What Does AAMI Stand for?

AAMI stands for the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation. It is an organization that professes to be "dedicated to increasing the understanding, safety and efficacy of medical instrumentation." AAMI helps train, educate and certify medical technicians. The organization produces its own educational materials and professional publications for the use of its members.

Identification

• The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation was created in 1967. It is the foremost professional organization for manufacturers, researchers and operators of medical equipment. AAMI membership includes about 6,000 individual members and 375 medical organizations located all over the world. AAMI is a voluntary consensus, nonprofit organization. It is not a government agency.

Function

• The AAMI is considered the resource of record for information regarding the technology and usage of medical instrumentation. The AAMI hosts more than 100 committees of medical professionals, engineers, technicians, equipment manufactures, researchers and government regulators. These committees help develop standards for the industry. They research new technologies and practices, and revise and update old standards as necessary. AAMI committees have great influence over the manufacture, training and use of medical equipment around the world.

Features

• One of the primary features of the AAMI is its educational programs. The AAMI produces books, magazines, technical documents and software to provide continuing training to its members. It also certifies medical technicians in a wide range of specialties. The AAMI sponsors an array of conferences and expos so that AAMI members can share their medical instrumentation knowledge and experience with each other.

Benefits

• AAMI members get a subscription to the the organization's bi-monthly peer review journal, "Biomedical Instrumentation and Technology." They also get a subscription to the AAMI monthly newsletter. AAMI members gain access to the AAMI professional directory, the AAMI database and career center. Members get discounts on conferences, can pursue AAMI continuing education programs, and are allowed to participate in standards committees to help form policy.

Significance

• AAMI recommended practices and standards are viewed as industry standards in many areas even though they are not officially sanctioned by government regulations. Many healthcare facility inspections site AAMI recommended practices and standards when pointing out shortcomings and violations. Membership in AAMI is strictly voluntary, but its views are so widely respected throughout the medical instrumentation community that few respectable medical organizations would dare defy them.