RTLS Location Accuracy and Its Affect on Hospital ROI
Although the decision to explore RTLS may be easy, the actual evaluation of competing technologies and vendors is often made more difficult by excessive hype, and frankly the confusing and often misleading information around ROI.
RTLS is both a simple technology and a sophisticated multifaceted information flow. For most hospital administrators, the decision to explore a Real-Time Locating System is easy. There are myriad documented values for hospitals – hard dollar financial savings and soft dollar productivity, patient care and patient safety returns – at hundreds of hospitals across the country.
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Submit Proposed Changes to FGI Guidelines Before Oct. 31 Deadline
Heath care facility managers, administrators, engineers, designers, medical professionals and others involved in the design and construction of health care facilities are encouraged to submit proposed changes to the 2010 edition of the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities before an important deadline October 31, 2011.
If you have used the Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) Guidelines to help plan a health care facility project, did you run across language you found unclear? Do you think any requirements in the Guidelines are too strict or not stringent enough? Would you like to see requirements for a particular hospital unit or outpatient facility type added to the text? Submit a proposal on the Facility Guidelines Institute proposal site: www.fgiguidelines.net/proposals.
The 130-member multidisciplinary Health Guidelines Revision Committee will consider all proposals received by the public. The American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE), which partners with FGI to publish the Guidelines, encourages health care professionals in a variety of roles to make their voices heard before the October 31, 2011, deadline for accepting suggested changes.
The proposal submittal period is the first step in the revision process that will ultimately result in the 2014 edition of the document. A second public input period will occur after a draft of the 2014 Guidelines has been released.
The FGI Guidelines are updated every four years and are currently used by more than 42 states and several federal agencies to regulate health care facility design and construction. For more information about the Guidelines or the proposal period, visit the FGI website at www.fgiguidelines.org.
Midwest Heathcare Engineering
Conference & Trade Show
Exploring the Winning Ways - November 2-4, 2011
Indiana Convention Center
100 S Capitol Ave
Indianapolis IN 46225
Just a couple of the topics discussed at the conference:
Drying Out and Getting Back to Work – A Study in Disaster Management and Recovery
- Understand the critical nature in reviewing your organization as being a victim to a disaster rather than a haven from a disaster
- Assemble the critical events and project plans in reaction to a critical event
- Understand the operational work and response to business continuity and working with FEMA
In June of 2008, Columbus Regional Hospital suffered the effects of a 500 year storm that flooded the hospital. The flood necessitated the evacuation of 157 patients and resulted in the loss of the hospitals utility infrastructure. The journey to bring back services to the hospital took nearly 5 months. This presentation will outline the effects of immediately addressing the disaster to the facilities implications in planning a rebuild of the facility and eventually reopening to the public.
David Lenart, Columbus Regional Hospital
Efficient Design + Productive Care: Designing Emergency Departments that Improve Staff Productivity
- Reduce excess travel, staff turnover, and full time employees within the Emergency Department through proper design techniques
- Significantly improve patient outcomes and increase quality time spent on patient care
- Save money on staffing costs that can substantially benefit the facility’s bottom line
A thorough understanding of efficient design within the Emergency Department is imperative to the productive care offered within your facility’s ED. This presentation demonstrates the impact of design on staffing, travel, patient care and throughput. It includes associated facility time and motion matrices, considerations and cost savings. Three emergency departments are studied, analyzing Physician, RN and Tech movements. Design conclusions are discussed; demonstrating that during the 20-year life of a typical Emergency Department, the correct design approach can save over $10,000,000.
Wayne R. Estopinal, AIA, ACHE, LEED AP, TEG Architects
Help Us Keep You Up to Date
The ISHE members services staff will be reaching out to you to ensure we have your latest contact information. Please look for an email/call from ISHE Member Services, or contact us at membership@isheweb.org.
ISHE is Growing!
You've probably noticed the increased frequency of news and information from ISHE lately. That's just part of our effort to develop the healthcare engineering profession in Indiana. We are also in the process of contacting prospective members. Help us to increase the voice of your profession by putting in a good word with your colleagues. Send any referrals or suggestions to ISHE Member Services at membership@isheweb.org.
Upcoming Meetings in 2012
ISHE is beginning to plan a
bi-monthly Round Table program.
If you would like to participate in this program as a speaker please contact Steve Thurston.
Email: SThurston@iuhealth.org
Phone: (317)908-8222 |
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