Ensuring Compliance in Healthcare: The Role of Facility Management (Full Transcript)

Speaker 1: Welcome to another informative video from Upkeep. I'm Ryan Chan, the CEO and founder. Today we are going to discuss the importance of facility management in healthcare organizations and its role in ensuring compliance with health and safety regulations. We'll cover topics such as emergency preparedness, infection control, medical gas and vacuum systems, and HVAC systems. Along the way, we will also explore how a computerized maintenance management system, or CMMS, and a computerized facilities management system, or CAFM, can help in this process. Did you know that facilities management plays a crucial role in supporting compliance in healthcare facilities? It's true. By tracking and addressing maintenance-related data, healthcare organizations can monitor their emergency preparedness, infection control, medical gas and vacuum systems, and even their HVAC systems. This proactive management of facilities data helps healthcare organizations better comply with rules and regulations ensuring the health and safety of patients. Let's delve into this a bit more, starting with emergency preparedness. Facilities management should be on top of identifying the critical preventive maintenance tasks required on emergency systems. By routinely testing various aspects of the healthcare facility, we can ensure they are in good working order. This includes servicing alarm systems, entrance security systems, and backup generator systems. All of these steps can help a healthcare facility be prepared for anything from inclement weather to a loss of power. Next up, infection control. According to Health Facilities Management magazine, management should focus on four key areas of compliance to minimize the spread of the most dangerous infections. First off, facilities management should ensure proper pressurization and ventilation in critical care areas. Secondly, it's crucial to eliminate contaminants from construction work and to address bacteria growth in water systems. This helps avoid contamination of sterile compounds in hospital pharmacies. But how can we keep track of all these areas? Well, mapping technology can help healthcare facilities pinpoint high-risk patient areas, and a CMMS can automatically assign daily work order inspection tasks to the areas that need the most attention. Moving on to medical gas and vacuum systems. A computerized facilities management system, or CAFM, can make tracking these systems less intimidating. This software automatically schedules regular work orders and keeps accurate records in a central location. And guess what? There's a mobile version of your system that gives facilities technicians the compliance codes and history to complete tasks more efficiently and effectively. This record-keeping will also make compliance audits easier and less stressful for the healthcare organization. Last but not least, let's talk about HVAC systems. Keeping your HVAC systems well-maintained is critical to a healthcare organization's ability to comply with regulations and operate in a safe and efficient manner. By recording the maintenance, repair, and inspection history of your critical HVAC components, you can make data-driven decisions about replacement and service. An efficiently run HVAC system not only ensures the health and comfort of your employees and patients, but also helps you maintain sensitive areas that require specific temperature or ventilation requirements for the health and safety of all. So there you have it. Facilities management is a key player in supporting compliance in healthcare facilities. By tracking and addressing maintenance-related data, healthcare organizations can ensure they are meeting all necessary regulations and providing the safest environment for their patients. Thank you for watching this video. We've covered the role of facilities management in healthcare organizations, the importance of emergency preparedness, infection control, medical gas and vacuum systems, and HVAC systems. We've also discussed how tools like a CMMS and a CAFM can streamline this process. Remember to subscribe to our channel for more informative content. If you want to learn more about how Upkeep can help your team, visit us at upkeep.com.