Source: Associated General Contractorsof America Survey The latest estimates suggest demand for construction labor this year will outpace supply by more half a million workers. Workforce shortages will have major impacts on healthcare systems’ ability to fulfill capital objectives on schedule and within budget. Building the country’s hospitals, inpatient treatment facilities, and nursing homes will…

Outdated helipad equipment and overdue maintenance may expose healthcare facilities to unnecessary risks. Upgrades to meet the latest federal design guidelines can improve safety, facilitate on-going maintenance and improve the resiliency of air ambulance operations in the event of a major disaster. Source: SOAR Campaign Growing Reliance on Aging Helipad Facilities Air medical services are…

A centralized technology system command center can lower costs, streamline operational oversight, and provide more-effective technology assistance across enterprise healthcare systems. Source: Inquiry: The Journal of Health Care Organization Provision and Financing By merging technology-support departments into a single point-of-contact center, or SPoC, hospital staff can spend less time resolving technology issues and more time…

Modern U.S. hospitals require huge amounts of energy. A lack of insights into consumption trends can leave facility managers uncertain how to best remedy inefficient use of electricity, gas, or steam utilities. By tracking both facility-specific and campus-wide energy consumption, hospitals have greater visibility into their most inefficient building systems. Comprehensive, transparent system-performance data can…

Extreme events include a 2017 lightning strike at a Florida hospital, where a fire led to widespread failure of the back-up power systems. Within six hours, the hospital transferred all 225 patients. As climate change raises temperatures and produces more extreme storms, regions previously unaccustomed to lightning activity are now experiencing a greater number of…

Risks of Surgical Site Infections Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Despite recent medical advances, the risk of contracting an infection while undergoing surgery remains disproportionately high. Surgical site infection (SSI) is the leading cause of post-operative hospital readmission. Throughout surgical procedures, airborne particles carry microorganisms that can settle on surgical instruments or circulate…

With Access Comes Opportunity Up until now, the advent of 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) mostly benefited mobile consumers, streaming content and connecting to affordable cellular access wherever they roam. Implementation impediments have held back its potential for large enterprises. 4G LTE is limited in its ability to serve locations with a high density of…

Losing Power Comes at High Cost Recent utility data suggests the average number of annual weather-related power outages have at least doubled in recent years. Source: Climate Central It remains unusual for extended power outages to occur outside of a major weather event. Such incidents are, however, not unheard of. Reasons backup generators may stop…

The Swing Suite is a relatively inexpensive strategy of repurposing existing spaces. The concept may be appealing to healthcare providers given that it does not require relicensing of beds or adding more square footage. Implementation can be quickly instituted when a renovation or expansion of existing infrastructure is already underway. Cost-Effective Approach to Expand Capacity…

A few 5G basics 5G wireless networks are being offered in two basic species. It is important to develop a basic understanding of each. Let’s cut through the jargon and sort out the marketing hype. High Band/mm Wave refers to the area of the electromagnetic spectrum above 24 GHz. Transmitted between microwave and infrared waves,…