I'm here at the AAMI 2012 Conference & Expo in Charlotte, N.C., and so far I've been having a great time.

Charlotte is a convenient city for a trade show; the exhibit hall is easy to get to, parking is plentiful and it's a beautiful town. Plus, I've been able to see some familiar faces: over 120 registered DOTmed users have booths at the Expo.

When I went around the show, I also witnessed an optimistic sign. Four different companies approached me because they were in hiring mode and they wanted to know if I could refer someone.

Now, anybody who runs a small business or a large business knows how important it is to find people, but I'm encouraged by the fact that companies are growing and need employees. What used to be called biomedical engineering is, in many ways, recession-proof, because nobody can afford not to service their equipment.

Other things I was hearing a lot about:

Growing clout: The biomed community seems to be more involved in purchasing decisions, because the biomedical engineering department is the intersection between equipment, equipment maintenance and new IT initiatives that are taking place across health care.

RTLS: As you walk around the show, many people are having conversations about RTLS (real-time locating systems). Sean Ruck, editor-in-chief of DOTmed Business News who has also been attending the show, wrote a story about that today for our website.

CMS maintenance rules: Arguably, the most heated topic at the show was the controversial preventive maintenance regulation put out by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services last year. Sean told me an event about this was standing room only and they had to move to a larger room. Check back with DOTmed News this week as we'll have more coverage of the CMS issue when Sean returns from the show.


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