After attending a presentation by Ray Dufresne on best practices for
capital planning, I believe it is most essential to ensure that utility
shutdowns and switchovers are properly planned and clearly
communicated. I believe this practice is most essential for ensuring
that an organization's capital plan will be successful for numerous
reasons. A successful capital plan is dependent on the prevention of
harm and associated costs (Nowicki, 2022). Utility shutdowns and
switchovers pose patient safety hazards, and therefore must be
communicated to all staff (Larsen et al., 2018). Hospitals rely heavily
on electricity to aid in the delivery of safe, high quality patient care.
Monitors, ventilators, EMR’s, and IV pumps are just some utilities that
can be affected in a “shutdown” or hospital “downtime”.
Touchstone (2011) emphasizes the importance of identifying the
utilities or services affected and demonstration of clear
communication among staff to prepare for interim measures. Planned
and clearly communicated shutdowns allow staff to preemptively
determine how challenges will be addressed, particularly for extended
downtime periods (Larsen et al., 2018). Furthermore, Touchstone
(2011) discusses the need to lock/tag utilities that are shut down. All
hospitals should have procedures in place for both planned and
unplanned shutdowns. Department managers and supervisors are
responsible for developing procedures intended to guide actions
(Nowicki, 2022).
My healthcare facility sends out an email notification a week prior to
the planned shutdown or switchover. The email includes the date,
time, duration, and areas of the hospital affected by the shutdown.
Furthermore, planned shutdowns are reiterated in daily huddles, and
announced over the hospital intercom one hour prior to the
shutdown. This allows all staff members to plan accordingly and
ensure all patients are safe and free from any associated harm.
Employee involvement in capital planning increases moral and overall
success of any given plan within an organization (Nowicki, 2022).
References
Larsen, E., Fong, A., Wernz, C., & Ratwani, R. M. (2018). Implications
of electronic health record downtime: an analysis of patient safety
event reports. Journal of the American Medical Informatics
Association : JAMIA, 25(2), 187–191.
https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocx057
Nowicki, M. (2022). Introduction to the Financial Management of
Healthcare Organizations, Eighth Edition: Vol. Eighth edition.
Gateway to Healthcare Management.
Touchstone, R. (2011). 5 healthcare construction best practices for
occupied healthcare facilities.
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-management-
administration/5-healthcare-construction-best-practices-for-
occupied-healthcare-facilities.html
