(2/12/2024)
"When a healthcare organization spends time re-evaluating current practices and strengthening strategies, the team can more effectively meet goals and build facilities that are well-equipped to operate efficiently and serve their communities effectively."
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From up-and-coming trends to standard best practices, healthcare leaders should regularly consider new opportunities to strengthen their organization’s construction strategy. Whether your health system is building a facility from scratch, converting spaces, or adding a new wing, continuous innovation is an essential part of promoting efficiency and driving long-term success.
Implementing new construction planning and management approaches that align with business goals and market projections creates momentum to reduce future costs and streamline processes while setting facilities up for success. Enhancing training for associates, re-evaluating vendor contracts, or consolidating project elements are just a few areas healthcare leaders can look to improve in driving results. By strategically examining how different solutions work with your team’s operational flow and goals, you can identify which trends will stand the test of time. This guide dives into areas to explore if your healthcare organization is looking to refresh its expansion strategy.
Improving Efficiency Through Innovation
Meaningful change and improvement do not require high-cost solutions and major budget adjustments. When team members incorporate small innovations, resourceful thinking, and problem-solving into their daily work, they can significantly impact efficiency over time. Establishing a culture of innovation helps construction teams proactively integrate solutions for anticipated needs and meet evolving compliance standards.
Combining evidence-based approaches with day-to-day resourcefulness is key to continuously improving construction processes. At Medxcel, we analyze data to identify which innovative solutions are driving significant results for construction teams nationwide. When healthcare organizations prioritize examining these new approaches to reach their goals and encourage feedback from all team members, they are better equipped to succeed when it comes to completing construction projects on time and within budget.
By consciously and intentionally initiating conversations each quarter about breaking the mold, new ideas can begin to significantly impact processes. Our teams at Medxcel have used innovative methodologies and solutions to support construction projects for facilities in Tennessee, Florida, Indiana, Texas, and Michigan over the past two years. By focusing on modularity and repeatable elements, we have found safer, more efficient methods of installation by completing work off-site and transporting assembled pieces to the job site.
Evaluating Sourcing Strategy
A central consideration when it comes to successful expansion efforts is evaluating the supply chain strategy during the construction planning process. This starts with anticipating delays proactively and reducing reliance on external service contracts to mitigate supplier risk. Similar to establishing comprehensive emergency management plans, healthcare leaders should have a plan in place to ensure construction teams will have the resources necessary to keep projects on track during supply chain disruptions. Establishing supplier relationship programs and regularly assessing the performance of critical vendors supports a strong supply chain strategy from the construction planning stages into future facility operations.
Instead of buying components on a project-by-project basis, construction teams working on multiple facilities can consolidate spend through bulk purchasing. Even for seemingly small items, such as door locks and faucets, purchasing in large volumes creates long-term cost value. For instance, a construction team might group purchase 400,000 square feet of roofing that is delivered to five different addresses. To support Medxcel’s portfolio that spans 23 states, our teams buy elements such as electrical switchgear and mechanical equipment in bulk ahead of time to use in various future projects.
Successful vendor relationships require open and transparent conversations about leveraging portfolio size and new sourcing approaches. Holding innovation summits with specific component building material suppliers can allow organizations and their suppliers to come up with mutually beneficial solutions, such as direct purchasing.
Building a Foundation for Long-Term Success
Construction teams should always work in tandem with facility management teams to streamline communications and align efforts with each organization’s building standards and patient care goals. Maintaining focus on integrated goals helps to ensure that crucial considerations to support the environment of care are threaded throughout the building process instead of existing as afterthoughts.
Collaboration is at the heart of a successful expansion strategy. Medxcel’s Planning, Design & Construction team works directly with a hospital’s facilities management team from the initial planning conversations through the final details to put the organization in a better position to reach long-term goals. For example, they can establish the foundation for sustainability initiatives by strategically integrating environmentally-friendly elements into the design. By approaching planning, construction, and design as a program, rather than focusing on individual projects, teams are able to collaborate effectively and create consistency.
When a healthcare organization spends time re-evaluating current practices and strengthening strategies, the team can more effectively meet goals and build facilities that are well-equipped to operate efficiently and serve their communities effectively. Health system leaders and construction project managers need to prioritize purposeful innovation and collaboration in order to move the needle forward.
If your organization is planning to expand this year, read about Medxcel's unified planning, design and construction platform and contact us for support. Medxcel has a dedicated focus on our people and customers, as well as providing tools, processes, support resources, data analytics, and insource strategies that drive results through an integrated approach.