Health technology management (HTM) professionals may not be as recognizable as doctors or nurses, but their work is exciting, well-paid, and critically important for patient care and health care providers.

HTMs (also called biomedical equipment technicians (BMTs)) are responsible for inspecting, servicing, and taking inventory of medical equipment in a hospital or other medical facility – equipment ranging from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerized tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET) scanners, to surgical lasers and robotic surgical systems, to dialysis equipment, infusion pumps and patient monitors. Hospitals sometimes refer to the field as biomed or clinical engineering.

Mike Urbaitis is the assistant director of biomedical engineering at Texas Children’s Hospital, and his roughly 60-person team makes sure more than 46,000 pieces of equipment function properly, are safe to use and – equally important – have the proper reporting documentation required by industry regulators.

The field is exciting and rewarding, Urbaitis says. HTMs may be called in to an operating room to check on equipment, they may be asked present to senior leaders on the functionality or documentation of equipment, they are constantly learning about new equipment and how to keep it working properly, and they’re paid well, he says. HTMs with Texas Children’s Hospital often develop specialty areas as they gain experience, he says.

Urbaitis says HTMs must have excellent communication skills because they need to be able to talk with every type of worker in a hospital setting from housekeepers to doctors to executives, they need to speak and write compellingly and be able to explain and document all of their work.

Companies that manufacture, sell and service medical equipment, like General Electric, Philips and Siemens, need HTMs too, so career opportunities extend beyond hospitals. According to the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI), the medical device industry is expected to grow from $173 billion to $208 billion by 2023, driving up the need for HTM professionals. Urbaitis believes health technology management and related fields in hospitals will grow as health care becomes increasingly technology driven. In addition to the growth, there is near term opportunity because much of the current workforce is reaching retirement age and will be leaving the workforce in the coming several years (more than 20 percent of HTMs who responded to 24x7 Magazine’s 2020 salary survey were over the age of 60; 40 percent were over the age of 55).

Individuals can become HTMs by obtaining a two-year associate degree – as Urbaitis did – but may also be military veterans with specialized experience in medical equipment. Texas Children’s Hospital’s Biomedical Engineering Department includes individuals with associate degrees, bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and even doctorates, Urbaitis says.

Many HTMs spend decades in the field, but the career can open the door to other opportunities including project management and risk management, project planning and quality and safety fields. It can also be an entry point into other health care fields, with additional education or training, Urbaitis says.

Houston Community College, Lone Star College and San Jacinto College offer programs or specialties for individuals interested in the field.

Learn more and prepare for Healthcare Technology Management Week (May 16-22) from AAMI.