Prioritizing the health of operational assets
Finding the balance between asset and equipment life-cycle replacement and continuous compliance is a critical priority. In Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity, Joseph Allan and John Macomber summarize how critical building systems play a vital role in delivering high-quality occupant health.
Proper asset life-cycle management strategies will reduce the “break-fix model” and shift operations toward a patient- and reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) management approach. When health care facilities fail to prioritize deficiencies, it decreases equipment resiliency, drives up full-time equivalent employee costs and jeopardizes the physical environment. So what are the elements that can support being proactive versus reactive?
Core elements that support a healthy building include RCM; facility condition assessments and life safety assessments; computerized maintenance management systems; artificial intelligence used in tandem with continual commissioning systems; and continuing education. In addition, the categories of risk in the National Fire Protection Association’s NFPA 99-2012, Health Care Facilities Code, assist in prioritization of deficiencies and scheduled replacement of assets.
Effective asset management aids forecasting and operations, which in turn supports capital planning business cases and budget allocation. For example, critical revenue-producing spaces such as surgical suites should weigh heavily in asset management strategies due to the high risk to patients and the expensiveness of unplanned downtime in these areas. Other tactics to minimize risks include focusing on continuous compliance and optimizing capital planning, preparing master plans and increasing resiliency.
The physical conditions of assets, compliance and emergency management are among the most pressing concerns for facilities. Properly maintained assets address these concerns by reducing failures that compromise care, infection control and revenue.
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Michele Mucia, CHSP, HACP, a national health care market leader at Jensen Hughes.
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