Technology in facilities management

Technology in Facilities Management

The many processes, systems and strategies that facilities management needs to manage to keep any facility running efficiently and securely all share a common foundation of being heavily reliant on secured and stable information technologies. Of the many industries that must have a stable information systems and technology platform to succeed, healthcare organizations are the most dependent on effective use of information technologies, systems and platforms to ensure they stay in compliance to laws, regulations and codes (Blake, Massey, Bala, Cummings, Zotos, 2010). What emerges from this analysis is the finding that information and knowledge are the catalysts of any successful facility management strategy especially in healthcare (Lai, 1985). The intent of this analysis is to evaluate the role of technology in facilities management within healthcare organizations, looking at three real-world examples of how technology has augmented and strengthened the value chain of healthcare providers. Ethical and compliance considerations must be taken into account when integrating technology into facilities management plans and programs, in addition to multiple levels of security in this industry as well. These considerations are discussed in this analysis.

Examples of Technology in Facilities Management

The scope of technological use within facilities management must span the entire value chain of an enterprise to be successful (Blake, Massey, Bala, Cummings, Zotos, 2010). For a healthcare industry this involves the supply chain, the ongoing management of hospital information across patients, practitioners, suppliers and key stakeholders including treatment partners and associated healthcare organizations.

The three real-world examples concentrate on each phase of the value chain for healthcare providers, starting with the suppliers. The long lead times for hospital supplies, the many phases of compliance and continual government audits that many hospital suppliers must adhere to all conspire to drag out delivery dates of needed supplies. Often the supply chains for medial suppliers is complex, difficult to predict in terms of actual delivery date, and as a result can drastically impact the performance of a healthcare facilities over time. To counter this problem, facilities management teams are using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to streamline their warehouse and storage operations, often vertically integrating this technology back to their suppliers by requiring their adherence to this standard (Thuemmier, Buchanan, Fekri, Lawson, 2009). RFID is making it possible to minimize the amount of storage space facilities management must allocate by specific practice treatment area, in addition to streamlining the incoming inspection and evaluation process for treatment materials ranging from fixed assets to prescription treatments (Thuemmier, Buchanan, Fekri, Lawson, 2009). RFID is also being used as a means to track patient monitoring and also patient treatment flow throughout hospitals throughout the U.S. And Europe today, yielding up to 66% gains in time efficiency of treatment staffs (Thuemmier, Buchanan, Fekri, Lawson, 2009). This level of efficiency in supply chain management, patient monitoring and patient workflow analysis have made RFID a technology that facilities management professionals are evaluating for their time, accuracy and cost savings possible from deploying it well throughout an enterprise.

The second dominant use of technology in facilities management in healthcare is the area of security. The Emergency Room (ER) and Intensive Care Units (ICUs) are areas where there are multiple layers of security and protocols necessary to ensure personnel who can immediately help patients in critical condition can gain access to these areas (Huckman, 2003). It systems make it possible to control access to ER and ICU areas quickly with just the swipe of a bade or a biometric thumbprint (McGurkin, Hart, Millinghausen, 2006). Facilities management contributes to the efficient and life-saving function of ER and ICU units be restricting access to the specific roles and responsibility of each healthcare professional involved in treatment programs. There are also it systems designed to alert those members of a hospital's staff to immediately rush to ER and ICU areas when there are patients needing their specific expertise (Huckman, 2003). Where every second counts, the integration of information technologies and facilities management can and do very often mean the difference between someone surviving a traumatic event or potentially terminal medical condition.

A third real-life example are the pervasive Healthcare Information Systems (HIS) and Patient Information Management Systems (PIMS) that form the backbone of any healthcare facility. These are systems that capture all relevant patient demographic, treatment and health-related data in addition to showing the specific costs of treatment and profits as well (McGurkin, Hart, Millinghausen, 2006). In short, these systems form the basic financial structure of a healthcare systems. There are according to one estimate $71B in HIS and PIMS systems installed every year on average globally (Blake, Massey, Bala, Cummings, Zotos, 2010). These systems are the most regulated in terms of compliance as well, with the requirement they be operated to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Every hospital and healthcare facility must comply with HIPAA per federal mandate, which puts the pressure on facilities management to ensure the HIS and PIMS systems and their equivalents are secure, stable from an operations standpoint, and capable of supporting wide variations in access and use.

Ethical Conflicts of Profit Margins vs. Compliance