When Mary Logan stepped down as president of the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) at the end of last year, the industry wondered what actions the coming president would take in furthering the cause of the organization.

Last week, Logan's replacement, AAMI president and CEO, Rob Jensen, hosted a town hall style webinar on Thursday in which he shed some light on what he hopes to achieve at the helm of AAMI. His personal background as a U.S. Marine helped shape his approach to leadership.

“The three biggest takeaways that I have from military service are really at the core of what I do and what I try to instill on the team that serves all of you in our membership and our stakeholder community,” Jensen said. “That is courage, character and competence.”

“I think it’s very important for us to have exceptional character and represent you in the way you would want to be represented," he told members. "In terms of competence, it goes toward getting the things done that we sign up to do and making sure they’re done in a highly professional manner,” said Jensen. “And finally courage to step forward when there are things that need to be done…when it doesn’t appear that anyone else is willing to take them on.”

AAMI has been planning its “three year strategy” for a few months now, an initiative it will follow to ensure that its goals are being met. AAMI will collaborate with other health care organizations to explore new benefits for imaging and health IT, increase training in sterilization and device integration, and look for opportunities to provide leadership training.

It will also expand its standards portfolio regarding postmarket safety and efficacy of medical technology, domestic and international standards for cybersecurity, and create new standards for the health care technology management community.

As president, Jensen intends to reestablish key stakeholder relationships and become more involved in the larger health care community. He said there are approximately 150 organizations he would like to speak with.

The biggest challenge the industry faces today, according to Jensen, lies within the rapid advancements in technology and making sure that it translates into actual patient care where the information will help physicians make relevant decisions regarding the patient.

Going forward, Jensen said AAMI hopes its education and training department will expand and move onto a global level, specifically with computer based training (CBT). Partnering with a CBT firm in a different country to help create a safer environment for patients could be part of achieving that goal.

“Teamwork emphasis has been a key to AAMI longevity all along,” said Jensen. “It is very much valued by the employees that work here and I get feedback constantly about the level of professionalism and the level of joy AAMI members have in fulfilling their mission. We want a mutually supportive and energetic environment, and not have barriers between stakeholders, our members or us as individuals.”

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