MCS Device Engineer

Overview

As a patient-focused organization, University of Utah Health exists to enhance the health and well-being of people through patient care, research and education. Success in this mission requires a culture of collaboration, excellence, leadership, and respect. University of Utah Health seeks staff that are committed to the values of compassion, collaboration, innovation, responsibility, integrity, quality and trust that are integral to our mission. EO/AA

This position is responsible for quality data tracking and analysis, research related to cardiac mechanical support therapy, clinical engineering services, development of policies and procedures, budget control, and assisting the coordinators with staff and patient education and program outreach. This position will also help to ensure that all program components support DNV standards, guidelines and performance measures.

Corporate Overview: The University of Utah is a Level 1 Trauma Center and is nationally ranked and recognized for our academic research, quality standards and overall patient experience. Our five hospitals and eleven clinics provide excellence in our comprehensive services, medical advancement, and overall patient outcomes.

Responsibilities

Essential Functions

• Tracks and analyzes quality data which may include presenting on data findings.
• Collaborates with a multidisciplinary team to achieve best patient care and outcomes.
• Instructs patients in the use and safety of cardiac support equipment pre and post-implantation including preparing education material for patient use and assisting with the discharge teaching related to the patient's equipment.
• Coordinates new patient evaluation, clinical study tests, and patient care pre and post ventricular assist device implantation.
• Conducts independent and clinical research for both clinical trials and direct patient care.
• Provides technical support on components and tracks compliance for yearly preventative maintenance on medical equipment for hospital and patient use.
• Provides engineering support for device assembly, initial burn in, and external equipment set up.
• Creates protocols for patient treatment and implantation prep procedures for cardiac medical devices.
• Participates in and provides input to training of medical personnel on the use and treatment of cardiac support devices.
• Participates in the development of department policies and procedures.
• Drives operations in alignment of goals, policies, procedures and strategy of the department.
• Utilizes statistical models such as Kaplan Meir and SPS to report program outcomes to directors and hospital management.
• Independently collects and analyzes all program data including financials, clinical performance measures, adverse events and patient outcomes.
• Alerts program leaders of critical trends from patient data.
• Provides recommendations of program clinical and financial improvements and creates corrective action plans for deficiencies.
• Leads departmental regulatory audits.
• Develops systems to maintain readiness for all audits (FDA, DNV, CMS, etc) utilizing SmartSheets, Tableau and other programs as needed.
• Ownership of high-risk FDA device recalls and follow up.
• Presents data and findings to physicians, multidisciplinary team and hospital management.
• Directs M&M (Morbidity and Mortality) conferences for all program patients.
• Oversees compliance with international and national mandatory program registries.
• Conducts independent and clinical research for both clinical trials and direct patient care.
• Forecasts, prepares, and participates in the preparation of the program budget and monitors expenditures.
• Leads the development and dissemination of departmental policies and procedures related to MCS device management, patient treatment and implantation.
• Trains and educates staff regarding new MCS/VAD equipment, program annual compliance, licensing, certification, etc.
• Functions as back-up for Nurse Coordinator to monitor MCS/VAD patients in procedures as directed.
• Instructs patients in the use and safety of MCS equipment post-implantation including preparing education material for patient use in clinic and inpatient hospital settings.

Knowledge / Skills / Abilities

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and attention to detail.

• Demonstrated human relation and effective communication skills.

• Ability to perform the essential functions of the job as outlined in the position description.

• Knowledge of anatomy, physiology, electronic fundamentals, medical equipment function and operation, safety in healthcare facilities, and medical equipment troubleshooting.

• Analytical ability to determine the cause of equipment failure or malfunction and to ensure proper functioning of ventricular assist device related equipment.

• Ability to manage complex workload with the ability to prioritize based on patient or task status.

• Ability to apply creativity to analytics.

• Knowledge of data analysis to clinical program, hospital and health sciences management, and leadership.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering, or Health Analitics, or Statistics or Nursing or related field or equivalency.

Qualifications (Preferred)

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

Employee must be able to meet the following requirements with or without an accommodation.

• This position involves very physical work that may exert up to 100 pounds and may consistently require lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling or otherwise moving objects. The position may involve moving heavy equipment and/or supplies. This position involves a variety of physical conditions, such as proximity to moving mechanical parts, electrical current, working on scaffolding and high places, or exposure to chemicals.

Physical Requirements

Carrying, Climbing, Color Determination, Crawling, Far Vision, Lifting, Listening, Manual Dexterity, Near Vision, Pulling and/or Pushing, Reaching, Sitting, Speaking, Standing, Stooping and Crouching, Tasting or Smelling, Walking