Optimizing Today, Preparing for Tomorrow:
Integrating Intelligent Building Systems in Healthcare Facilities
Integrating Intelligent Building Systems in Healthcare Facilities
Technology in healthcare is advancing at such a rapid pace that it often feels like our current medical spaces are incapable of evolving alongside the never-ending onslaught of innovation. Thankfully, that’s rarely the case. Unlocking the benefits of information technology in healthcare is a complex undertaking, but it’s something that healthcare organizations need to be planning for today if they want to stay nimble in the future.
As healthcare organizations work to integrate new technologies with existing systems, the goal is to ensure facilities are future-ready while enhancing the experience for patients, staff, and families, improving daily operations, and enable data-informed strategic decision-making. The key is using technology to drive progress, not just keep up, ensuring facilities stay ahead of the curve and aligned with business goals.
In this guide, we will explore the role of facility management and process automation technology in healthcare, the benefits of integrating today’s intelligent building systems and technologies, and the critical considerations and challenges for organizations to address.
We hope you find these perspectives and recommendations illuminating, and welcome the opportunity to discuss ways PMA can support the needs of your healthcare organization!
Eric Hoffman Vice President and National Healthcare Sector Leader
Doug King AIA, NCARB, ACHA Emeritus Vice President
Liz Page Project Director
Rob King Project Director
Gerard Peduto Senior Project Manager
The promise of intelligent building technologies in healthcare environments
In healthcare, creating future-flexibility starts with understanding how interconnected technology systems interact with physical healthcare environments and how intelligent building strategies can benefit the entire organization. Above all, these systems generate data, but many remain disconnected at the enterprise level, and legacy systems may not always be the best solutions. Complexity and lack of integration are often accepted as the norm, as healthcare leaders balance technological adoption with competing priorities, like worker shortages, patient competition, carbon reduction, and funding allocation.
New technologies aren’t a competition for resources but solutions to these challenges, driving efficiencies and better outcomes. Smart buildings automate tasks, reduce burnout, and give patients more visibility into treatment plans. Internet-connected systems improve efficiency, support net-zero goals, and lower operational risks and costs.
Understanding the technologies themselves
To better understand the role of technology in healthcare and its transformative potential, it is useful to explore the four major categories of relevant technologies and how healthcare organizations are using them in driving patient experience, facilities management, data-driven operations, and clinical care technology.
Patient experience technology
Number of technology
systems
in hospitals for operations, patient care, and financial management.
This technology is ued to improve the consumer’s experience, provide easier intake, enabled patient-centered care, and creates a seamless care journey inside and outside the hospital. Several examples of using technology include leveraging RFID systems to allow outpatients to “wait” for their appointments in a decentralized waiting location,
or allow the patient in an inpatient setting to control their environment (lights, music, shades, and communications devices) not unlike a five-star hotel experience.
In addition, properly integrating Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) across multiple caregivers provides a comprehensive, real-time view of a patient’s entire medical history, enabling truly personalized care. This holistic approach ensures that each caregiver has access to critical information, improving the speed and accuracy of interventions while reducing risks like medication interactions. Additionally, automating routine administrative tasks frees up valuable time, allowing medical staff to focus more on patient-centered care and less on paperwork.
Facilities management technology
This improves the day-to-day physical operation of healthcare spaces, making the maintenance of a experience in healthcare environments better and more efficient. This category of technology is designed to be less noticeable to the typical hospital visitor while still offering a significant positive impact on their experience. For example, hospitals are using smart building technology to improve air quality, HVAC efficiency, equipment maintenance, access control, comfort for patients and staff, and other similar activities.
Data-driven business planning technology
As healthcare systems face increasing competition, leveraging data to anticipate service demand is key to driving revenue and improving efficiency. By integrating patient-centric data with non-medical hospital data, organizations can make smarter decisions across all departments. For example, patient data can help forecast cafeteria needs by predicting the number of meals to be ordered,
optimizing food preparation, and minimizing waste. Similarly, connecting patient data with visitor information can improve hospital operations by helping parking lot staff anticipate peak times and manage traffic flow, ensuring smoother visitor experiences.
Clinical care technologies
All the data generated by clinical care technologies and equipment—such as patient diagnostics, treatment plans, and operational metrics—needs to be stored and operationalized in a centralized system to enable truly integrated, predictive care. Clincal technologies, like medical devices and imaging equipment, play a vital role in patient outcomes. While many devices don’t impact healthcare space design, others—like MRI machines—do, due to their size and weight. Facilities must be designed not only for current needs but also to accommodate future upgrades. This includes planning for equipment movement and ensuring data from these systems integrates seamlessly into a broader infrastructure that supports predictive care and operational efficiency.
For a hospital to be truly intelligent, all—or at least the vast majority—of a facility’s existing data needs to be captured and stored within the holistic healthcare ecosystem, without the need for human staff to carry out repetitive manual data reconciliation.
“The true benefits of a technology-connected andenabled environment can only be realized when all systems work together.”
The business case
Investing in integrated technology systems improves patient care and enhances business performance, profitability, and operational efficiency across all
areas of healthcare. These business performance benefits come in three primary categories: cost savings, maintenance and operations, and risk reduction.
Cost savings
Financial savings can be achieved via technology that minimizes energy consumption (and therefore cost), reduces waste, improves productivity, and optimizes operational efficiency. Many of these same systems also support environmental sustainability and carbon reduction goals. For example, as previously outlined - AI and robotics are significantly contributing to cost savings in multiple ways, including doing work that would, in the past, require human intervention to manage procurement and optimize the supply chain. AI systems and robotic devices can contribute to the internal transportation of materials; assist with quality control; perform disinfection; forecast demand for services and even handle basic customer service tasks (think: chatbots).
The 1.2 million square-foot Niagara Health System in Canada is implementing a smart hospital information system to streamline patient histories and automate shift-filling, improving staff efficiency. The system is expected to pay for itself in 6 years, saving millions over 30 years.
Maintenance and operations
Maintenance and operational improvements come from technologies that improve equipment performance, provide predictive and prescriptive maintenance guidance, decrease occurrences of building system disruptions, and help facilitate lifecycle cost planning.
The technology in medical settings includes sensors and smart meters that continuously collect
vast amounts of data on equipment performance, environmental conditions, and operational metrics. When collected and actioned correctly, AI systems can be leveraged to analyze trends and develop algorithms to predict when maintenance is needed or when equipment is at risk of failure. By leveraging real-time monitoring, hospitals can proactively address issues before they become critical, optimize energy and water use, and improve overall operational efficiency. These predictive insights not only enhance facility management but also help create a more sustainable and responsive healthcare environment.
At the patient-level, poor management of air quality, temperature, and humidity in a hospital can slow patient recovery or compromise the sterility of rooms and equipment. Smart buildings with environmental sensors paired with state-of-the-art HVAC systems make real-time adjustments to temperature, humidity, and rate of air exchange based on factorsfrom room occupancy to virus detection and more.
Technology can be used in multiple ways to significantly reduce financial, regulatory and operational risk. Physical security is always on the minds of healthcare executives, and smart building access control technologies can help protect sensitive areas such as nurseries and pharmacies that shouldn’t be accessible to anyone but essential personnel.
Automated, AI-powered security systems are increasingly being used in hospitals to enhance safety and reduce risk. These systems can monitor voice tone and volume levels in real-time, analyzing patterns of human activity throughout the facility. By detecting sudden changes in tone or escalated volume, the system can predict potential security issues, such as conflicts or disturbances, before they escalate. When a potential threat is identified, the system alerts security teams, enabling them to intervene swiftly and prevent problems from worsening.
The challenges and critical considerations of future-flexible technology
The journey to the intelligent healthcare facility of the future isn’t a simple one; integrating 50+ communications/information technology systems, choosing vendors and platforms, designing and building new spaces and ensuring flexibility for unknown developments to come is no small task. However, the benefits of integrating intelligent building technology are so numerous and substantial that organizations that don’t take steps to adopt this tech now are in fact creating a new challenge: the risk of being left behind.
But that doesn’t mean that deploying this technology is something healthcare organizations can or should rush into. We’ve identified 3 primary considerations to keep in mind as you evaluate your organization’s plan for transitioning from your current technology stack to the ideal future state:
Project Timelines
While every organization wants their space equipped with the latest innovations, technology decisions should be connected directly to the foundational vision behind a project and support the ideal end-state for running the business. Check out the 7 Phases of Healthcare Facility Development: A Technology-Centric Roadmap on page 7 for the key development phases and technology decisions owners and client teams must make.
Medical Equipment
Technology is not just a standalone system; medical technology extends far beyond building systems and internet-enabled devices. Making device and technology purchasing decisions inevitably comes with design and construction considerations for healthcare owners and operators.
Jump to page 13 to read a roundtable discussion with some of PMA’s medical device experts to learn how healthcare leaders can best create flexible, adaptive built environments that accommodate the latest in medical technology.
Data Collection and Sources
Data collection is central to smart hospital operations, but with diverse systems and inputs, it’s challenging to determine what data is needed and for what purpose.
On page 17, PMA’s Doug King explores the critical considerations for collecting and operationalizing data that is generated throughout the built medical environment.
Act now to achieve the benefits of healthcare intelligent building technology
Now is the right time to start moving toward an integrated system of intelligent healthcare facilities. If you’re hesitating because of concerns about rapid technological change, it’s important to weigh the potential cost of delaying progress.
Better patient outcomes, cost savings and other benefits await! There’s endless potential for the built environment to deliver intelligent buildings with technology systems that ultimately help care providers, staff and patients achieve safer, more positive experiences— and help to achieve better outcomes.
A Technology-Centric Roadmap
Healthcare systems are increasingly using smart technology to streamline facilities management, improve patient care, achieve better staff experiences, and leverage data to benefit the bottom-line, but the pace of technological advancement can make it difficult to know what new systems will look like in the near or long term, and what physical parameters they will require. Technology, in this context, is not just an add-on, but a fundamental tool that helps the facility to achieve its goals, drive efficiency, and support long-term functionality.
So how can healthcare project teams successfully implement new technologies in a forward-looking way? The answer is paradoxical: start earlier in the development process, long before plans are drawn or shovels hit dirt.
Let’s explore each phase of facility development to understand the key considerations and decisions that must be addressed to ensure successful technology integration with the built environment.
The 7 Phases of Healthcare Facility Development
key stakeholders define goals aligned with operational objectives and the long-term vision. This phase integrates visioning work and master plan development to identify opportunities and solutions for ongoing challenges. Active leadership involvement is crucial to ensure alignment with organizational goals, secure resources, and establish a foundation for innovation by addressing operational needs and technology strategies.
A proactive approach in this phase supports the integration of advanced systems like wireless infrastructure and AI-driven analytics, and helps avoid reactive problem-solving later in the project that can lead to change orders and higher costs. For example, patient sensors may not be top-of-mind with healthcare leaders, but failure to plan for and integrate that technology into a project may significantly erode the operations management and patient experience once the space is operational. Neglecting the planning phase can lead to fragmented solutions which create ongoing challenges, increased cost, and reduced functionality.
Pre-Programming— Turning Vision into Action
The pre-programming phase connects strategic goals to actionable plans, laying the foundation for a successful project. It emphasizes operational analysis to support business case modeling. During this phase project parameters are defined with input
from key stakeholders, including C-suite and board leaders, planning, design, and construction (PDC) teams, as well as end users like doctors, nurses, patients, support services, and staff.
Technology is key at this stage, as teams identify the range of low voltage and communications technology systems to be included in the project program. These systems can number more than 50 and include critical technologies like electronic medical records (EMRs) that must be integrated. Advanced tools such as RFID tracking, density sensors, logistics management, and predictive analytics should also be considered to align strategic goals with practical solutions. This allows for planning of data collection and analysis to establish a current state baseline for future comparison.
The pre-programming phase balances certainty and exploration. Some decisions, like broad system selection, may already be made, while others, like equipment tracking capabilities or patient flow management, evolve iteratively. Essential at this point of the project is the introduction of a responsibility matrix, like a RACI model, to assign clear accountability and information-sharing.
“With so many technology systems across departments being weighed at this early stage, project teams need to ensure decisions aren’t made in a silo.”
The benefits of a responsibility matrix include preventing miscommunication, reducing late-stage adjustments that can drive up costs, and enable a forward-looking approach to systems integration.
The insights from this phase set the stage for what’s
to come and provide a framework to refine system requirements. For example, medical equipment generates vast amounts of data, much of which will integrate with EMRs or cloud systems to support predictive analytics. Questions like “Where does this data go?”, “How will it enhance patient care or operational efficiency?”, and “How does it talk to other systems?” highlight the important intersections between technology and strategy.
Programming— Tactical Execution
The programming phase shifts the project from strategy to execution, translating planning outcomes into tailored tactics. It involves PDC leaders, external architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) vendors, and end users to ensure alignment. As the vision takes shape, this phase introduces ambiguity as assumptions about space, usage, and operations influence the design.
At this point, the team expands to include specialized consultants for advanced technology, such as pneumatic tubing and/or robotics technology, which can connect hospital areas and provide faster transportation of items. The type of system, how it will be integrated in the hospital space, how it will connect with other systems, and how carried items will be tracked all must be considered to ensure the system is optimized prior to construction. These specialized technology systems frequently get deferred or treated generically at this point in the process, which can lead to challenges later down the line.
Often overlooked areas include:
A structured responsibility handoff plan, including for example, directives like choosing the EMR system guide detailed planning and programming. Key tasks include space and functional programming to align physical layouts with operational workflows.
Budget refinement; this should reflect changing and evolving decisions considerate of target value design, such as in-house servers versus cloud
solutions for storing data collected from RFID-enabled systems, which can significantly affect costs.
On-paper integration of systems, such as vertical transportation, pharmacy controls, and access sensors, which should be planned and aligned with overarching goals. Regular milestone reviews and a team that is responsible for reviewing technology decisions before they are final are key to ensuring tactical execution matches the project’s vision.
Neglecting to consider technology and operational needs during the programming phase introduces significant risks to productivity, safety, and budget and can lead to retrofitting those results in 30-50% cost premiums or sacrifices in functionality. For example, tech-enabled mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems are often bid late in the project and create a “day of reckoning” when budgetary assumptions meet actual costs.
4
Design— Bridging the Gaps
The design phase aligns the overarching strategy with the needs of individual programs, ensuring value-based operational integration. Like the programming phase, PDC leaders and external AEC vendors are key players.
This phase comprises several distinct sub-phases— schematic design, design development, and construction document preparation—each with specific objectives and definitions. These sub-phases collectively translate the vision into actionable plans, bridging strategy with technical and operational needs.
Another consideration in the design phase is how to procure different technology systems, which often hinges on the healthcare system’s purchasing philosophy. Single-source providers offer a more turnkey solution, while a competitive approach can help lower costs and secure advanced technology. Regardless of how technology is procured, the
specifics of systems like RFID will heavily influence design specifications.
“Early commitment to specific systems is important as it will affect spatial planning and downstream processes.”
Programming needs, like the number of exam rooms or position of nursing stations, are determined in this phase, and inform the operational workflow in new spaces. Mock-ups and simulation exercises can be used here to help teams visualize and refine how a facility will function, reducing potential misalignment between the design and operational realities.
While vendors are responsible for delivering equipment specifications, they often require signed purchase orders before producing site-specific shop drawings or installation plans, so delays in selecting and ordering critical systems can lead to project delays. Providers and leaders may want to delay equipment decisions until the latest-and-greatest model is released, but that too can hold up the project. Tracking decision timelines and integrating flexibility is key.
5
Pre-Construction and Construction— Transformation to the Built Environment
The pre-construction/construction phase takes the strategic vision into the real-world built environment, focusing on making critical decisions regarding how equipment and systems are to be installed, which can affect various aspects of the building. The various MEP systems and equipment all touch different technologies, and lead times for these components must be tracked as delays can disrupt the construction, substantial completion, and AHJ (authorities having jurisdiction) timeline.
In addition, virtual coordination, such as Building Information Modeling (BIM), plays an important role.
Early and informed BIM coordination allows teams to identify and resolve potential clashes before onstruction begins, minimizing time and cost overruns. And as more work is prefabricated off-site, making sure that all software, hardware, and infrastructure elements are aligned is essential for a smooth installation process. Technology considerations are important in this phase because they ensure the construction process is efficient, cost-effective, and future-flexible. For example, decisions about access control systems or data infrastructure can influence the long-term functionality and adaptability of the built environment. Addressing these elements during the pre-construction phase allows for better flexibility in incorporating new technologies.
“The risks of omitting technological omitting technological planning in the pre-construction stage can escalate costs, cause delays, or introduce outdated or unnecessary systems and equipment.”
Failure to make timely technology decisions can also lead to missed opportunities to incorporate new or efficient solutions, thereby placing the building at a disadvantage for future operational efficiency.
6
Activation— A Shift to
Operational Readiness
In this transformative stage, strategy comes to life through implementation. The focus shifts from building to operational readiness, and construction sites are transformed into fully functioning healthcare environments. Participants involved at this stage include PDC leaders, external AEC vendors, and end users, including care givers and staff.
A key tech consideration at this moment is system commissioning, which involves both individual systems commissioning such as HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and healthcare-specific systems as well as technology inter-system commissioning to make sure all function cohesively. Commissioning helps
ensure facilities are safe, efficient and able to meet the needs of patients, employees, and visitors. It’s also a critical part of equipment life cycle planning, helping to prevent costly repairs and downtime by verifying all is working as intended.
Technologies such as RFID sensors, destination dispatch elevators, and access control systems must function in unison during this phase. A key step is planning the sequence of operations within these systems to make sure they deliver the intended results. Equally important is implementing a comprehensive orientation and training program for end-users, such as staff transitioning from older systems. Early involvement of end-users in testing not only familiarizes them with the new technologies but also helps identify and address potential “bugs” or workflow mismatches. This helps ensure smoother integration and alerts healthcare leaders when old ways of doing things are inadvertently carried over into the new space.
Getting the technology integration right is key, but planning for future scalability is equally important. Skipping these considerations can lead to disruptions, system failures, and higher costs. The activation phase is also a key time to test redundancy, ensuring systems back each other up and maintain the integrity of hospital operations and data.
“If technology fails to align with the overall strategic goals of the project, the overall vision of the project will be misaligned, leading to modifications post-activation, which can take operations offline and cost significant dollars in downtime.”
Stable Occupancy— A Smooth Transition to Fully Functional
The stable occupancy phase focuses on optimizing a healthcare facility’s operations and ensuring a smooth transition from the construction phase to fully functional, day-to-day operations.
A key aspect of this phase is the integration and fine-tuning of technology systems that were implemented during the construction and activation phases. This is particularly important for technologies that are complex, such as specialized medical equipment or advanced security systems, which often introduce the most significant challenges.
One of the main challenges faced during this phase is having the right resources available post-occupancy. For example, when selecting a building automation system (BAS) provider, it is important to negotiate adequate post-opening support, ensuring that a technician is available for a specified number of hours each week to address any operational issues that arise. Additionally, considering the number and complexity of technologies within the facility, leaders need support to re-evaluate systems and processes based on real-world feedback.
The benefits of addressing technological considerations during stable occupancy include systems that are working together smoothly and can prevent future operational disruptions. If the technology is properly implemented and tested, it can lead to increased efficiency, reduced downtime, and improved patient care.
Technology cannot get lost in the project shuffle, as it is a critical driver of patient care and operational efficiency. To ensure successful outcomes of a project, technology must remain central to every phase but is especially critical to be integrated in the early phases of a project.
Doing so will prevent costly retrofits and will ensure that systems work in harmony. In the end, this approach not only meets today’s needs, but also will better position the healthcare facility for future needs and advancements.
Essential Planning Considerations for Medical Devices in Healthcare Facilities
The pace of healthcare technology is rapidly evolving to the point where even the most cutting-edge medical equipment can become obsolete seemingly overnight. We recently held a roundtable with three members of PMA’s healthcare sector team: Eric Hoffman, Vice President and Healthcare Sector Lead; Rob King, Project Director; and Gerard Peduto, Senior Project Manager. As experts with collective decades of experience in the space, they discussed how healthcare leaders can best create flexible, adaptive built environments that accommodate the latest in medical technology and help healthcare systems ensure buying decisions are future-flexible. Their conversation is below.
Q: How do healthcare systems think about medical equipment and devices and their role in the built environment? How do you categorize the tools, machines and instruments that fall under this broad category?
Rob King (RK): There are two primary categories of medical equipment and devices: fixed and movable. Fixed equipment is the big machinery—MRIs, CAT scans and X-rays, cardiology catheterization labs and interventional labs for other minimally invasive procedures. This equipment is so large, with such exact requirements, that the space must be purpose-built for it.
In radiation oncology practices, therapies such as linear accelerators and gamma knife require large, shielded rooms to house the equipment. However, they also require control rooms, pre and post treatment areas, exam spaces, treatment planning areas, and a whole host of other space requirements. The physical environment must be planned and built in a way that supports the equipment and the workflow of the people who use it, including the supplies they need on a day-to-day basis.
Gerard Peduto (GP): The other category of medical equipment is movable devices, like pumps, portable X-rays, EKGs—basically things that are small enough to move in and out of rooms. While these devices are meant to be readily available and move to the patient, they still have built-environment requirements.
A portable X-ray, for example, may need shielding in patient rooms for safe use. Dedicated storage for these items is also important, as without it, movable devices often end up shoved in a hallway or otherwise left in the last place they were used, which can make them difficult to locate or retrieve quickly.
Q: What are the built-environment considerations healthcare systems need to keep in mind when making medical equipment decisions?
RK: Timing is critical—when do you think about equipment in terms of the development project? Many healthcare systems will wait until the design stage or later to consider the space needs, which can result in delays and cost overruns. There’s always a balance between the project team, who wants these decisions made as early as possible, and the administrators and care providers, who want to wait for the latest and greatest equipment to come online before they put in their purchase order.
Every project breaks down to who, what, when, where and why. It’s the why that’s most important. Why are you building this? What business purpose does it serve?
As projects move along, people can become untethered to the “why”. They get lost in the details of plans, materials, contractors and subcontractors. But the further you get from your “why” the more likely you are to introduce mistakes that need to be corrected later, and that always comes at a cost of both money and time.
Eric Hoffman (EH): That “why” also has to be future-focused. The pace of change in healthcare is so fast, facilities need to think about why they want this equipment now and how they might use it in the future. Often planning comes down to assumptions about growth, but if a disease is cured or the innovation around equipment outpaces the construction
process, how are you going to deal with that? Healthcare systems must consider how their needs will evolve to keep their space future-flexible. How can project teams help healthcare systems keep their medical equipment decisions future-flexible?
GP: Forward-thinking healthcare systems will not only build the space for the machine they have today but include considerations for how they will replace it, 10 or 15 years down the line in the initial development plan. For example, if an MRI is located in an area where you’d have to rip half of the building apart to replace it, that becomes a major problem in terms of cost and feasibility.
RK: There are also issues of redundancy—how do you ensure your equipment is up and running as frequently as patient volume or regulations demand? An outpatient imaging center may opt to run a three-MRI suite off one chiller and if the chiller goes down, taking all the MRIs with it, so be it. But a stroke center or Level 1 trauma center that needs an MRI that is operating 24 hours a day would require cooling redundancy to make sure that no single point of failure would take out all of their scanners.
EH: Proper space planning can help healthcare systems decide where to go above and beyond the requirements to best serve their business goals and patients, and when to do the minimum to meet regulatory requirements and maintain status.
Q: How do the physical plans for medical equipment help healthcare systems meet their goals and realize ROI?
EH: When the physical layout of a room is off, it messes with the flow of healthcare delivery and that
has revenue impact across the board. There are only so many cost centers in a healthcare facility. Imaging is a money maker, so many facilities want to tie their imaging equipment purchases to workflow and overall productivity. Space planning helps to maximize staff productivity, enhance patient and staff experience and minimize machine downtime, which in turn boosts revenue.
GP: When hospitals invest in these major pieces of equipment, they’re betting they can serve a certain number of patients per day or year to make up for the cost. If patient volume changes due to alternative therapies or bottlenecks in the workflow, it can upend their entire revenue model.
For example, if you have four MRIs side by side, it’s really difficult to replace anything that might break on those machines. Shielding door seals, mechanical support equipment, electrical systems, and coolant filters will require servicing well before the 10–15-year lifecycle of the machine. How are you going to get that equipment in and out without interrupting workflow to and from adjacent MRIs and support spaces? We’ve found ways to do it when we’re working on a replacement project, but it’s better to think of these complex issues before you make final layout decisions.
RK: That’s why it’s so important to bring in end users early in the project. Doctors, nurses, support staff (facilities, safety, etc.), and other caregivers provide critical insight and spot issues that others don’t. The project team has to make good use of their time, but waiting until the end to consult them can cause project delays.
I was working on a cardiac catheterization lab suite where the clinical team wasn’t involved in the project. When they came to look at the nearly complete space, they saw the doors weren’t wide enough. We had built the doors to accommodate stretchers, but sometimes admitted patients would require an emergency procedure. Those patients would be arriving in wider hospital beds! In an emergency,
there would be no time to move a patient from a bed to a stretcher.
This minor detail in the grand scheme of things required a change order to fix and delayed finalization of the project.
Q: How else does the built environment affect the flow of service and productivity for caregivers?
GP: Every healthcare space works when people and process fit together. Medical devices just add a level of complexity to that formula.
Machines have a pre-determined footprint, and they need support space like control rooms with sight lines for the people working those machines to have eyes on the patient.
EH: Basic functionality is important. If an MRI requires cleaning between patients, and the cleaning supplies are located down a 100-yard hall, it creates problems for staff and can even create security concerns depending on who has access to that area and the supplies. You don’t want one full-time person on your books just to manage cleaning a single MRI because the supplies aren’t in the right place.
RK: Storage for consumables, like catheters or contrast solution, is often overlooked in design plans, because the team is trying to optimize every square inch of space. But storage becomes a huge issue once a building is operational. There’s never enough space for these things, which typically don’t live in treatment or diagnostic rooms.
EH: Another consideration is how the equipment ties into the facility’s data collection. Artificial intelligence, data collection and data analysis all require a physical footprint. Where is that going to live in regard to equipment? Are the connections in place to make sure all these systems are talking to each other? Is the equipment you’ve selected able to communicate with other systems?
Q: We talked a little bit about timing in regard to including equipment decisions earlier in the design process. Why else should healthcare systems make procurement decisions earlier in the process?
RK: Equipment decisions need to be made early because they require purpose-built rooms that have different specifications based on a particular piece of equipment’s manufacturer and model number.
We need specific info on conduits, structural support, cooling features, power requirements, HVAC, and infrastructure needs. You can’t switch equipment in the middle of a project without serious consequences.
GP: Medical teams want the latest and greatest, and that’s understandable. But I’ve worked on projects where we’re designing for a head CT scanner and then later, they change it to a PET MRI. Those are two totally different animals. The cost impact of that mid-project shift was over $2 million, and that’s not accounting for project delays.
RK: Technology is evolving faster than the design and construction process. Sometimes, you get a researcher who wants a new piece of equipment, or there’s a major shift in how services are performed, and you have to change the plan to accommodate that.
Vendors often offer deals at the end of the fiscal year or quarter based on their sales quotas, so hospital administrators will try to hit that window. But if you’re saving 5% and holding up the project for months, that might not be a good trade. Vendors won’t release their site-specific drawings until they have a purchase order, so timing is important.
GP: Delaying or changing the order may also mean you get a later manufacturing slot than necessary. All of this equipment is manufactured to “Just In Time” standards, so it’s possible a deadline will slip, and you’ll wind up with equipment later than expected, again delaying the entire project.
What are the benefits of considering the built environment when making decisions about medical equipment and devices? Why should healthcare systems prioritize connecting equipment purchasing and development decisions?
RK: It’s not a matter of why should they – they almost have to. If they want their equipment to function, they need to purpose build the space to accommodate it. I spent part of my career as a medical equipment vendor and routinely had to talk to clients about why their space plans just wouldn’t work. Having a team that understands the space needs, the support space needs, how the business operates, and how equipment ties to the project’s ultimate purpose is essential.
GP: Hospitals need flexibility, but it is in short supply when dealing with large equipment purchases. Planning for flexibility at the outset can help manage changing patient volumes, reduce downtime and ensure equipment is producing the expected ROI. And, even in areas like storage or ensuring proper accessories in patient rooms, it helps to think through these things early in the process, rather than retrofitting later.
EH: Thinking through the built environment when making equipment purchasing decisions is essential to connecting patient care to the business of running the hospital. Equipment that is well positioned can grow revenue and treat a higher volume of patients. It’s also essential for informing data collection systems and analysis for smarter care and more efficient healthcare systems.
Looking Forward: Why Data Collection is Crucial for Intelligent Hospital Operation
Written by Doug King with special thanks to Sandesh Jagdev, President and
In the rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, the integration of intelligent technologies into hospital environments is not just a luxury—it is a necessity. To effectively integrate and operationalize technology in a healthcare setting, it’s essential to understand how the data generated by the entire medical environment can be harvested and utilized to enhance the healthcare experience for patients, staff and visitors alike.
Collecting, storing and using data across a variety of medical and building systems provides real-time information that can better inform high-stakes decisions across clinical, operational and facility management operations. Data generated by Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and hospital systems enables continuous monitoring, predictive equipment maintenance and immediate response to emergencies. Data collection and analysis can also enhance safety, security and compliance, making it easier to meet healthcare regulations and improve the overall hospital environment. Most important, medical technology data can be leveraged to improve patient outcomes.
Ultimately, data collection is at the core of making intelligent hospital buildings truly smart. It enables operational improvements and supports better patient outcomes, higher staff satisfaction, and long-term sustainability for the healthcare facility. In this article, we will discuss the challenges and
opportunities of implementing intelligent systems in healthcare settings, sort through the litany of information and communication technology (ICT) systems deployed in medical settings, explain how data is gathered and analyzed within these systems, and provide a roadmap for optimal performance and return on investment (ROI).
ICT Systems: The Foundation of Intelligent Hospital Operations
Modern hospitals rely on advanced interconnected ICT systems to streamline operations, improve clinical outcomes, and enhance patient, staff and visitor experiences. These systems work in harmony to collect, store and process vast amounts of data that can then be used to inform smart decisions across hospital operations.
The key ICT systems involved in building a truly intelligent hospital can be categorized into the following distinct groups:
Building Systems
Such technologies as the building management system (BMS), medical equipment management system, and real-time location system (RTLS), play a
Founding Principal at Logimaxxx, for his contributions to this article!
pivotal role in ensuring that the building operates efficiently. They monitor everything from energy usage to the location of equipment, helping improve energy efficiency and overall operations performance.
Patient Care Systems
Hospital information systems (HIS), electronic health records (EHR), patient monitoring systems (PMS) and more track patient information in real time, providing doctors and medical staff with vital data that enhances the quality of care provided.
Service Delivery Systems
Systems for supply chain management and medication management help streamline complex hospital logistics and ensure that everything from pharmaceuticals to linens is delivered and managed efficiently.
Communication and Analytics Systems
Integrated communication systems (ICS) and artificial intelligence (AI) are becoming increasingly important. ICS systems powered by AI not only enable real-time communication across the hospital, but also analyze large data sets to generate actionable insights for decision-making.
Financial and Administrative Systems
Revenue management systems and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems handle everything from billing to human resources, ensuring financial health and operational optimization.
When integrated properly, these systems provide a holistic view of hospital operations, improving efficiency and supporting clinical excellence. The ability to gather and analyze data from each system in real time is key to creating a truly responsive and adaptive healthcare environment.
How to Collect and Integrate Data Across Systems
With such a wide variety of systems serving various clinical and operational functions, gathering useful data in a hospital setting requires the use of IoT sensors—small devices that collect data from their surroundings or from building equipment, and transmit that data via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or Ethernet to an analytics or monitoring platform. These sensors are part of the broader IoT ecosystem, in which everyday objects and devices are connected to the internet to share information and work together.
IoT sensors typically perform the following functions:
Sensing Physical Properties:
Detecting physical properties such as temperature, humidity, pressure, motion, light, or sound is often necessary in a hospital setting. For example, temperature sensors monitor the temperature of rooms or equipment, motion sensors track movement in a
building, and heart rate sensors monitor a patient’s vitals in a hospital.
Data Transmission:
After gathering the data, IoT sensors transmit data via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or other technologies to a cloud-based platform or a local device where the data can be processed or analyzed.
Imagine a patient newly admitted to a hospital. An IoT-based system monitors the patient’s vital signs and transmits real-time data to a central patient monitoring platform. Simultaneously, the medical team access the patient’s EHR, which details their medical history. A clinical decision support system (CDSS) integrates both datasets to help healthcare providers make informed treatment decisions. Meanwhile, the BMS adjusts the room’s temperature and lighting based on data from the RTLS system. Clinicians are able to view all patient data on an integrated dashboard and make better decisions in real time.
The integration of data from diverse sources allows for a more efficient hospital operation, enabling healthcare teams to respond quickly and appropriately to patient needs. This interconnectedness ultimately leads to improved patient outcomes
and better operational efficiency.
Automation and Alerts:
Many intelligent medical devices and building systems can automatically respond to data transmitted to or from IoT sensors. For instance, if a temperature sensor indicates that a surgical suite is too warm or a patient room is too cold, an HVAC with smart controls may be able to self-adjust to bring the room temperature to the proper level. If self-adjustment doesn’t fix the issue, a smart building management platform can automatically notify facility management staff to apply human expertise to the problem.
In a hospital setting, IoT sensors can monitor everything from patient vitals, bed occupancy and equipment status to environmental factors like air quality and room temperature, all of which can have a sizable impact on a hospital’s efficiency and patient outcomes.
Of course, all the data in the world is only useful in context. The data gathered by IoT sensors and disparate medical and building systems must be harvested and integrated , then analyzed and interpreted—possibly with the help of AI—and used to inform decision making and/or automated functions.
“Integrating data from various systems into a common platform is a critical part of creating a seamless, efficient and truly smart healthcare environment.”
The goal is to integrate and leverage data from IoT sensors, the EHR, the BMS and other hospital information systems to improve patient care and operational efficiency. To maximize the power of data, it’s crucial to build an interactive data integration and analysis process based on a closed-loop circular flow of tasks:
Achieving Performance and ROI
When considering the investment in intelligent technologies, hospitals must carefully evaluate the potential payback in terms of both performance and ROI. For example, hospitals can generally realize substantial savings and operational efficiencies from integrating smart building systems.
In fact, our experience shows hospitals that have implemented intelligent building technologies often see an ROI between 10% and 20% annually, with payback periods typically ranging from three to five years. Key drivers of ROI include energy savings, labor cost reductions, and improved maintenance through predictive analytics that extends equipment lifespans. With regard to healthcare operations beyond the building systems, intelligent technologies most lend themselves to the “Five Ds,” or tasks that are:
Dear: High-value and time-sensitive
Dirty: Involving soiled linens or janitorial work
Dull: Repetitive, such as restocking supplies
Difficult: Physically demanding or complex
Dangerous: High-risk or hazardous conditions, such as handling medical waste
By using IoT sensors and AI-driven autonomous robotic vehicles, hospitals can automate the movement of materials, food, medical supplies and linens, saving time and reducing human error. The same principles apply to enhancing the patient room environment by integrating lighting, HVAC, patient safety sensors and entertainment systems into a central control panel
Understanding and Overcoming Roadblocks to Successful Integration
While the potential benefits of intelligent hospital operations are significant, several challenges can arise on the road to fully integrating these systems. One of the biggest hurdles is the need for cooperation among various vendors, many of whom are hesitant to share data or collaborate for fear of losing their competitive edge.
An experienced project management team can provide invaluable leadership for the complex task of implementing and integrating diverse and complex technology systems. One way to help streamline integration would be the creation of a repository for research and outcomes from systems integration projects. Like the public design repository of the Center for Health Design, data from intelligent technology implementations should be available to the wider healthcare community to help accelerate the adoption of best practices.
Looking Forward
As intelligent technologies mature, their use in healthcare spaces will grow, following a path like building commissioning. In the near future, hospitals will see more AI, IoT sensors and automation, which will enhance efficiency, responsiveness and care quality. The integration of these technologies will transform hospital operations, improving patient care, staff satisfaction and overall efficiency.
The future of healthcare is smart, and the transformation is already happening.
About Us
Project Management Advisors, Inc. (PMA) is a national real estate project delivery and advisory firm providing consulting services as the owner’s representative, including development management, project management, program management and investor representation.
Our healthcare sector team provides the leadership, commitment, and experience needed to deliver human-centered, tech-forward healthcare environments where care teams, patients, and guests feel supported by the built environment. We confront complex, evolving healthcare real estate and project management needs with straightforward guidance to ensure our clients achieve exceptional results.
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