IMAGINiT Building Solutions Blog

Add Crown Molding to Walls in Revit

By Jordan Mussett, IMAGINiT Building Solutions

This short video will show you how to add crown molding to walls in your Revit project by loading in a profile to be utilized as a sweep in the wall editor. The same process can be used for voids or reveals in walls.

 

 Visit IMAGINiT's Productivity Now Site to view the video.

BIM and Healthcare Facilities Management: Improving the Bottom Line

In this three part blog series, we’ve been focusing on healthcare, BIM, and facilities management. In this post, we’ll explore how the information captured in a model can directly contribute to the bottom line for healthcare organizations.

Among facilities managers, a little known fact is that the reimbursements associated with Medicare and Medicaid Space Reporting can account for as much as 8% to 12% of a healthcare organization’s bottom line revenue. In a sector where operating margins are as low as 2%, it makes sense to take advantage of every possible reimbursement.

Recovery of facility costs, however, requires detailed spatial data. Gathering accurate space and allocation information can be a massive effort. Healthcare organizations must work with CMS auditors to defend spatial data and demonstrate current allocations, as well as show changes in space inventory and allocations since the previous report.

Here is a simplified version of the annual space reporting equation:

(Facility costs) x (% of Medicare/Medicaid allowable) x (% of space occupied by the department) = Facility Costs Allocated for that Department

Healthcare organizations that use information models inherently understand space boundaries which eliminates the traditional CAD-based polylining process. In addition, BIMs can use the space classification to understand boundary positions. The effects of penetrations on space calculations are automatic based on model geometry. Simple exports or a direct connection from the BIM to other systems extend the value proposition. Changes are made in one place that are automatically propagated through associated systems, as opposed to manually coordinating changes independently in multiple systems and locations.

As noted in prior blog posts, capturing relevant facilities information in models created during construction or renovation projects requires early engagement with stakeholders like reimbursement analysts and facilities management. Ideally, design and construction teams will reach out to facilities management as part of their projects. However, facilities management teams should also be proactive and inquire how to include data in BIMs which will support building operation and reimbursement processes after project handoff is complete.

Crossing the divide between BIM and facilities management isn’t always easy, because it’s not how business has usually been done in healthcare organizations or in other sectors, as well. IMAGINiT has worked with firms throughout the building lifecycle and has insight into how organizations have smoothed the transition from one phase to the next. If you’d like to discuss your environment or learn more about best practices used by others, feel free to contact us.

BIM and Healthcare Facilities Management: Simplifying Compliance

In this three part blog series, we’ll be focusing on healthcare, BIM, and facilities management. In this post, we’ll explore how integrating BIM and an FM system can simplify accreditation surveys and other compliance related activities.

Accreditation surveys and compliance reviews keep healthcare facilities management teams on their toes. The Joint Commission (TJC), which accredits and certifies more than 20,500 healthcare organizations and programs in the United States, recently implemented a new standard which places responsibility for the design, installation, and maintenance of utility systems squarely on hospitals and healthcare organizations.

Standard EC.02.05.01 states that hospitals must manage risk associated with their utility systems. These include systems that support the use and function of the physical environment, such as heating and cooling, water distribution systems, and more. Key elements of performance (EPs) state that hospitals must:

• Design and install utility systems that meet patient care and operational needs. (EP 1)
• Maintain a written inventory of all operating components of utility systems or maintain a written inventory of selected components of utility systems based on risks for infection, occupant needs, and systems critical to patient care. (EP 2)
• Identify high risk operating components of utility systems on the inventory for which there is a risk of serious injury or death to a patient or staff members, should the component fail. (EP 3)

During an accreditation survey, facilities management teams must be prepared to provide documentation on different types of systems. For example, a typical request might be for two years of maintenance documentation for emergency diesel backup generators, as well as statement of condition documents.
Many facilities management teams still maintain information in a haphazard manner including paper or Excel files and disparate databases. With systems like these, responding to accreditor requests can take hours or longer. A better solution is to use a facilities management system. Populating facilities management software with data about utility systems doesn’t have to be difficult. As building information models are created for new construction or renovation projects, information about utility systems is usually captured in those models. That data can be easily integrated into facilities management systems where ongoing maintenance is tracked.

When surveyors ask questions about a system, the facilities team could quickly run a report out of the facilities management system. Not only does this help maintain accreditation, it also conveys to surveyors that the organization is efficient and well-run.

With technology and data management, it’s possible to streamline facilities management tasks and simplify mission-critical activities like compliance reviews. If you’d like to learn more about the intersection of facilities management, information models, and compliance, feel free to contact us. In the third and final post in this blog series, we’ll take a closer look at how using BIM to capture facilities data can improve healthcare organizations’ bottom line.

Using BIM for Facilities Management in Healthcare: Bridging the Gap Between Design/Construction and Building Operations

In this three part blog series, we’ll be focusing on healthcare, BIM, and facilities management. We’ll first explore the gap that exists between design/construction and building operations teams and how that makes it more difficult to use building information models throughout the building lifecycle.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is commonly used in the design and construction phases of healthcare projects. A building information model contains a wealth of data, but all too often the information isn’t usable for facilities management and building operations. There are several reasons why:

• Design and construction concerns dominate the process. The data needed to support design and construction is included in the information model, but the broader lifecycle considerations like facilities management are excluded. Or worse, the building operations aspects of the project are considered at the last minute and O&M manuals simply get embedded.
• Teams don’t begin with the end in mind. Building and renovation programs commonly start with a discussion about the design and construction information that must be in the information model, but that conversation rarely covers what will be turned over post-occupancy.
• AEC firms aren’t comfortable reaching out to new contacts. To identify the information needed to support building operation, AEC firms must reach out to the facilities management team. This often means stepping outside a comfortable circle of contacts. 

AEC firms often view owner organizations as monolithic, but in reality they are fragmented and siloed. In healthcare, for example, facilities management teams often have no insight into how data they control could increase their organization’s reimbursements from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. For these reimbursements, square footage allocations are essential and could be easily retrieved from a BIM.

One of the fundamental issues that must be addressed is connecting the silos that exist within healthcare. If this can be accomplished, information models will be more useful during the building operations phase.

Bridging the gap between the design/construction and building operations teams is more a process issue than a technology issue. Here are three recommendations for moving forward in a productive way:

1. Engage with a broader set of stakeholders. Facilities management teams should be included in BIM execution plan meetings. Given the intersection between building operations and financial reimbursements, it may also make sense to engage with space planners and reimbursement analysts.
2. Ask the right questions. Key topics to explore include who will use the data, what data is required for different aspects of building operations, and how will the data be maintained over time?
3. Develop use cases to guide the data that should be incorporated in the information model. These are the different scenarios and tasks that key stakeholders need to accomplish, as well as the information they need.

IMAGINiT understands the entire building lifecycle from design and construction through facilities management. If you have questions about BIM best practices and how to build a better information model to serve all stakeholders, feel free to contact us. In our next post, we’ll take a closer look at how integrating BIM and FM applications can simplify accreditation surveys and other compliance activities.