We can all relate to having our weight taken during each medical visit. Our first encounter with a scale just after our birth is a kind of harbinger to what will be the most consistent measure of our health status done by clinicians.
Obtaining patient weight is fundamental, found across an array of hospital departments and specialties including:
In a recent article in Healthcare Facilities Today, CME Corp’s Cindy Juhas talks about the year-end capital budget process, and outlines some of the planning that needs to unfold at the end of the year through the following year. CME can help you with that planning in three distinct ways.
Most healthcare systems have a Green Initiative and are making great strides in reducing carbon emissions in their daily activities. To a large extent though, many are not looking at what happens at a new facility construction site. CME Corp’s Cindy Juhas recently published an article, “When green sites earn black marks” in Healthcare Purchasing News.
Cindy cited an article in Building Forward that stated “While green building and energy efficiency have been a rallying cry of the construction industry for nearly two decades, the amount of waste that’s produced at construction sites to build these more environmentally friendly structures has only continued to rise, as builders still simply throw out materials on-site that could be recycled or reused.”
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as cited in a recent Building Forward article, 169 million tons of building construction and demolition waste was generated in 2015 (the latest period for which data is available.) Only 38% of this debris was recovered for recycling. This is a big number and one that many are looking to improve.
CME has been working on decreasing the amount of waste generated at a construction site for years. Not only is it important from a green perspective but decreasing waste at a construction site also helps the healthcare facility streamline activities at the site and ultimately facilitates on-time construction schedules. All of these factors are extremely important to healthcare facilities.
CME has focused on three specific areas to help decrease waste at healthcare construction sites.
What’s the difference between a purpose-built pharmaceutical-grade refrigerator and a common dorm or household refrigerator picked up at the local big box store? The CDC gives very clear guidance in their Vaccine Storage and Handling Tool Kit1 that these style units are never acceptable.
Since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, more health care facilities have embraced value-
based health care. The focus on cutting costs, increasing patient satisfaction, improving medical outcomes and reducing re-admittance rates has revolutionized the industry, and has facilities focused on quality care and the patient. Many hospitals, clinics and outpatient facilities are taking on renovation projects, repurposing existing spaces and replacing outdated equipment to accommodate this new value-based health care model.
