CREJ - Healthcare Properties - July 2017
While we can make numerous assumptions, no one really knows what the repeal of the Affordable Care Act will mean for the future of the United States health care system. We do know that hospitals are watching their budgets more than ever. It’s an uncertain time, but one factor is certain: Contractors have the opportunity to be an invaluable partner to health care clients by being knowledgeable, resourceful, competent and predictable partners. Contractors can help ensure long-term relationships with health care clients by demonstrating knowledge and resourcefulness of research and trends in health care design and construction. The Joint Commission Resources organization is a leader in researching and defining current and future trends in the health care industry. JCR, which regularly updates the Planning, Design, and Construction of Health Care Facilities publication, notes the strong link between the design of health care settings and outcomes experienced by patients, staff and families. Specifically, the design of hospitals contributes to medical errors that affect both patients and staff, including falls and infection, as well as slowed patient recovery time and high nurse turnover. According to JCR, “Well-designed, supportive health care environments can not only prevent harm and injury but also provide psychological support and aid the healing process. It has now become imperative to rethink facility design as a critical element in bringing about change in the way health care is provided and experienced in health care settings.” Contractors, acting as trusted partners to their health care clients, play a crucial role in understanding the connection between health care design and patient/staff outcomes, and utilizing that understanding to guide their health care clients through design and construction. Further, health care institutions increasingly rely on lean operations methods to reduce waste and improve the quality of the patient and staff experience, thereby improving quality and helping to reduce costs. Examples include integrating clinical delivery of care to shared and open spaces, as well as incorporating mobile technologies throughout the facility. To be resourceful and efficient partners to our health care clients, it’s important for design and construction teams to be knowledgeable of lean operating processes and incorporate them into project design and construction work.
Health care facilities rely on their contracting teams to be competent in common health care practices, including infection-control, safety precautions and daily operational activities. The construction team must have experience working inside a hospital environment. Mistakes on the construction site can cause delays, have dastardly health issues, be detrimental to finances and destroy a reputation. More than 50 percent of all common mold-related hospital acquired infections are caused by maintenance or construction-related work, according to the Infection Control University organization. To reduce the overwhelming number of HAIs that occur annually, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all personnel working in a health care facility have infection control training and follow proper protocols. During this unfortunate age of active shooters and similar life-safety concerns, construction firms also must be acutely aware of the specific badging procedures of each health care client. All contractor personnel on the jobsite should be badged, familiar with the facility and facilities management staff, and maintain good working relationships with construction and hospital teams. Demonstrating competency and efficiency also includes being helpful to our clients during project down time. For example, if the construction crew needs to wait three hours on a particular conference room to be open and available for construction work to begin, the crew can offer themselves as resources to facilities management for appropriate small project needs. Critical knowledge needed for contractor teams to be trusted partners to health care clients includes: thorough understanding of the health care facility, its operating guidelines, the standards for clean working environments, project timelines, short- and long-term goals for the client and hospital daily operation hours, cognizance of noise, indoor/outdoor foot and vehicle traffic, and parking needs for patients and families. By being a competent partner, contractors establish ourselves as trusted resources to our health care clients. They choose to work with us time and again because they know what they are getting – predictable, competent and efficient construction.