This report originally appeared in the June 2009 issue of DOTmed Business News

Like every industry, health care is facing tough times due to a shaky economy. "The tough environment is forcing many hospitals to evaluate the cost of outside service contracts on medical devices and whether bringing them in-house will save money," says Jay Oyakawa, Chief Development & Operations Officer at ReMedPar. In fact, many health care facilities are finding they can save money by performing many services themselves and are making this transition by recruiting, staffing and training personnel to fill roles once performed by outside service vendors. "In tough financial times, more customers are seeking alternatives that provide them comparable quality at significantly lower costs from their traditional vendors," says Oyakawa.

The continuing education sector of the medical field has also been affected by the economy because many of the facilities that had once fully reimbursed for continuing education, travel and per diems, are now tightening those budgets or discontinuing reimbursements entirely. "Even though support is being cut back, continuing education requirements are increasing," says Bill Bresser, Director of Marketing at Medical Technology Management Institute (MTMI), in Waukesha, WI. "Now more so than before, modality-specific continuing education is recommended and I only see that trend increasing." Bresser says that while he thinks it's a good thing to recommend training specific to a modality, it does make it harder for health care professionals to find enough training to meet requirements.

Who's doing the training?

Radiological Service Training Institute (RSTI) provides diagnostic imaging training using 33,000 sq. feet of space filled with state-of-the-art imaging equipment. In the past three years, RSTI has spent more than $500,000 upgrading their lab equipment used to offer a variety of courses including foundations in ultrasound, diagnostic X-ray, computed tomography, PACS and DICOM and mammography/women's health. In these classes, the technologies, principles and physics related to the modalities are covered.




RSTI trains around 500 students each year, including hospital personnel, OEMs and independent service organization employees and self-pays. They also offer closed-door classes for various equipment manufacturers. The most popular training at RSTI provides the basic X-ray or X-ray Certificate Series known to the market as "Phase I through Phase IV," and any of the digital X-ray classes.