Six Benefits Health Care Owners can Expect to Achieve by Adopting and Implementing BIM Standards
What percentage of hospitals are adopting BIM
and/or some form of construction standardization throughout their
facilities?
Approximately 65% per a recent
study.
If you are in the AEC industry, you know there
is a growing presence of technology in health care construction. Across
projects, 48% of project managers use Building Information Modeling (BIM)
specifically for hospital construction. From streamlining renovations to tracking equipment,
BIM is a powerful solution for the health care industry. What are the overall
benefits of BIM in health care, and how is an accurate 3D model a logistical
asset?
In simplest terms, BIM is a 3D model of your
facility representing complex details of building components and detailed
information about those components. Your BIM model illustrates structural
components, walls, piping, ductwork, and equipment, to name a few. It shows the
plumbing system and pipes as they run through the building and their proximity
to structural walls and steel framing. At the same time, BIM is also an
accurate representation of human spaces. You can use a BIM model as a 3D map
for navigation, space allocation, and job/departmental assignments.
BIM is commonly used to coordinate MEP
(mechanical, electrical, plumbing) works so no trade crosses another's work -
reducing mistakes, costs, and logistical planning time. But health care has a
far greater potential for putting this 3D technology to use. Within a BIM model,
you can add further details like the location of specific resources and service
requirements for life safety equipment. This might include everything from your
supply closet locations to tracking service life for emergency room and
laboratory equipment for a health care facility. Combined with Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID) tracking, you can even keep a live 3D visualization of
all mobile assets inside the facility. BIM is a cutting-edge technology, and
some of these uses are still in development for future use. Your building could
be the advanced example of a new BIM implementation.
Advantages of BIM in Health Care Facilities
1.
Faster Remodeling & Repair Work
BIM removes the uncertainty of whether an
electrician will encounter a pipe or if a carpenter might impact a power line. With
BIM, coordination becomes easier by making the location of all structural
features apparent.
Coordinating outages is a life safety concern
and altering traffic can shut down entire wings and cost hundreds of thousands
of dollars. BIM allows your team to work more efficiently and accurately so
that down-time is limited, and costs are ultimately more controlled. BIM
facilitates the prefabrication of significant building elements like patient
room headwalls and emergency room suites, streamlining construction in the
field and optimizing schedule/cost savings.
2.
Visibility into the entire
facility in a model from your desk
The overall design for health care facilities promotes
patient privacy. The hallways are like mazes, and spaces like offices or supply
closets are discrete from patients and visiting family members. Unfortunately,
this can lead to lost space and inefficient functionality. If you need
every sink in use for post-COVID hand washing, a BIM model can quickly identify
which closets have hidden sinks without a facility-wide search.
Need a power outlet in an unusual location? The
BIM model knows where all the nearby circuits are - and if the feeder panel is sufficient
for planned usage.
3.
Faster Medical Equipment Planning
and Upgrades
Installing, servicing or upgrading medical
equipment is a vital pursuit for any health care facility. Often, you need more
than just a schedule - you need to know where equipment installation takes
place, if those rooms have the correct infrastructure, and which doors are wide
enough to wheel large equipment to where it needs to be. BIM makes this easy by
showing you the information you need - from the power devices to the
double doors.
4.
Easier Internal Equipment &
Resource Tracking
Internal equipment tracking is essential for
health care beyond the resource management we previously discussed. Your
facility undoubtedly includes several expensive pieces of equipment ranging
from handheld tools to X-Ray and MRI machines. Each piece of equipment needs to
be scheduled, serviced, and tracked through a chain of custody and work ticket
- but one missed step and you've got a missing crash cart on your hands or have
taken a piece of equipment out of service during planned patient use.
BIM provides a new way to track your
equipment. Using a combination of RFID tags and BIM technology, your Facilities
Maintenance and BIOMED Equipment managers can know where a piece of equipment
is and when it should be serviced. Whether you need to find missing equipment
or reassign equipment currently in use, your BIM model allows you to plan,
track and service critical building and medical equipment throughout its life
cycle.
5.
Increased Profitability through Optimized
Space Management
BIM isn't just a blueprint of your rooms. If
done correctly, it's an accurate representation of your building and all of its
components. With the precise placement of each shelf, machine, and piece of
furniture, you can also clearly visualize space use. You can reclaim square footage
by examining the BIM Model and identifying wasted space or where slight
adjustments could win you precious room for patient rooms, storage, clinical
areas, or more comfortable human spaces.
6.
More Efficient Facility
Maintenance
Lastly, BIM makes it possible to track your
building systems from basement to rooftop. By connecting BIM data with your
current Building Automation System (BAS), you can isolate a faulty circuit
and identify every room or outlet on that circuit. BIM can help you find an
elusive clog in the facility pipes or enhance your energy efficiency planning.
Interested in implementing BIM?
Whether your health care facility is a new
construction project, or you are planning a significant addition or renovation
in the future - BIM can provide the many benefits listed above. If you are
interested in getting started, or in increasing the likelihood of achieving the
benefits described above, contact us at vbono@buildwithproactive.com or
visit our BIM Platform at https://www.buildwithproactive.com/bim/
