By Jeff Wardon, Jr., Assistant Editor

Facility managers are always looking for ways to make their facilities run and function better. However, when they want to make a case for certain upgrades, it can be difficult to communicate the need to the chief executive officers or the “C-suite.” 

Given this, facility managers need a tool to help them prepare a budget and business case to advance their operational strategies. This is where a facility condition assessment (FCA) proves useful, according to Michele Mucia, vice president of Bureau Veritas Building & Infrastructure – Healthcare. 

The upfront uses of an FCA 

A FCA effectively provides detailed information about the healthcare facility’s physical assets, helping managers optimize their operations, prioritize replacements and upgrades, streamline procurement and ultimately reduce costs, Mucia says. 

“In addition, it reduces downtime in critical areas that are also revenue producing areas such as operating rooms that might lead to $150,000 in revenue per day,” says Mucia. “It's removing the costly reoccurring operational repairs instead of putting band aids on what we refer to as ‘break-fix models.’ So, it will assist the operating budget in that regard and start moving those operational problems into the capital budget to support those efforts.” 

In turn, this all helps improve the Facility Condition Index (FCI) score, which is an overall health score from an FCA. It also assists with benchmarking strategies for the physical environment and internal strategies for the C-suite such as master planning, optimization and space utilization.  

Making the most of other key metrics 

There are multiple different reports that can be pulled from a FCA. For example, some can get as granular with key performance indicators (KPI) to the components being assessed, ranking the equipment based on importance and condition. A FCA can be high level too, as it can cover replacing entire systems.  

However, KPIs aren’t the only metric worth using in conjunction with an FCA, as compliance metrics can also be incorporated into the data collected. Facility managers can use the data from the FCA and integrate accreditation bodies' metrics to make informed decisions by aligning their needs with the accreditation requirements.  

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“Let's say we're using the Joint Commission’s Elements of Performance (EPs) which are their criteria for environmental care, and I'm going to tie my need back to that specific EP,” says Mucia. “For example, there is a piece of HVAC equipment that is deficient. The EP3 standard indicates that we need to minimize risk for mechanical and utility systems. So, now I have my business case, a work order management paper trail and a proposal from the vendor to replace the OEM equipment. Now I'm going to tie all that to the scoring card for the Joint Commission’s processes.” 

The overall benefits 

By integrating KPIs from FCA with a work order management system, hospitals can effectively track maintenance routines and manage the financial aspects of their assets, according to Mucia. The approach creates a detailed financial plan for each asset, prioritizing them based on their risk to patient safety. It helps with making informed decisions about which assets need immediate attention and which can be scheduled for future maintenance or replacement. 

In addition, the data collected is used to build a financial case. This helps stakeholders understand the importance of investments in maintenance and replacement to lower risks and make hospital operations better. 

The process also helps hospitals prepare for accreditation reviews by bodies like the Joint Commission or CMS. 

“It also supports your Joint Commission or CMS accreditation bodies with strategies to increase your accreditation score, which happens either annually or every three years,” says Mucia. “This provides up to 52 percent of a hospital's revenue annually, which can continually support that operating budget, capital budget and the clinical side of the house as well.” 

Jeff Wardon, Jr. is the assistant editor for the facilities market.