Course Overview

This intensive training program provides Biomedical Equipment Technicians (BMETs) with the foundational IT, networking, cybersecurity, and system-integration competencies required to support modern connected medical devices. Over six weeks, students will progress through online modules, readings, weekly quizzes, and a 1-hour live webinar designed to build practical, job-ready skills in networking, HL7, DICOM, device configuration, and healthcare data workflows.

Prerequisites

None.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, students will be able to explain the role of networking in healthcare environments, including how medical devices connect to and communicate with clinical information systems across the hospital enterprise. Learners will develop a clear understanding of how networking supports patient care workflows, data exchange, and interoperability between devices, departments, and health information systems.

Students will also be able to differentiate key networking components—such as IP addressing, VLANs, routing, and network segmentation—and explain how these elements directly impact medical device operation, performance, and reliability. Emphasis will be placed on applying these concepts in real-world clinical environments where network design decisions affect device availability and patient safety.

In addition, students will be able to interpret HL7 messages, trace clinical data flow between medical devices and electronic medical record (EMR) systems, and identify common points of failure in device-to-system integrations. This includes recognizing how workflow events, message structure, and interface configurations influence successful data exchange.

Learners will further be able to analyze DICOM workflows, including the use of AE Titles, Modality Worklists, and image routing, to support radiology and imaging systems. Students will understand how imaging data is acquired, managed, transmitted, and stored across PACS, RIS, and vendor-neutral archives.

The course will also enable students to apply cybersecurity principles to medical device configuration by evaluating security risks, recognizing vulnerabilities, and recommending appropriate mitigation strategies. This includes understanding how network security controls and device hardening practices protect patient data and ensure regulatory compliance.

Finally, students will be able to troubleshoot medical device connectivity issues using structured methodologies, log analysis, network diagnostic tools, and OEM-specific resources. Learners will demonstrate the ability to systematically identify root causes, escalate effectively, and restore device connectivity in complex clinical network environments.