Top 10 Health Technology Hazards 2021: An In-Depth Look at Managing Medical Devices with COVID-19 Emergency Use Authorization

Our February 17, 2021, webcast recording explores the number 1 topic on this year's Top 10 Health Technology Hazards list: Complexity of Managing Medical Devices with COVID-19 Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). Presenters discussed FDA's criteria for issuing EUAs, the temporary nature of EUA device authorization, and actionable recommendations for managing EUA devices in your facility during the COVID-19 public health emergency. View the session recording, including live Q&A, plus supplementary materials.

Learning objectives

At the end of this webinar, attendees will be able to: 

• Identify the health technology hazards that ECRI believes warrant priority attention in the coming year.
• Understand the importance of active EUA device management in your facility.
• Identify best practices for monitoring FDA’s EUA device websites and how to manage these devices as EUAs are revised, revoked, or terminated.

Register to view

Register to view a recording of our February 17, 2021, lab webcast.

Andrew Furman, MD, MMM, FACEP

Executive Director, Clinical Excellence, Technology Assessment, ECRI

Andrew Furman is an emergency medicine physician who has worked in clinical and leadership roles in Pennsylvania and Oregon. He worked as a quality and communications consultant within the Geisinger Health System, acting as a liaison between the closed model of care delivery at Geisinger and the more open models of care delivery in newly acquired hospitals and health systems. At Salem Health, in Salem, Oregon, he served as Vice President of Medical Affairs. After completing a Master of Medical Management degree at University of Southern California Marshall School Business, he joined Accolade in Plymouth Meeting. While at Accolade, Dr. Furman supported the organization’s mission to equip employees of self-insured companies with people, tools, and technology that empowered them to better navigate the complicated healthcare environment.

Jason Launders

Director of Operations, Device Evaluation, ECRI

Jason Launders has been at ECRI since 1998 and is currently the Director of Operations for the Device Evaluation group. Jason’s primary responsibility is managing ECRI’s laboratory based evaluations of medical technologies. Jason has an MSc in Medical Physics and spent his earlier time at ECRI evaluating a wide range of diagnostic imaging technology, such as: CT, MRI, PACS, and Digital Radiography. Today, he is responsible for developing the content of evaluations to ensure they meet the needs of our members.

Rob Schluth

Principal Project Officer 1—Product Development Device Evaluation, ECRI

Rob Schluth is a principal project officer manager at ECRI, an independent, nonprofit organization providing unbiased assurance on medical technologies and treatments to healthcare professionals around the world. During his 25-year tenure with ECRI's Health Devices Group, Rob has contributed to hundreds of the engineering team's device evaluations, problem reports, and guidance articles spanning virtually all health technologies. Rob currently focuses on managing special initiatives, including the annual Health Devices Achievement Award competition and development of ECRI's Top 10 Health Technology Hazards list. The Top 10 list—which identifies potential sources of harm associated with medical technologies and provides recommendations for action—empowers those on (or near) the front lines of patient care to further ECRI's mission of improving the safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness of healthcare across all settings.

Amanda Sivek, PhD

Principal Project Engineer I, ECRI

Amanda Sivek, PhD, is a Senior Project Engineer in the Health Device group at ECRI. Since joining ECRI in August 2015, she has worked on topics relevant to the field of infection prevention and control, including the completion of laboratory evaluations of disinfection caps for needle free intravenous connectors, countertop ultraviolet disinfection systems for mobile devices, hand hygiene compliance monitoring systems, and hand hygiene observation apps. Dr. Sivek completed her PhD in Bioengineering and is an expert in in vitro and in vivo use of ventricular-assist devices (VADs); hemodynamics; and flow-induced blood damage. During her graduate studies, Dr. Sivek also worked as an Artificial Heart Biomedical Engineer at UPMC Presbyterian and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh assisting in the care of adult and pediatric patients implanted with VADs.

Tom Toczylowski

Assistant Director, Alerts, ECRI

Tom Toczylowski is the Assistant Director of the ECRI Alerts product, which provides ECRI members with recall and safety notifications to help safely manage medical devices and other products. A proud ECRI employee since 2008, Tom manages a group of writers, editors, and data coordinators who all contribute to ECRI’s Alerts, recall management solutions, and inventory management solutions. Prior to coming to ECRI, Tom spent several years working in molecular research laboratories at Fox Chase Cancer Center and Thomas Jefferson University.