEAKER_04 (29:56):
I've said in those emails with the veteran.
Right, so many artists, so manybiomass through.
That process that you guys vetthat through.
SPEAKER_00 (30:02):
Yes, it's yes, and it's not.
So if you look at it and you go,well, this is wrong.
Well, really?
Those 30, 40, 50, by the timeit's done, 60 very experienced.
SPEAKER_01 (30:11):
Folks are wrong.
We do is consensus.
So like when we rewrote the testand the job task analysis to
update it, it went out forpublic comments.
Every BNET in the world had theoption to comment on that if
they wanted to.
So it's not like we're going tobe able to do that.
We read everyone.
SPEAKER_00 (30:25):
We react to everyone and put it in front of those
explosions.
SPEAKER_01 (30:28):
And in certification, too, if we go
back to that, is governed by aboard of volunteers.
Sherry and I have nothing to dowith it.
If you appeal your certificationfor some reason, if you lost it
or you failed the test, Sherryand I never see that.
It is a board because it's aconflict of interest, you know?
It is awkward if you lost yourcertification and you write me a
letter and I have to, you know.
(30:48):
So it's it we do it that way, soit's neutral, it's governed by a
separate board.
It doesn't go up through Pamelaor Robert or our Amy board.
There's a separate certificationboard.
So it's very, and that's how allcertification is run to keep it
fair.
So there's just a lot, you know,I feel like certification brings
out a lot of emotion in folks,you know.
Well, it shows they take it veryseriously.
SPEAKER_02 (31:09):
There's one other thing I'd like to build on, and
it kind of um builds on both ofyour comments, Robert.
As far as the communities, Amyis really leaning into strategic
initiatives for more of aplatform, more tools for
communities.
Uh, we recognize that thatlion's share of information is
(31:30):
coming across all of ourvolunteers.
And in that instance, you'regonna find in the coming year
there are strategic initiativeswe're investing in so that
there'll be more tools availableto the communities to leverage
that actually feed into ourwebsite so you can have those
tools at your disposal as wellas have things surface where
(31:51):
they're of high interest intomajor feeds within our main
page.
So stay tuned and please getengaged because I think you're
gonna be excited by that.
SPEAKER_00 (32:00):
Yeah, absolutely.
We're gonna have a whole newwebsite here soon, and uh it's
pretty cool.
Yeah, yeah.
Pretty cool.
So one of the challenges we faceis so much.
There's with all the verticals,all the activities, standard
education.
You're saying healthcare is big.
SPEAKER_02 (32:14):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (32:14):
Well, yeah, and I mean we're trying to cover all
of healthcare in a way.
SPEAKER_02 (32:17):
And uh good way to describe it.
SPEAKER_00 (32:19):
We're embedding in our homepage an integrated feed
from across all of theactivities across Amy.
So literally, like a socialmedia site, sort of.
You can just come in and checkthe feed and see everything
that's happening at Amy, andyou'll be able to filter it by
your interest area and do otherthings, search it.
But we're trying to get to thatone-stop shop for folks so they
don't have to spend however muchtime searching the Amy website
(32:40):
for what they need.
The key point's gonna be rightthere in the feed.
SPEAKER_02 (32:43):
So and for those community initiatives and
programs, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (32:51):
Yeah, especially around document collaboration.
We have a highly bespoke uhdocument collaboration engine
software that our standards teamused, and it's it's super
specific to getting thingsthrough ANSI, getting things
through ISO.
But we're actually taking thatplatform, stripping out some of
the standards pieces that don'tneed to be there when you're
(33:11):
just producing a white paper.
But you still want to have thesame collaborative environment,
you still want to be able to putit out to the community for
comment, all those kinds ofthings.
We're gonna lead those in, sowe're gonna make that available
to our communities, includingour HTM community.
And we should talk a little bitabout the way those two
communities are organized now,or at least the main community.
But that'll be at their disposalto create documents and all
(33:32):
those kinds of things.
SPEAKER_01 (33:34):
Just one point of clarification.
When Robert says ISO, it'sinternational standards
organization.
I know in HTM we use ISO forindependent service
organizations.
Just to be clear, when we'retalking about standards, when we
say ISO, we're talking aboutinternational standards
organizations.
13485.
13485.
Yeah, now good.
Good job.
There you go.
SPEAKER_00 (33:55):
So talk about talk about the new approach with the
HTML uh group.
SPEAKER_01 (33:58):
Yeah, so we have two uh communities right now within
Amy under HTM, the HTM AdvisoryAlliance.
They're like a strategicadvisory, I don't want to call
them a board, but an alliancethat come together and help me
kind of set strategy.
Obviously, we have a strategicplan, but within that, you know,
they're bringing forwardchallenges of suggestions for
new projects, um, and justthings Amy can do to better help
(34:22):
and support the field.
And the best part about it isthe community runs itself.
So if they see a problem andthey bring forward a solution,
they work on that solution.
And Amy gives them the tools toempower them to do that.
So, you know, whether it'sconference space, if they say,
hey, we need to create a meetingto bring people together to talk
about medical device servicing.
We have our Amy Center ofExcellence, we can fit up to 300
(34:43):
people, they're welcome to usethat gratis, right?
And then um maybe they want toput out, you know, a video about
something.
We have a studio, they can useour resources because they're
part of the Amy family.
Um, and there's a multitude ofother things.
Education, reference, shockingme.
You know, well, you know, theycan write a white paper.
We have the marketing and commsteam that can edit it, put it
(35:07):
together.
So we have a lot of resourcesbehind the scenes.
SPEAKER_04 (35:10):
Y'all also brought all the HTMAs together too.
That's the second community.
SPEAKER_01 (35:13):
Yep, the HTM Association Collaborative once a
month.
That's run by Ryan Gonzalez.
He's phenomenal too.
I mean, what a leader in thefield.
Um, you know, this was reallyhis baby.
He brought it up at Amy one yearand he said, well, let's make it
an Amy community.
He rallied a bunch of people andthey meet monthly to talk about
the challenges that HTMassociations face, you know,
(35:34):
being small nonprofits and youknow, rallying communities
together to really make thesesuccessful.
And they also help, you know,new communities start up, and we
have a monthly webinar serieswith that too.
Each webinar is worth one CEU.
Um, each month a differentregional HTM association takes
lead, so they find the speakers.
But again, we make all thesocial media images, we promote
(35:56):
it, we handle the registration,we do the back end of Zoom, so
we we take that away.
But they said, hey, and thepoint of that, which I loved,
was there are a lot of areas inthe country that aren't covered
by a regional HTM association.
So these folks aren't gettingopportunities to get out there
and network or get education andsee you.
So our thought process was,well, let's bring education
(36:19):
everywhere through we're notcreating one society, but like
you know, bringing all theseassociations together to really
help everyone get forward.
That's a great idea.
SPEAKER_04 (36:28):
I've sat through several of those webinars, and
the cool part is you have uhindividual HTMAs, like I said,
they pick out their own vendors.
The last one I sat on was for IVpumps.
Yeah, and it was veryinsightful.
They got somebody that that'sthat's their subject matter.
SPEAKER_03 (36:41):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (36:42):
And like I said, you're you're you can learn
about the HTMA, but you're alsogetting technical know-how as
well.
And you get CEU from it.
So it's a win-win.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (36:50):
And I love the cute names you guys come up with.
It was like something likeSipson with the IV pumps.
What was it?
SPEAKER_04 (36:59):
I don't I don't remember seeing it.
And we're editing great now.
SPEAKER_01 (37:03):
Now it's gotta go into the sniff and then I'll
pull it up after.
You gotta crop this section outbecause it's totally- I thought
it was gonna be.
Oh, it's going in.
SPEAKER_04 (37:11):
I stayed long enough to get my certificate and left.
SPEAKER_00 (37:16):
No, no, I mean it's just the group, the communities,
the way they're being organized,the tools we're putting at their
disposal, and you mentioned theACE, you know, hosting in-person
meetings, we have virtualmeeting capability, we have the
studio, we have a trainingcapability, certifications
longer cycle, and we don't buildcertifications lightly, but
we're looking at a couple of newones in this space right now
based on member and stakeholderfeedback, and so all of these
(37:39):
tools are there.
So to you, I love the point youmade.
If you see a problem or an issueand you're willing to show the
leadership around it, then comeforward, let us know what it is.
We don't say yes to everything,but we say that yes to most
things, yeah, and we try andsupport them as best we can, and
all these tools are at yourdisposal.
SPEAKER_02 (37:55):
I'll give an example of a gap that was identified
during lunch.
We were talking about expertinsights and how someone can
take their knowledge base andshare it with the broader
community, and there's a lot ofexcitement in the dental space
that we're hiding here to beable to provide education.
Those kind of educationopportunities.
SPEAKER_01 (38:14):
And I think one other point to make is we live
off of volunteers.
Like we cannot do everything wedo, like we've put out like 30
different HTM resource documentsin the past seven years that
I've been doing.
SPEAKER_00 (38:26):
And translated some of them to what, nine languages?
In nine different languages.
SPEAKER_01 (38:29):
Our HTM benchmarking guide has just been translated
into nine different languages sowe can be able to get it across
the world.
But we can't do that withoutvolunteers.
The people that did first passat that, we found you know HTM
professionals in differentcountries willing to translate
that.
Um, and just all the otherdocuments, you know, it's the
ideas of the field that you knowwe make them come to life and we
(38:51):
help them, but it's all thevolunteers, and I could not do
my job.
This vertical would not besuccessful without all of the
volunteers that show up everyday on top of their regular nine
to five jobs, or even more thanthat.
So, you know, for me, I justwant to say how grateful I am of
the support that I've had fromthe broader community for the
past seven years because we'vedone a lot of work, and um, we I
(39:13):
couldn't have done it withoutall of you.
SPEAKER_04 (39:14):
So Robert made a good point earlier today, too,
that this is not a shortprocess.
It can take years.
For standards, yes.
Yeah, for I mean, in general,too.
I mean, any anything you'retrying to build a movement or
solve an issue, more often thannot, I think people want to have
that double message.
They want to have immediatesatisfaction or reach that goal
(39:36):
that you know they they seem tomind as attainable.
But more often than not,especially larger issues within
our community, it's a miracle.
Right.
It's it's showing up when youneed to show up, it's it's
putting in the book when youdon't feel like doing it.
Yeah, it's having those meetingsor those discussions with folks
or reaching out to people andcommunities you've never had.
(39:56):
So there's there's there's somuch on the back end involved
with that that you know, I Iwill say from at least my
standpoint, you know, the thepartnerships, the networking,
the the relationships that I'vebuilt over the years, a lot of
those started because me being apart of the Amy exchange.
SPEAKER_01 (40:17):
Oh, that's good to hear.
SPEAKER_00 (40:19):
It takes a long time, but the impact is
generational.
You think you know, Amy's beenaround 55 years and we're
standing on the shoulders of allthe people that came before us,
and and they've solved a lot ofproblems that we take for
granted now and that makehealthcare safer every day.
Every day, no matter what,whether it's mainline
healthcare, dental, whatever itis.
And the problems we're workingon now will raise the bar just
(40:42):
that much higher for ageneration.
And and there's also the otherreason these things take time is
this pretty high-stakesbusiness, right?
We don't want to get thingswrong.
It's worth taking the time toget things right because we we
have been preceded by this hugegroup of people that have done
all this great work for manydecades.
You don't change those thingslightly, you don't move quickly.
(41:04):
Sometimes you have to movequickly, things emerge, things
happen, pandemics happen, etc.
But we want to carefully andmethodically keep raising the
bar year after year after year.
And you know, we've been around55 years.
I assume Amy will be aroundanother 55 years, long after I'm
not involved in it, or any ofus.
And I hope they I just hope theylook back at what we did and say
(41:25):
that we tackled the challengesof the day and got to the next
level because there's some crazystuff coming down the pipe in
emerging tech, whether it's AI,whether it's more robotics,
autonomy, and devices.
You know, we're talking aboutinstead of a, you know, today a
device that that injects anysubstance into your body, the
device is approved with thecompound that it's intended as
(41:46):
an insulin.
We could be in a future where wehave a device that can inject
any compound into your body asneeded, any pharmaceutical
product.
And maybe it's also got onboardsensors, and so it's actually uh
maybe autonomously making, notcurrent state, I'm not
proposing, but autonomouslymaking decisions about that.
(42:06):
And uh so these are radicalchanges in the way healthcare is
going to be delivered, and we'rethe generation that gets to
figure out how to make thatwork.
That's kind of cool.
It's fun, but we gotta get itright.
SPEAKER_02 (42:18):
It's fun, but the stakes are high.
SPEAKER_00 (42:20):
Yeah, they are high, indeed.
Indeed.
So we talked about a lot.
That's right.
Do we want to talk about anymore gas stations or are we done
with that?
SPEAKER_01 (42:29):
And it was it was pumps and pints.
That was what it was.
Okay.
Well, pumps and pints.
SPEAKER_00 (42:34):
Pumps and pints.
SPEAKER_01 (42:35):
Yeah, get it.
So it's like a social event andyou're talking about a pump.
SPEAKER_00 (42:38):
I get it.
Educational.
You guys are kind of crazy.
SPEAKER_01 (42:41):
Kind of I didn't come up with it.
It's the tax ones.
SPEAKER_04 (42:46):
So I I guess to put a cap on it, if there's anything
that you could lead this episodewith or that you'd want to put a
pen at the end of thisdiscussion, what would you leave
the audience with?
You want to go first?
SPEAKER_01 (42:58):
Yeah, I mean, I think I think you need to find
your why and leave your legacyin HTM when we talk about all of
this, or Amy in general, but youknow, we have the ability to
make such an impact asindividual citizens in our in
our fields, and our reach isbroader than we think.
(43:19):
And I think it's really justgetting out there and making a
difference.
I always say, you know, when Igive my keynotes, if every
single one of us went out andgave one presentation about the
field, think of how many morepeople we would reach.
It's really just not talkingabout it, but doing, and then
you know, getting out there andbeing a leader.
So if I could motivate anyone todo anything, it's really just a
(43:42):
sit back, find your why, andwhen you're long gone, how do
you want to be remembered andwhat do you want people to say
about you?
SPEAKER_00 (43:49):
I like that.
That's pretty good.
I almost hate to try and add tothat.
I would say do one thing.
So Amy can be daunting topeople.
There's so much going on, it'sbig, there's lots of activities,
but pick one thing.
Probably the best way to getjust immersed uh in Amy is to
come to Amy Exchange, but that'snot possible for everyone.
So watch the live stream that wedo from Amy Exchange would be a
(44:10):
way to learn a little bit moreabout it.
Or if you can't do that, comeyou know, participate in a
podcast, participate in the manythings you guys do online.
Just find one thing and try it.
And then you can try anotherthing and another thing.
But you don't have to show upknowing where you're gonna fit
in the angel.
I've been here seven years and Ithink I've only just figured it
out now how I fit, and I'm onstaff, so it's it's daunting,
(44:33):
but just pick one thing and doit.
SPEAKER_02 (44:36):
I'll offer that you actually covered what I was
thinking relative to the legacybecause they all have that
capability.
But if you think of the legacyand recognizing one thing, take
it at a step at a time.
I just want you to know thatAmy's there to support you.
And when in doubt relative toresources, reach out to us
(44:57):
because if we don't currentlyoffer it, we're looking for new
ways to support that why, thatlegacy, and make a difference.
And we appreciate all of you.
SPEAKER_00 (45:08):
All right, so that maybe that made me think of my
one thing.
I'm gonna need to make it more.
No, I no, I'm gonna I'm riffingnow.
I'm riffing, I'm gonna laugh.
So the one thing she said reachout, just reach out to Danielle.
And the way to do that, the wayto do that, if you're not
following Danielle McGee onLinkedIn right now, go find
Danielle McGee and follow her onLinkedIn.
That's easy, everyone can dothat.
(45:28):
It's a perfect first step.
So follow Danielle.
SPEAKER_04 (45:31):
But if you're in the HDM community, for the love of
God, get a LinkedIn.
I tell people all the time, youdon't have to post on there all
the time, but information'sbeing shared there, networking's
being shared there, recruitingjobs, training with there's so
much that we share on thatplatform.
You should have a LinkedIn.
Newer generation, currentgeneration, if you're retired,
(45:53):
well, that's up to you.
SPEAKER_00 (45:54):
But yes.
It'd be like being in thefinancial services and not
reading the Wall Street Journalevery day.
You just don't do it.
You need to be plugged into theinternet.
SPEAKER_04 (46:02):
We don't we don't choose where we get our
information from all the time,you know.
The community as a whole, that'swhere a lot of the information
is going.
Yes, there's backdoor channels,but the the foresight, the
upfront in your face informationfor the HDM community is on
LinkedIn.
Yeah, that's a great, greatresource.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
I I would cap this off uhbecause I everything you guys
(46:23):
said on point, but uh I'll justleave it with the motto of my
foundation.
It's be the current, amplifypotential, build the future.
I like that.
SPEAKER_02 (46:33):
Love it.
SPEAKER_04 (46:34):
That's all great.
Appreciate you guys tuning in.
You know, be be sure to uh reachout if you ever need any
resources as always.
May the beard be with you.
SPEAKER_03 (46:43):
Bye.
Let's start the show.
SPEAKER_04 (00:46):
Welcome to Bearded Biomed.
Hey everybody, we're sittingdown at I guess the first ever
table talk Bearded Biomed.
So we're at the the DentalSummit.
So uh the Uptime Dental Summit.
And if you don't know thesepeople, please get out of your
foxhole.
Danielle, Robert, Pamela, Iappreciate you sitting down with
(01:08):
me.
Um it's been a really coolconference.
And uh, you know, just I thinkthis is a good time to just kind
of take it in and uh just talkabout what's coming.
There's a lot of really uhinteresting conversations that I
think we've all had over theover this weekend.
So uh I think I'm always workingon the couple of things.
(01:29):
Let's start off with one of thebig announcements that you guys
just dropped.
SPEAKER_01 (01:33):
Yeah, so we are super excited that starting next
year in June of 2026 at the AmyExchange, this event will be
part of Amy Exchange.
So a dental summit will now beat the Amy Exchange.
We will have a dental pavilionon our expo floor.
It'll we have room for about 30dental vendors, whether that's
manufacturers or servicers.
(01:55):
And we'll also have a stage andtheater there where we can have
education.
In long term, we want to createa dental track as part of our
education, and we'll also bedoing technical training for the
dental community as well.
So we're just beyond excitedabout this.
I know my colleagues are aswell.
I mean, what do you think?
SPEAKER_00 (02:11):
Yeah, I mean, it's fantastic.
We're doing this in partnershipwith M Time Health, obviously,
which grew this uh conference towhat it is, and they're uh uh
platinum sponsor, whatever theright term is, for the next four
years.
So we're gonna be workingtogether really closely.
Um, and like you said, startingwith the dental pavilion, we're
gonna have a theater in thepavilion.
So there'll be education there.
There's also gonna be atechnical training area, so
(02:33):
we'll have a room for that.
Uh and then over time, we hopeit does become a full track
within Amy Exchange focused onthe dental services.
SPEAKER_01 (02:41):
So yeah, and it's just so exciting because there's
so many synergies there, right?
You think of the sterile, wehave a sterilization area as
well.
There's a lot of sterility indental servicing and in dental
um care.
So I feel like with Amy, it'sjust such a it's just such a
natural place for this to landbecause there's so much overlap
between the dental servicingcommunity along with the biomed
(03:04):
community because dentalservicing is a subset or a
specialty within biomed.
So we're just so so excited.
SPEAKER_02 (03:11):
I will say that while Danielle and Robert were
keynoting this morning and theQA occurred, I knew that A B was
the right place for the membersof this conference.
They were had so many ideas ofwhere they wanted to raise the
bar across the dental.
SPEAKER_04 (03:29):
Immediately went the standards.
Exactly.
SPEAKER_02 (03:32):
I mean, a lot of the ideas there.
SPEAKER_04 (03:35):
Yeah, match made in heaven.
Yeah, and somebody made a pointover the weekend too that dental
and HTM have been segmented forfar too long, even though,
again, there's so much synergyand cross-way, you know,
collaboration already occurring.
And the way healthcare is goingtoo, there might be more dental
practices joining hospitalsystems as is.
(03:56):
There are already.
SPEAKER_03 (03:57):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (03:58):
But the the future's already there, the the foresight
and the vision of where thatcould lead to.
And I mean, as a bio med, I Idon't like the idea of leaving
any sector of HTM segmented tobegin with.
Everybody should have the sameaccess to resources, training,
education, and of coursestandardization across their
sector, you know, specialty.
SPEAKER_01 (04:19):
Amen, Chase.
I think that's exactly why wedid this.
Like, Amy is a convener.
We bring people together, and Ithink you said it so well.
I mean, we don't want to leaveany specialty or subset of our
community out.
Because at the end of the day,we're all there to help patient
care.
We work on equipment throughcorrective and preventative
maintenance and through so manyother areas of health care too,
(04:42):
even thinking of sterilization.
So it's just so natural, and weneed to make sure that everyone
is included.
And like you said, everyone hasaccess, access to resources,
access to standards, because atthe end of the day, that affects
care and patient throughput, andthat's what we're here for.
SPEAKER_02 (04:57):
That path to the patient, the members here can
actually enhance the solutionsthat are out there relative to
that education.
They have so many ideas, and itwas coming out this morning.
It was beautiful to see.
SPEAKER_04 (05:10):
That's cool too.
If you if you can also look onthe forefront, and let's say
we're able to get moreclinicians, more dentists
involved, and there's literallya congregation of every facet of
healthcare from the technicianto the people providing the
patient care.
And then, you know, whatdiscussions could come from that
where you walk into an Amyexchange and you could literally
(05:33):
tackle issues overnight and puta plan together with every
individual from differentsectors of healthcare.
It's kind of cool, you know.
It's wicked cool, yeah.
You got Amy already, you seeimaging, you see sterilization.
Now there's gonna be a dentalarea.
SPEAKER_00 (05:48):
So we saw interest in the broader HTM community
already when Janesh uh keynotedlast year at Amy Exchange.
I mean, the room was very payingvery close attention to what he
was laying out about the growthin the opportunity, you know,
how how you know dental careimpacts health.
It's all tied together, and sothe interest to me, what I'm
excited about, is from bothsides.
(06:08):
This is not just folks on thedental side and the dental
specialty saying, yeah, it makessense to be a larger part of the
HDM community, it goes bothways.
Folks that are in sort ofmainline health care are pretty
interested in dental as well.
SPEAKER_01 (06:20):
So it's that cross-pollination, right?
Because when you think about it,we're at a deficit of people,
and I know I say these stats allthe time.
People say, Oh, Danielle comesout with this scary information,
but it's so true, right?
And when you think about it fromthat perspective, the dental
folks now have access to all theother biomeds and technicians
(06:41):
that will be there, right?
So there's like this umconnection point, and then on
the other end, for the otherbiomeds that are there and
technicians, now they haveaccess to a pathway that they
might not even know about.
Like they could go into dentalspecialty, and when we think of
recruiting, you know, it reallyhelps both ways because now you
have a bigger group of people topull from and that
(07:03):
cross-pollination.
SPEAKER_00 (07:05):
And we I've been sort of sharing the story that
I've been sharing about, youknow, I only just discovered my
dentist had a CT scan, CTmachine in the office a year
ago.
SPEAKER_01 (07:15):
You gotta tell it, it's too good.
SPEAKER_00 (07:17):
Okay, I was going in for a root canal.
The x-rays were kind ofinconclusive, but the dentist
said you have to have a youknow, a root canal, and then
when I got there, he got coldfeet.
He said, Maybe you don't have tohave a root canal.
And I said, Well, which is it?
He said, Let well, I think youneed a CT scan.
Well, I thought he was talkingabout going down to the
hospital, you know.
And I was like, Are you crazy?
Just not just do the root canal.
(07:37):
I'd rather that's a weight, youknow, to get the CT scan.
Of course, walked in, they hadthe unit in the office, which I
wasn't even aware of, and uhdidn't have to have a root
canal.
So I love that machine.
I absolutely love that thatcapability is in the office now.
And uh, so you're seeingdentistry get more and more
sophisticated.
And and in addition, you know,we all know that um in many
(07:58):
cases dental outcomes will drivelarger health care outcomes as
well.
Yeah, and so it's just it'samazing to see these leaps and
bounds that are happening, andlike you talked about with the
merger, you know, first of all,dental practices are getting
bigger.
There's fewer independents,they're merging into larger and
larger delivery organizations.
Then you see integrated healthsystems starting to bring those
(08:20):
dental practices in.
I would assume that's only goingto introduce even more
technology, more capabilities,or at least more flow back and
forth between the two.
And so it's a good time to bedoing this, I think.
SPEAKER_04 (08:31):
It's uh you never know.
What we could we could be downthe line and you know you go in
for your yearly checkup, andthen they're like, all right, go
down the hall and get get yourtooth, do your teeth, do your
teeth at the same time.
SPEAKER_01 (08:41):
Yeah, and there's a lot of ties to oral care to the
rest of the rest of your youknow, body.
You know, they found that a lotof the plaque you find in
between your teeth is the sameplaque you find in your heart.
You know, it's it's you know,good dental care starts with
good health care.
And you know, people that don'thave good oral care, there can
be negative, negativeimplications of that, and that
all comes back to having accessand working equipment to be able
(09:04):
to detect that and make surethat people's teeth are taken
care of the way they should be.
SPEAKER_04 (09:10):
Absolutely.
And I I think you guys also youmet a couple of the individuals
today.
There's biomeds already thathave gone into.
SPEAKER_01 (09:17):
Yes, I've met two or three of them that started and
made the job.
SPEAKER_04 (09:20):
They've they've put years into it already, they're
running their own businesses togreat career.
They've started their owncompanies too, which is very,
very exciting.
Yeah.
So this this isn't somethingnew.
We're just opening the pathwaysand the you know, the
information to everyone elsethat maybe didn't know about it.
SPEAKER_00 (09:41):
Right, right.
And you see for the establishedservicing companies, uh, some
some of whom are here that aremaybe at the medium size of the
market, you know, you grow, yougrow, you grow, and then there's
this whole other opportunity.
I don't remember what the statwas on how many independent
dentist office there are.
That's a lot of potentialcustomers, actually, for those
(10:01):
businesses.
SPEAKER_01 (10:01):
And it comes out to over five, like if you roughly
assume that there's five bays ineach, it comes out to roughly
like five million individualmedical devices between all of
those two.
And that doesn't count thedental that's inside hospitals
or the VA and places like that.
SPEAKER_02 (10:17):
I will say that the exhibitors have been commenting
too that they're excited.
They're so excited to Amy's uhvendor floor in Denver.
So that'll be a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_00 (10:27):
Actually, I think that's a very we said, did you
say it was in Denver?
I don't remember.
It's in Denver's here, yeah.
We need to make sure.
SPEAKER_01 (10:32):
May 29th through June 3rd.
Yeah.
We'll be there at the conventioncenter downtown.
And it's really interesting toobecause when you announce like a
merger, you you never know howpeople are gonna feel about
that.
You know, there's always thatchance with like, well, we love
our small homegrown conference,but the reaction was the
complete opposite.
I mean, it has been met withenthusiasm, the amount of people
(10:53):
we talked to today, the peoplethat even came up to you and me
at lunch while we were eating.
I mean, it's it's just they'vebeen welcoming it with open arms
and are very, very excited.
And many vendors came up toRobert and me and said, you
know, we're ready to book ourtables.
So our booth is not tables.
Sarah would be upset if I callit a table.
So it's a booth.
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (11:12):
Caveat on that.
Booths typically do have a tablelocated.
There is a table in the booth.
SPEAKER_01 (11:17):
We're talking semantic substantial.
Yes, I know, I know.
SPEAKER_00 (11:22):
But it's a big show for folks that haven't been to
Exchange.
I don't remember how many squarefeet the expo floor is, but it's
over 60,000 square feet forsure.
SPEAKER_01 (11:30):
Over 170 vendors will be expanding it with
dental, 3,000 people thatattend, nine tracks.
Yeah, it's a lot of fun.
It's a lot, and a lot of it,yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (11:41):
And there'll be a dental pavilion area.
SPEAKER_04 (11:44):
The dental pavilion will be usually after I
experience an Amy exchange, Igotta have like an unwinding for
at least a week.
Right, right.
We all do.
SPEAKER_01 (11:53):
You know, and I'd have to say, just the seg just
the segue really quick,unrelated to dental.
When you talk about the size andthe magnitude of our show, like
to me, it feels like magic.
Like we show up and you kind,you know, the floor, by the time
we get there, the floor is likesomewhat built, it's going up,
everything is on the city.
What's that about?
SPEAKER_00 (12:14):
No, I'm sorry.
Go ahead with go ahead with yourvoice.
Go ahead.
SPEAKER_01 (12:20):
Yes, I have been friends.
Um lose my train of thought.
But no, so like you show up andyou know it's partially built
out, right?
And then you walk into thatopening, all the vendors are
there.
And then, you know, the nextday, because we all have to stay
afterwards, you walk back bythere and there's nothing.
(12:40):
It's just, and you're like, holycow, like we just had this
amazing event with thousands ofpeople and this amazing floor.
It's almost like a wedding, youknow, like you know, there's all
this builds up to it, and thenall of a sudden it's done.
But it's just so miraculous howit comes together, and then in
an instant, you know, like theamount of work and all the teams
that we have that work behindthe scenes to make that all come
(13:01):
to life.
Like, I totally I call it magicevery year that we're there.
SPEAKER_04 (13:05):
Yep, it's pretty cool.
This will be the first time Iget to go to Colorado too.
So it's not a good thing.
SPEAKER_01 (13:09):
You will love it.
SPEAKER_04 (13:10):
Well, I hope it's gonna be a week and wine in
Colorado.
SPEAKER_01 (13:14):
I was gonna say, bring a lot of water.
SPEAKER_04 (13:21):
And then I need y'all to issue me an oxygen
tank.
SPEAKER_01 (13:23):
Yeah, there we go.
There you go.
Well, it's true, and people havean A and B there.
SPEAKER_00 (13:27):
So, how many months out are we?
You've got time to train thetrain.
Altitude training.
Yeah, I didn't think of it,though.
Now I'm worried.
I hope I don't pass out on likethe live show.
That would be awful.
SPEAKER_01 (13:38):
I'll just revive you on it or be reacting.
Maybe we get a lot of viewsthough.
SPEAKER_04 (13:42):
Maybe I should try and pass out on the live show.
If you gotta take a siesta onthe A5, you can jump in.
There you go.
So I I wanted to give you guys ashameless plug too, because I
know you just recently launchedyour own podcast.
So you're officially podcastersnow.
We are, we are.
SPEAKER_01 (14:02):
I really hope that we can live up to the bearded
Biomed that we make you proud.
SPEAKER_00 (14:06):
So you have a beautiful setup though.
We're we're still tweaking,we're still working out the
kinks in terms of the all thelittle things, like you talk
about the magic of the show.
Like you have a beautiful logoand all that kind of stuff.
And we did our first one, wedidn't even have our logo yet.
No, not yet.
We have the fluted wall though.
SPEAKER_01 (14:23):
Wait till you see the fluted wall.
It's really good.
SPEAKER_00 (14:25):
Yeah, we redid the wall, we got that done.
But it's it's gonna be great.
Yeah.
What are we doing four times ayear?
SPEAKER_01 (14:30):
Yeah, we well, it's three times in studio, and then
the fourth one is at exchange.
Okay, so yeah, well, so yeah,we're gonna start quarterly, see
how what the engagement that weget.
You know, we we're both verybusy, so to try to do it like
monthly might be a lot, butwe'll start quarterly and see
how it goes.
Hopefully, we don't get into afight and you know not want to
do it together anymore.
You know, we like break up liveon air.
(14:51):
Share the name.
Share the name.
Oh, yes, it's called FromBasement to Bedside.
SPEAKER_00 (14:56):
There you go.
SPEAKER_01 (14:57):
So obviously it needs no explanation.
SPEAKER_00 (14:59):
And we've got a sterilization podcast that's
been out for a while now,focusing on that community.
It's doing really well.
SPEAKER_01 (15:05):
Really well.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (15:07):
I'm gonna give you some advice from podcaster and
podcast.
I'll take it.
We'll take anything.
SPEAKER_01 (15:11):
Let us let's go.
SPEAKER_04 (15:12):
So consistency is everything.
So just make sure you follow theschedule you lay out for
yourself.
Yep, yeah.
You don't want to disappear offthe face of the earth for six
months and then show back up.
SPEAKER_01 (15:20):
We would never.
SPEAKER_04 (15:21):
And audio is always more important than video.
Yeah.
Boy, isn't that true?
SPEAKER_01 (15:25):
That is true.
That's always the same.
SPEAKER_04 (15:26):
If I can't hear you, then it doesn't matter how good
it is.
SPEAKER_01 (15:28):
Yeah, that's really true.
SPEAKER_00 (15:29):
That is very true, very true.
And that it's gotten a loteasier now.
A lot better than it used to beaudio.
So, yeah, the better mics,better AI.
We haven't even talked about it.
When is AI gonna make the scenein dentistry?
I assume soon.
I don't know whether it'll be.
Okay, yeah, that's true.
SPEAKER_01 (15:47):
It's already built up.
One of the technicians we aretalking to too says, you know,
he uses AI a lot from his phonethat when they get an error code
on a device that they've neverseen before, you can put it in,
it can help identify and quicklylook things up.
SPEAKER_03 (15:58):
So there you go.
SPEAKER_01 (16:00):
So yeah, and uh, we are gonna have, and I invited
Chase to be on our show atExchange to talk about rural
health.
SPEAKER_04 (16:06):
Well, there you go.
SPEAKER_01 (16:06):
So isn't that gonna be a great conversation?
Give a love Alan worry out ofthe way.
SPEAKER_04 (16:11):
Me and Al are are trying to put together a
presentation so we can do thatthere.
Okay.
Rural health is important.
SPEAKER_00 (16:17):
I mean my entire career has basically been taking
care of rural health.
So in Texas, that means a lot ofhours in the car.
Yes, a lot of driving in thecity.
SPEAKER_01 (16:27):
So it's funny, you said the same thing we were just
talking before.
I'm like in Massachusetts, youprobably have like one or two
we're all hospitals because it'slike it's rare that you're an
hour from a city if that, youknow.
SPEAKER_00 (16:36):
So um it's always shocking to people how far it is
between cities and Texas.
Yeah, four or five hours in someplaces, or most.
I mean, if you do the Dallas,Austin, well, you have Buckeys,
right?
Well, we have Buckeys, that'sright.
That'll get you there.
At least you could stop.
SPEAKER_01 (16:51):
So and fun fact at my trip for VBA, myself and my
colleagues stopped at Bucky'sbecause he talks about it
non-stop, like it's going out ofstyle.
And um, I had never even seenone before, so we stopped there
and experienced the Bucky'sexperience.
What do you think of it?
SPEAKER_04 (17:07):
I I've lived in Texas my whole life, so the
glamour is kind of worn off.
SPEAKER_00 (17:11):
Starting to wear off 200 200 gas pumps don't impress
you anymore.
SPEAKER_04 (17:15):
They have nice restrooms.
SPEAKER_00 (17:16):
Yeah, well, that was their whole thing.
Yeah, so Bucky started in myhometown.
That's our claim to fame where Igrew up in Lake Jackson, Texas.
Bucky's came from there and uhit started out very small.
But yeah, when I was coming up,there was a sign every 25 miles
the cleanest bathrooms in Texas.
So that's how they got theirstart.
SPEAKER_01 (17:35):
And last year we were in uh an A an annual
operating plan meeting.
Rob in the middle of themeeting, I learned Robert's
looking at his phone and hegoes, There's a Buckeyes coming
to Virginia, and I look at him,I'm like, what is that?
Like, what are you doing?
Why are you excited about this?
SPEAKER_00 (17:49):
Well, you guys have what Wawa?
SPEAKER_01 (17:51):
No, excuse me.
That that's Jersey.
That's very different thanMassachusetts.
We don't really have anything.
SPEAKER_00 (17:57):
Yeah, see, there you go.
unknown (17:59):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (17:59):
They want him to take wahwa and then.
Dunkin' donuts.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (18:04):
Duncan.
This has nothing to do with me.
We gotta get back on dragon.
SPEAKER_04 (18:09):
I have three of the prominent Amy folks sitting
right next to me.
Yes.
So thank you for saying that.
We've done if it's true.
Well, I hell so we got a Pamelasitting right next to the next
one.
One for sure.
So I I think it's also a goodopportunity to um, you know, if
I could put it plainly, what aresome misconceptions that I think
(18:32):
people have about Amy that maybeyou guys could help clarify?
You know, because I'm I'm in thebombing world.
And there's let me jump in onthis one.
Let's see if what I'm gonna sayis what you would decide.
SPEAKER_01 (18:45):
Probably is.
SPEAKER_04 (18:46):
I think I think there's there's some things that
you you guys probably attuned towhat your mission is, how it's
aligned, and just to clarify forfolks.
SPEAKER_03 (18:54):
Sure.
SPEAKER_00 (18:54):
I think uh what I was gonna say, and we'll see if
it's what you were gonna say.
Uh we are not a professionalmembership organization in the
sense that many associationsare, right?
They're the professional homefor a particular career field,
uh, they're there to serve, andand the the distinction is we're
certainly there to serve andhelp develop folks and HTML and
(19:14):
all the other areas that weserve.
But the difference is just that.
We're serving many communities,not just one.
Um, and the the other thingthose professional membership
organizations do that we don'tis advocacy.
So we don't have a lobbying arm,we don't go out and advocate on
behalf of the profession interms of policy or governance or
things of that sort.
Now, where it affects patientsafety, where there might be an
(19:37):
opportunity to promote the useof standards to raise guidelines
that make sense for theindustry, we do that.
But that's probably the biggestmisconception is when folks, and
it's not specific to HTM.
When folks come from one of ourcommunities, they don't
necessarily see all the workthat we're doing for the other
communities and they don'tunderstand that intersection.
And so that can sometimes createsome frustration because that's
(20:00):
not what we do, right?
And uh what we what we arereally there to do is to promote
the safe and effective use ofhealth technology.
It's our mission statement, andwe live and breathe it every
day.
And that involves all of thesedifferent stakeholder
communities, and sometimes,frankly, their interests collide
or their perspectives collide.
That's what makes our job fun,is we have to figure a way
(20:21):
forward even when they do.
Find the path that's best forthe patient, best for the
clinical outcome.
So I think that's probably themost important things for folk
thing for me, for folks tounderstand, is we're not that
professional membershiporganization in that way.
Now, career development, all theother things you do promoting
the field.
Absolutely.
But there's some lines there.
SPEAKER_02 (20:42):
Yeah, that neutral convener kind of role is a very
powerful one that we actually dofor those engaged in AIME
leverage, because frankly,there's things that we can get
done that if we were actuallydoing the lobbying, we would not
be able to.
SPEAKER_04 (20:58):
There's certain entities and organizations that
will not do business or workwith organizations that aren't
right.
Exactly.
SPEAKER_01 (21:04):
And that's how we get the FDA involved, the
National Academy of Medicine,the American Hospital
Association.
They come to us and you know, wehave almost power and leverage
because of our neutral position.
And we can bring people togetherand get people in rooms that
wouldn't normally go into roomstogether.
And you know, I do want to sayyou basically did kind of say
what I was gonna say.
I wasn't gonna say it in theexact way of that.
(21:27):
So we are not an HTMorganization, right?
We are Amy, we have threeverticals industry and emerging
tech, serialization, and HTML.
And before I started working atAmy, I only saw Amy as an HTM
association because I only knewof Amy about the conference.
Most people call it Amy, whereyou know, in the old school
folks in the field will stillcall our conference Amy.
(21:50):
But and I've had people come upto me in the field after
speaking at these events, like,wow, I thought all Amy did was a
conference once a year.
So I think it is just you know,you become myopic in the sense
that the only way you engage isthe only way you think it
exists.
And we do so much more thanthat.
So yeah, we're not an HTMassociation, so when the
advocacy comes up, you know, wehave a broad constituency that
(22:13):
we work with.
We can't just advocate for oneside of an argument, but what we
can do is bring people together.
The second um misconception thatI get a lot is around
certification.
I feel like it's constantre-education.
So one thing that I always hearis your certifications are
outdated, they're never updated,which is absolutely not true.
(22:35):
We're required to update ourcertifications every five years
at a minimum.
SPEAKER_04 (22:41):
And the CBET, you were part of that, right?
SPEAKER_01 (22:43):
And yeah, the CBET and C res, there's a brand new
test coming out this fallbecause of that.
So we do update them every fiveyears.
Last five years ago, when we didit, we added a cybersecurity
section.
So when people say it's updated,that is outdated, that's
absolutely not true.
We look at them every fiveyears.
We look at the job task analysisto ensure what we're testing
(23:04):
folks on aligns with the jobduties of the profession.
The other thing I often hear isthere's no way to get CEUs.
I let my certification labs,there's no opportunity for CEUs.
So building bearded universitiesaround.
That is right.
We have a new partnership thatwe should talk about.
Don't you like that segue,Chase?
(23:24):
I set that up really well,right?
Um so um, so yeah, so there areso many ways to get free CEUs.
You don't need to go to a fancyservice school if you're
hospital or employer has nobudget.
I just want to make sureeveryone knows you can get all
the CEUs you need for freewithout leaving your house.
There's lots of free webinarseries like through Amy, Tech
(23:46):
Nation, OR today.
If worse comes to worst, you canwatch 30 webinars and you you
don't have to leave your houseand it's free.
We also have a new partnershipwith you, Beard in University.
You want to talk about that?
I feel like I'm interviewing younow.
SPEAKER_04 (23:59):
I'm so sorry I flipped it, but um so we've
we've we've been working onbuilding a relationship for a
while.
Yes.
And you know, no relationshipsbuilt overnight.
You know, there has to bereputation, trust built, and
along with all that.
And at this point, like I said,my whole point of the podcast is
advocacy, awareness, education,and talking through topics that
(24:21):
can benefit the next generationor even the current generation.
So while I don't have everysingle episode on there, I have
select episodes on there that isdirectly going to give you
information to either possiblyfind a job or how to navigate uh
recruiting.
You know, things of that naturethat can be beneficial to
biomeds.
We're also, I've had multipleconversations with a lot of OEMs
(24:43):
and uh training uh companiesthat are going to provide me
technical training on firstlook, PM repairs of medical
devices on there, too, that theyare going to be working
alongside with me to providethat function.
So as a biomed, I want, and Ihear this a lot too with CEUs.
Well, we want more, you know,getting into the weeds with
(25:04):
equipment.
Well, that's coming.
Um, so that's one part of thattoo.
And I also want to speak to boththings that you guys said.
Um, I I would like to say thatmost people would at this point,
hopefully they see me as anadvocate for biomed, but uh
otherwise I might as well justhang it up.
SPEAKER_03 (25:21):
You're doing a great job.
SPEAKER_04 (25:22):
Yeah, doing a great the the consensus that I have a
lot I go to many conferences, Igo to many HTMA events, I I I am
embedded and entrenched in everyway and facet form of
communication with biomedics.
And for some reason I feel likethere is a an unfair
(25:45):
conversation that everybodyexpects Amy to solve everything.
And one, you guys are not set upfor that.
That's that's not whateverything that you said, that's
not the mission of it, and youhave many other verticals.
But when I talk about you know,if you are a true advocate or
you are wanting things to besolved within the HDM community,
(26:08):
you can do stuff as well.
Everything that I've built orI've worked on up to this point,
I took that charge.
And now here we are almost fiveyears into when I started
everything.
We have multiple children'sbooks, we have multiple
podcasts, we have so many otheravenues that weren't available
(26:29):
out there because people aretaking the initiative to drive
their local communities or youknow, do their part.
Right.
So for the folks that I I thisthis is just something that I
always say, if if you want tosee change, you have to put your
own, yeah, your own part intoit.
Right.
Um, it's not of one size fitsall, everybody has to contribute
(26:53):
in their own way, and some cansolve things that others can't.
I know there's some things thatI'll never be able to tackle an
issue for HTM, but I havecertain ideas and certain
projects in mind that I'mconstantly working on, like the
foundation I started, that canaddress certain things.
So instead of alienating orsaying that somebody should do
(27:15):
everything, we need as a fieldto look as a collaborative, you
know, collaboration andpartnership and every way.
Yeah, you know.
SPEAKER_01 (27:23):
And you just radiate it, right?
Leaders find problems but alsoidentify solutions.
You just don't identify aproblem and leave it.
And I feel like you just magnifythat so, so well in everything
that you do.
You know, part of I feel likeit's a professional privilege to
be in this job, in this field,to work with so many people.
(27:45):
And part of what I find soenlightening is finding people
like you out there that justgrind and get it done and just
want to help for the greatergood without any kind of
recognition.
You know, I think we all do itsilently.
We're not looking for awards,we're not looking for any of
that, right?
We're just doing it because it'sthe right thing to do.
We want to leave the field alittle bit better than we found
(28:06):
it, and we want to make adifference.
And hopefully our impactperpetuates, you know.
Um, we were saying, you know,even like promoting the field,
and you do so much of thatthrough Ollie the Biomed, your
book that my daughter loves, bythe way.
We read it often together, andyou know, it's so interesting
because you know, beingengineers and being technicians,
(28:27):
we want things that aremeasurable.
And when we go out and promotethe field, we talk to children,
we put these books out there, wemake HTM in the box, for
instance, all the work we'vedone together.
You really can't measure that,right?
Someone, a five-year-old couldread your book today, and you'll
never know if they go into thefield.
It's kind of like we're doing itfor the greater good, and we may
never know the outcome of this,but that's okay because that's
(28:50):
making an impact, and I feellike you're such a huge part of
that impact, and I just hopethat you realize that.
And like, I think on behalf ofeveryone at Amy, we love our
relationship with you andeverything that you do.
SPEAKER_00 (29:00):
And there's so many other people that are doing it
too.
SPEAKER_01 (29:02):
Yes, no, no, yes, I know.
I but figure here.
SPEAKER_00 (29:05):
I want to come back to the point you're making when
when people can be critical, andit's like this might be another
misconception.
I think, you know, I think somepeople think that Amy or Amy's
staff go in a closed room anddevelop standards or develop
certifications.
We're the language we useinternally, we don't use it
externally often, but as Amy asplatform or Amy as a service,
(29:27):
we're an enabler, we're aconvener.
We we we develop constantlyinvest it heavily in the
capabilities that we provide,but we do that so that folks
like you and other folks in theprofession can use those
capabilities to drive whateverchange you're trying to produce.
So when you're taking acertification, that's not
something Danielle wrote theexam.
That's something that wentthrough multiple iterations of
(29:48):
experts and multiple passes, andthat's what we do as a platform,
right?
We have very rigorous ANSI, wefollow ANSI guidelines.
SPEAKER_04 (29:56):
I've said in those emails with the veteran.
Right, so many artists, so manybiomass through.
That process that you guys vetthat through.
SPEAKER_00 (30:02):
Yes, it's yes, and it's not.
So if you look at it and you go,well, this is wrong.
Well, really?
Those 30, 40, 50, by the timeit's done, 60 very experienced.
SPEAKER_01 (30:11):
Folks are wrong.
We do is consensus.
So like when we rewrote the testand the job task analysis to
update it, it went out forpublic comments.
Every BNET in the world had theoption to comment on that if
they wanted to.
So it's not like we're going tobe able to do that.
We read everyone.
SPEAKER_00 (30:25):
We react to everyone and put it in front of those
explosions.
SPEAKER_01 (30:28):
And in certification, too, if we go
back to that, is governed by aboard of volunteers.
Sherry and I have nothing to dowith it.
If you appeal your certificationfor some reason, if you lost it
or you failed the test, Sherryand I never see that.
It is a board because it's aconflict of interest, you know?
It is awkward if you lost yourcertification and you write me a
letter and I have to, you know.
(30:48):
So it's it we do it that way, soit's neutral, it's governed by a
separate board.
It doesn't go up through Pamelaor Robert or our Amy board.
There's a separate certificationboard.
So it's very, and that's how allcertification is run to keep it
fair.
So there's just a lot, you know,I feel like certification brings
out a lot of emotion in folks,you know.
Well, it shows they take it veryseriously.
SPEAKER_02 (31:09):
There's one other thing I'd like to build on, and
it kind of um builds on both ofyour comments, Robert.
As far as the communities, Amyis really leaning into strategic
initiatives for more of aplatform, more tools for
communities.
Uh, we recognize that thatlion's share of information is
(31:30):
coming across all of ourvolunteers.
And in that instance, you'regonna find in the coming year
there are strategic initiativeswe're investing in so that
there'll be more tools availableto the communities to leverage
that actually feed into ourwebsite so you can have those
tools at your disposal as wellas have things surface where
(31:51):
they're of high interest intomajor feeds within our main
page.
So stay tuned and please getengaged because I think you're
gonna be excited by that.
SPEAKER_00 (32:00):
Yeah, absolutely.
We're gonna have a whole newwebsite here soon, and uh it's
pretty cool.
Yeah, yeah.
Pretty cool.
So one of the challenges we faceis so much.
There's with all the verticals,all the activities, standard
education.
You're saying healthcare is big.
SPEAKER_02 (32:14):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (32:14):
Well, yeah, and I mean we're trying to cover all
of healthcare in a way.
SPEAKER_02 (32:17):
And uh good way to describe it.
SPEAKER_00 (32:19):
We're embedding in our homepage an integrated feed
from across all of theactivities across Amy.
So literally, like a socialmedia site, sort of.
You can just come in and checkthe feed and see everything
that's happening at Amy, andyou'll be able to filter it by
your interest area and do otherthings, search it.
But we're trying to get to thatone-stop shop for folks so they
don't have to spend however muchtime searching the Amy website
(32:40):
for what they need.
The key point's gonna be rightthere in the feed.
SPEAKER_02 (32:43):
So and for those community initiatives and
programs, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (32:51):
Yeah, especially around document collaboration.
We have a highly bespoke uhdocument collaboration engine
software that our standards teamused, and it's it's super
specific to getting thingsthrough ANSI, getting things
through ISO.
But we're actually taking thatplatform, stripping out some of
the standards pieces that don'tneed to be there when you're
(33:11):
just producing a white paper.
But you still want to have thesame collaborative environment,
you still want to be able to putit out to the community for
comment, all those kinds ofthings.
We're gonna lead those in, sowe're gonna make that available
to our communities, includingour HTM community.
And we should talk a little bitabout the way those two
communities are organized now,or at least the main community.
But that'll be at their disposalto create documents and all
(33:32):
those kinds of things.
SPEAKER_01 (33:34):
Just one point of clarification.
When Robert says ISO, it'sinternational standards
organization.
I know in HTM we use ISO forindependent service
organizations.
Just to be clear, when we'retalking about standards, when we
say ISO, we're talking aboutinternational standards
organizations.
13485.
13485.
Yeah, now good.
Good job.
There you go.
SPEAKER_00 (33:55):
So talk about talk about the new approach with the
HTML uh group.
SPEAKER_01 (33:58):
Yeah, so we have two uh communities right now within
Amy under HTM, the HTM AdvisoryAlliance.
They're like a strategicadvisory, I don't want to call
them a board, but an alliancethat come together and help me
kind of set strategy.
Obviously, we have a strategicplan, but within that, you know,
they're bringing forwardchallenges of suggestions for
new projects, um, and justthings Amy can do to better help
(34:22):
and support the field.
And the best part about it isthe community runs itself.
So if they see a problem andthey bring forward a solution,
they work on that solution.
And Amy gives them the tools toempower them to do that.
So, you know, whether it'sconference space, if they say,
hey, we need to create a meetingto bring people together to talk
about medical device servicing.
We have our Amy Center ofExcellence, we can fit up to 300
(34:43):
people, they're welcome to usethat gratis, right?
And then um maybe they want toput out, you know, a video about
something.
We have a studio, they can useour resources because they're
part of the Amy family.
Um, and there's a multitude ofother things.
Education, reference, shockingme.
You know, well, you know, theycan write a white paper.
We have the marketing and commsteam that can edit it, put it
(35:07):
together.
So we have a lot of resourcesbehind the scenes.
SPEAKER_04 (35:10):
Y'all also brought all the HTMAs together too.
That's the second community.
SPEAKER_01 (35:13):
Yep, the HTM Association Collaborative once a
month.
That's run by Ryan Gonzalez.
He's phenomenal too.
I mean, what a leader in thefield.
Um, you know, this was reallyhis baby.
He brought it up at Amy one yearand he said, well, let's make it
an Amy community.
He rallied a bunch of people andthey meet monthly to talk about
the challenges that HTMassociations face, you know,
(35:34):
being small nonprofits and youknow, rallying communities
together to really make thesesuccessful.
And they also help, you know,new communities start up, and we
have a monthly webinar serieswith that too.
Each webinar is worth one CEU.
Um, each month a differentregional HTM association takes
lead, so they find the speakers.
But again, we make all thesocial media images, we promote
(35:56):
it, we handle the registration,we do the back end of Zoom, so
we we take that away.
But they said, hey, and thepoint of that, which I loved,
was there are a lot of areas inthe country that aren't covered
by a regional HTM association.
So these folks aren't gettingopportunities to get out there
and network or get education andsee you.
So our thought process was,well, let's bring education
(36:19):
everywhere through we're notcreating one society, but like
you know, bringing all theseassociations together to really
help everyone get forward.
That's a great idea.
SPEAKER_04 (36:28):
I've sat through several of those webinars, and
the cool part is you have uhindividual HTMAs, like I said,
they pick out their own vendors.
The last one I sat on was for IVpumps.
Yeah, and it was veryinsightful.
They got somebody that that'sthat's their subject matter.
SPEAKER_03 (36:41):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (36:42):
And like I said, you're you're you can learn
about the HTMA, but you're alsogetting technical know-how as
well.
And you get CEU from it.
So it's a win-win.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (36:50):
And I love the cute names you guys come up with.
It was like something likeSipson with the IV pumps.
What was it?
SPEAKER_04 (36:59):
I don't I don't remember seeing it.
And we're editing great now.
SPEAKER_01 (37:03):
Now it's gotta go into the sniff and then I'll
pull it up after.
You gotta crop this section outbecause it's totally- I thought
it was gonna be.
Oh, it's going in.
SPEAKER_04 (37:11):
I stayed long enough to get my certificate and left.
SPEAKER_00 (37:16):
No, no, I mean it's just the group, the communities,
the way they're being organized,the tools we're putting at their
disposal, and you mentioned theACE, you know, hosting in-person
meetings, we have virtualmeeting capability, we have the
studio, we have a trainingcapability, certifications
longer cycle, and we don't buildcertifications lightly, but
we're looking at a couple of newones in this space right now
based on member and stakeholderfeedback, and so all of these
(37:39):
tools are there.
So to you, I love the point youmade.
If you see a problem or an issueand you're willing to show the
leadership around it, then comeforward, let us know what it is.
We don't say yes to everything,but we say that yes to most
things, yeah, and we try andsupport them as best we can, and
all these tools are at yourdisposal.
SPEAKER_02 (37:55):
I'll give an example of a gap that was identified
during lunch.
We were talking about expertinsights and how someone can
take their knowledge base andshare it with the broader
community, and there's a lot ofexcitement in the dental space
that we're hiding here to beable to provide education.
Those kind of educationopportunities.
SPEAKER_01 (38:14):
And I think one other point to make is we live
off of volunteers.
Like we cannot do everything wedo, like we've put out like 30
different HTM resource documentsin the past seven years that
I've been doing.
SPEAKER_00 (38:26):
And translated some of them to what, nine languages?
In nine different languages.
SPEAKER_01 (38:29):
Our HTM benchmarking guide has just been translated
into nine different languages sowe can be able to get it across
the world.
But we can't do that withoutvolunteers.
The people that did first passat that, we found you know HTM
professionals in differentcountries willing to translate
that.
Um, and just all the otherdocuments, you know, it's the
ideas of the field that you knowwe make them come to life and we
(38:51):
help them, but it's all thevolunteers, and I could not do
my job.
This vertical would not besuccessful without all of the
volunteers that show up everyday on top of their regular nine
to five jobs, or even more thanthat.
So, you know, for me, I justwant to say how grateful I am of
the support that I've had fromthe broader community for the
past seven years because we'vedone a lot of work, and um, we I
(39:13):
couldn't have done it withoutall of you.
SPEAKER_04 (39:14):
So Robert made a good point earlier today, too,
that this is not a shortprocess.
It can take years.
For standards, yes.
Yeah, for I mean, in general,too.
I mean, any anything you'retrying to build a movement or
solve an issue, more often thannot, I think people want to have
that double message.
They want to have immediatesatisfaction or reach that goal
(39:36):
that you know they they seem tomind as attainable.
But more often than not,especially larger issues within
our community, it's a miracle.
Right.
It's it's showing up when youneed to show up, it's it's
putting in the book when youdon't feel like doing it.
Yeah, it's having those meetingsor those discussions with folks
or reaching out to people andcommunities you've never had.
(39:56):
So there's there's there's somuch on the back end involved
with that that you know, I Iwill say from at least my
standpoint, you know, the thepartnerships, the networking,
the the relationships that I'vebuilt over the years, a lot of
those started because me being apart of the Amy exchange.
SPEAKER_01 (40:17):
Oh, that's good to hear.
SPEAKER_00 (40:19):
It takes a long time, but the impact is
generational.
You think you know, Amy's beenaround 55 years and we're
standing on the shoulders of allthe people that came before us,
and and they've solved a lot ofproblems that we take for
granted now and that makehealthcare safer every day.
Every day, no matter what,whether it's mainline
healthcare, dental, whatever itis.
And the problems we're workingon now will raise the bar just
(40:42):
that much higher for ageneration.
And and there's also the otherreason these things take time is
this pretty high-stakesbusiness, right?
We don't want to get thingswrong.
It's worth taking the time toget things right because we we
have been preceded by this hugegroup of people that have done
all this great work for manydecades.
You don't change those thingslightly, you don't move quickly.
(41:04):
Sometimes you have to movequickly, things emerge, things
happen, pandemics happen, etc.
But we want to carefully andmethodically keep raising the
bar year after year after year.
And you know, we've been around55 years.
I assume Amy will be aroundanother 55 years, long after I'm
not involved in it, or any ofus.
And I hope they I just hope theylook back at what we did and say
(41:25):
that we tackled the challengesof the day and got to the next
level because there's some crazystuff coming down the pipe in
emerging tech, whether it's AI,whether it's more robotics,
autonomy, and devices.
You know, we're talking aboutinstead of a, you know, today a
device that that injects anysubstance into your body, the
device is approved with thecompound that it's intended as
(41:46):
an insulin.
We could be in a future where wehave a device that can inject
any compound into your body asneeded, any pharmaceutical
product.
And maybe it's also got onboardsensors, and so it's actually uh
maybe autonomously making, notcurrent state, I'm not
proposing, but autonomouslymaking decisions about that.
(42:06):
And uh so these are radicalchanges in the way healthcare is
going to be delivered, and we'rethe generation that gets to
figure out how to make thatwork.
That's kind of cool.
It's fun, but we gotta get itright.
SPEAKER_02 (42:18):
It's fun, but the stakes are high.
SPEAKER_00 (42:20):
Yeah, they are high, indeed.
Indeed.
So we talked about a lot.
That's right.
Do we want to talk about anymore gas stations or are we done
with that?
SPEAKER_01 (42:29):
And it was it was pumps and pints.
That was what it was.
Okay.
Well, pumps and pints.
SPEAKER_00 (42:34):
Pumps and pints.
SPEAKER_01 (42:35):
Yeah, get it.
So it's like a social event andyou're talking about a pump.
SPEAKER_00 (42:38):
I get it.
Educational.
You guys are kind of crazy.
SPEAKER_01 (42:41):
Kind of I didn't come up with it.
It's the tax ones.
SPEAKER_04 (42:46):
So I I guess to put a cap on it, if there's anything
that you could lead this episodewith or that you'd want to put a
pen at the end of thisdiscussion, what would you leave
the audience with?
You want to go first?
SPEAKER_01 (42:58):
Yeah, I mean, I think I think you need to find
your why and leave your legacyin HTM when we talk about all of
this, or Amy in general, but youknow, we have the ability to
make such an impact asindividual citizens in our in
our fields, and our reach isbroader than we think.
(43:19):
And I think it's really justgetting out there and making a
difference.
I always say, you know, when Igive my keynotes, if every
single one of us went out andgave one presentation about the
field, think of how many morepeople we would reach.
It's really just not talkingabout it, but doing, and then
you know, getting out there andbeing a leader.
So if I could motivate anyone todo anything, it's really just a
(43:42):
sit back, find your why, andwhen you're long gone, how do
you want to be remembered andwhat do you want people to say
about you?
SPEAKER_00 (43:49):
I like that.
That's pretty good.
I almost hate to try and add tothat.
I would say do one thing.
So Amy can be daunting topeople.
There's so much going on, it'sbig, there's lots of activities,
but pick one thing.
Probably the best way to getjust immersed uh in Amy is to
come to Amy Exchange, but that'snot possible for everyone.
So watch the live stream that wedo from Amy Exchange would be a
(44:10):
way to learn a little bit moreabout it.
Or if you can't do that, comeyou know, participate in a
podcast, participate in the manythings you guys do online.
Just find one thing and try it.
And then you can try anotherthing and another thing.
But you don't have to show upknowing where you're gonna fit
in the angel.
I've been here seven years and Ithink I've only just figured it
out now how I fit, and I'm onstaff, so it's it's daunting,
(44:33):
but just pick one thing and doit.
SPEAKER_02 (44:36):
I'll offer that you actually covered what I was
thinking relative to the legacybecause they all have that
capability.
But if you think of the legacyand recognizing one thing, take
it at a step at a time.
I just want you to know thatAmy's there to support you.
And when in doubt relative toresources, reach out to us
(44:57):
because if we don't currentlyoffer it, we're looking for new
ways to support that why, thatlegacy, and make a difference.
And we appreciate all of you.
SPEAKER_00 (45:08):
All right, so that maybe that made me think of my
one thing.
I'm gonna need to make it more.
No, I no, I'm gonna I'm riffingnow.
I'm riffing, I'm gonna laugh.
So the one thing she said reachout, just reach out to Danielle.
And the way to do that, the wayto do that, if you're not
following Danielle McGee onLinkedIn right now, go find
Danielle McGee and follow her onLinkedIn.
That's easy, everyone can dothat.
(45:28):
It's a perfect first step.
So follow Danielle.
SPEAKER_04 (45:31):
But if you're in the HDM community, for the love of
God, get a LinkedIn.
I tell people all the time, youdon't have to post on there all
the time, but information'sbeing shared there, networking's
being shared there, recruitingjobs, training with there's so
much that we share on thatplatform.
You should have a LinkedIn.
Newer generation, currentgeneration, if you're retired,
(45:53):
well, that's up to you.
SPEAKER_00 (45:54):
But yes.
It'd be like being in thefinancial services and not
reading the Wall Street Journalevery day.
You just don't do it.
You need to be plugged into theinternet.
SPEAKER_04 (46:02):
We don't we don't choose where we get our
information from all the time,you know.
The community as a whole, that'swhere a lot of the information
is going.
Yes, there's backdoor channels,but the the foresight, the
upfront in your face informationfor the HDM community is on
LinkedIn.
Yeah, that's a great, greatresource.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
I I would cap this off uhbecause I everything you guys
(46:23):
said on point, but uh I'll justleave it with the motto of my
foundation.
It's be the current, amplifypotential, build the future.
I like that.
SPEAKER_02 (46:33):
Love it.
SPEAKER_04 (46:34):
That's all great.
Appreciate you guys tuning in.
You know, be be sure to uh reachout if you ever need any
resources as always.
May the beard be with you.
SPEAKER_03 (46:43):
Bye.
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