CLIMBING HIGHER TO THE NEXT LEVEL #3

NEWSLETTER #3

There have been many projections offered by different groups as to where Healthcare is heading in the coming years, but if anything is certain, we all need to have a serious decision as to our Nation’s Supply Chain. If we continue headfirst on our current path and not fix the real problem, most certainly there will be another event, just around the corner, similar to what happened during COVID-19 that will shut everything down once more. The one question on everyone’s lips - have we truly learned anything from past or are we simply slated to repeat them again? Problems that simply will not go away:

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• Designing facilities to withstand disruptions – it is apparent there is still no discussions associated with Materials Management Design-Development. Burn-out within staff continues to create shortages; along with lack of controls with software interfacing, has produces inventory accuracies, as to what and where materials actually reside within a facility. Unfortunately, designs continue to be offered with no new features; just carbon-copies of the past.

• Containing Costs - remain very high; with no signs of reducing outlays charges to the patient. Availability seems to be controlled by suppliers to keep pricing high (much like experienced with fuel charges at the pumps) – “supply / demand” – raising costs and for the purpose of profit-margins.

• Purchasing the right technologies for sustainability – everyone talks about AI as the “savior of humanity” to reduce the above two items but are we just moving in a direction for the sake of advancement without truly understanding what is represents (Terminator I / II / III / etc.). Must like software development, it can be a beast (Pandora’s Box) that will not go back into the lamp once rubbed. Progress is needed, but caution must also be considered. Automation as certainly assisted progress within our Nation and others, but there must be controls put in place to monitor; to ensure it they meet our needs.

 

In future newsletters, we will be addressing, in more detail, these three areas – so stay tune. In the meantime, know that we at RemTecH Associates vet everything before offering information to you to allow you to think before executing any action. We do this as your partner, not just another consultant in hopes that – what is offered will allow you to “climb-to-the-next-level” safety to produce true sustainability within your facility without causing ill-reversible-damage costing you more money to repair.

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CLIMBING HIGHER TO THE NEXT LEVEL #2

NEWSLETTER #2

For more than five decades countless Healthcare organizations have chosen to under-invest in the critical and necessary designs to support many of their Operational Supply Chain processes. Only now, with the advent of the 2020 crisis have they finally realized their oversight in not meeting their patient needs in a timely fashion. Why has this occurred? In short: culture, limitation within design processes, and the lack of desire to look at it from the standpoint of true sustainability.

​Healthcare has traditionally been late adapters; many industrial standards that have been adopted as the norm by other industries has allowed them to move forward. Healthcare, however, has always been about risk and how it would affect their profits over developing functional proficiencies within operations. COVID-19 altered everything over-night, showing them just how unprepared they really were to meet a “potential pandemic.” Their inability to simply listen to those who get their hands dirty (back-of-house operations) to acknowledge their skills and elevate them to departmental chairs within the decision-making process has produced a design-development oversight misalignment to what is truly needed to support and develop inventory accuracies. Back-of-house operations were not even reviewed as a critical requirement in design during project phasing. Characteristically, most facilities depend on 3rd party organizations to manage their on-sight materials. This decision was based on having limited in-house staffing skills through hiring and or lack of training of existing staff. It doesn’t have to be a pandemic as much as a weather event to bring to light, producing shortages.

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In addition, limitations in budgets have reshaped and hindered many bid documents that reflected band-aiding of operations verses long-term sustainability needs. Software capacities, equipment limitations, and material flows were replaced with “standard square footage calculations” as the norm for departmental space allotments. Architectural firms (based on limited budgets) rely on standard guidelines to ensure awarding; hence they offer building designs that are “only functional but not practical to support future demands.” Regardless of cost to the project budget, the supply chain process “must be part of project phasing”—including how to purchase, store, and distribute materials bringing the basement to the boardroom and or those who know how to help together as a team!

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If you don’t have the necessary manpower or information to design your facility properly, depending on just an architect to direct your future growth that is the definition of insanity, which Albert Einstein suggested. Don’t let past mistakes dictate how you design your next modification—you cannot afford to continue to move in that direction.

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CLIMBING HIGHER TO THE NEXT LEVEL #1

NEWSLETTER #1

Over the past few years, we have seen healthcare designs change - not to mention Supply Chain limitations and less than acceptable recommendations that will truly advance designs to offer sustainability. There will always be a different needed in approach between rural and metro facilities designs, but there are some specific and unique commonalties – one size doesn’t fit all; both must be advanced reflecting a Campus Master Plan.

Master Planning recommends a precise roadmap to determine space allocation based on functional usages. It also ensures that - your original conceived vision can be transformed into reality, but not jeopardize costs through undo risk producing project failure. Whenever you consider a new facility or envision a need in renovation, the only way to move forward is to – know what things work and what things don’t and in need of fixing. Such an approach requires help - to develop the proper baseline (benchmark). The  key to increase efficiency, advancing your quality of care to your patients, meet staff needs, not jeopardize your profit margins, and produce proper planning added members are needed in partnership. This integrated approach can fill the gap between the many different diverse functions within departmental areas, thus ensure a healthy workable cohesion.

Facility staff are accustomed to pulling down silos that exist between departments, but in today’s market most facilities still depend on Architectural Designing Groups to suggest project phase necessities. Third-party consultants, who are highly qualified to meet this task in design are not hired - based on existing limiting budgets. This oversight will cost more to fix in the future than address at the start of a project. Consultants can cross numerous stakeholder lines (administration, finance, facilities and management staff to offer specific delivery technological packages needed) to ensure proper interactions critical to critical functionalities. Consultants offer an impartial path (as a partner) helping your staff avoid the never-ending-rabbit-trails that soon produce costly overruns if not considered.

RemTecH Associates was developed to meet your unique conditions by becoming your partner in success. Allow us to prove it, by filling out the following information [Facility Assessment | Remtech Associates]. This is a free evaluation, that can set the stage for your future sustainability. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose by filling this document out and forwarding it back to us to evaluate. It will address:

1.       Launching a clear vision to uncover current challenges and future unknowns

2.       Weigh the costs by defining specific equipment capacities

3.       Align your expansion needs with strategic planning

4.       Look at the bigger picture toward true sustainability to capture value to each purchase

Together we can build a better future and it only takes am email or phone call to start.

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HEALTHCARE AT A CROSSROADS - WILL IT SURVIVE?

           WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR HEALTHCARE TO SURVIVE?

Healthcare has certainly been pulled in all directions over the past few years. Those who believe they know what is best have forced many facilities to adopt pathways that are both unproven and not sustainable - all in the name of progress. 

We have all sat through hours-on-end watching Star Trek's Mr. Spock as he spoke logic, but no one today is thinking logical. Much of the reasoning behind pathways offered or even suggested today - don't follow any logical pattern. Within our younger societal demographics, more often they have been indoctrinated to think one-way; it is to fix existing problems for today and not look at how it will affect tomorrow. Logic suggests that we, as a Nation, must think further down the tracks - beyond the horizon - as to the cause and effect of decisions made today that will cause additional damage that will need to be resolved. Band-aiding will not produce long-term sustainability. Let me offer you just one example:

Many facilities look at adding a patient bed tower as an individual project and not how it will affect future expansions. Placement, if not reviewed fully, tends to disrupt functionality of existing services - causing additional funds to be expended to correct the problem. Projects must be reviewed at a Master Plan Level based on overall campus needs - not just project designs.

Architects and even well-known Consulting Firms are fearful of suggesting further studies to determine the total impact their designs offer - based on limited budgets within the facility to just get the expansion up and running now. To consider "cheaper-is-better" at the beginning of a project will only cost the facility more in the future to correct. Logic suggests (Mr. Spok) we all need to look at the "larger-picture" within every project to determine the "what-ifs" they can produce if designs are not fully explored. 

Since we represent a Consulting Firm (RemTecH Associates LLC) we have lost more projects suggesting the facility or even the Architect take a second look at the larger picture to determine if it has true sustainability capabilities. We would personally accept the loss of a project verses taking a short-cut just to be awarded. 

Allow us to show you "new paths to a brighter future."

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Change can be confusing - IT IS TIME TO "THINK-OUTSIDE-THE-BOX"

 

Today, every Owner, CEO, or Business Management Group must review how much it will cost to make necessary, but critical adjustments to their facility prior to executing their work efforts. It is common practice to put everything on a spreadsheet under the heading ROI; but are they truly looking at the ramifications for going forward to justify their expenditure to be larger or truly modifying their facility to meet tomorrow’s demands. The ultimate reason behind an addition should be “better-services-offered,” and not just be the “bigger-kid-on-the-block.” 

It is hard to establish “fixed-value-costs” when the marketplace is constantly changing. What is needed today may not meet tomorrow’s demands in services. Changes can also be reflective of forced-issues: compulsory design restrictions generated by some governmental politician who believes they know better (the new-green-deals); OSHA forcing new methods that limit design capabilities and functions, of which most architects must adhere to within bids; or so-called best practices / carbon footprint reductions / lean environmental conditions that are costly. What is not considered, until it is too late – the affects additional space has on existing operations, staffing levels, equipment usages, and functionality in cost to maintain, inventory movement, and proper storage requirements. With sky-rocking costs “per-square-foot,” each square-foot must be able to support-itself and the amount-of-investment; not to mention whether it will meet tomorrow’s demands? Frustration soon sets in, and this struggle is ongoing during every phase of the project. Lack of options offered at the beginning will certainly require additional modifications later. It’s important to nail every possibility earlier to stay on track and reduce budget over-runs, and future failures to determine exactly what is needed.

RemTecH Associates LLC is not just a consultant that looks at your current conditions and then offers a cookie-cutter-solution that has been used before for another client. One size doesn’t fit all, and we don’t just change past facility names in hopes that solutions will fit your unique conditions; therefore, we look at your unique needs and only recommend / suggest solutions that will function properly to meet the demand for tomorrow.

TO START YOUR JOURNEY - we are offering you a “free-facility-assessment” [Facility Assessment | Remtech Associates]. Call us to discuss it and how we can fold information received through this free offer to develop your unique path forward towards better services tomorrow and answer the primary question – what does true sustainability look like?

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FREEDOM

4th of July 2020

The cost of freedom is more than just a word; it can never be fully paid nor can it ever be forgotten. History is our legacy, good and bad; tearing down or removing any part of our past will not change who we are as a Nation. We are made up of many nations; melted together as one body that has been made in  the God's Image. Sin has separated us from Him and each other. Freedom is a gift - One Nation Under God - unfortunately even that fact has come under fire.  

"The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender or submission."

John F. Kennedy

We must always remember the sacrifice; to share it with each generation to preserve our heritage, as a Nation. There are those who would want us to forget the past. By doing so, we dishonor those who have come before and given so much to obtain the rights we have to be free. NEVER FORGET THE COST.  

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WHO WE ARE 

John W. Hensman, Jr.

With the pace of change facing today's health systems, particularly for those who serve patients, most are overwhelmed. Challenges between new value-based reimbursement models, not to mention the constant pressure to improve effectiveness brings new hurdles in performance. No wonder that those serving soon show signs of burn-out. 

The art of doing healthcare smarter has given way to numerous mundane tasks to ensure accuracy of records and proper billing. Care for the patient has taken second place. With the impact of an unsettled political landscape, increased regulatory scrutiny, the rise of other consumerist care models shrinking margins, ever-diminishing inpatient admissions, competitive marketplaces, and the limit of wisdom for thinking outside the box; no wonder costs continue in rise. 

We can and will make a difference in how you conduct business. Call us to discuss some possibilities today.

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