Healthcare Facility Management

In the current economic climate, healthcare administrators are looking for ways to cut costs and increase efficiencies. One of the logical areas to examine is facility management.

Facility managers look after the maintenance and upkeep of facilities and grounds, including heating and air conditioning, electric power, plumbing and lighting systems, cleaning and security.

Outsourcing facility management can save you money — it’s easy to look solely at price — but there are a number of factors to consider when evaluating your organization’s strategy. First, make sure you know exactly what services you need and to what level you need them. Needs will be dictated by facility size and age, and the demographics and the type of practice you operate.

The most important consideration is the service-level expectation of your customers and employees.

Does your facility provide the best possible level of service or does it detract from your ability to provide great service? In order to provide great customer service you must employ a facilities-management team that has the skills, time and tools to maintain your space at high standards, and that expectation must be clearly communicated up-front. It is best to utilize a firm with a depth of knowledge, experience and skill level that is competitively priced.

The process used to evaluate and select a facility manager that meets your needs should be based on a well-documented and well-executed plan. Conduct an audit of your current facility issues, needs and challenges. Based on that analysis, if price proves to be equal or similar, use the following five strategies to weigh your options.

Reputation of Quality. Does the facility-management organization have a good reputation? Do your due diligence in checking out its track record. Find out what types of clients it has worked with and whether the clients were happy with the services provided. If possible, ask for references that you can contact and speak with current and former clients to get a well-rounded view of the firm’s track record. Find out what service levels were provided and if they were delivered on time.

Relevant Experience. Find out if the company worked with an organization of your size or an organization operating in your specific healthcare sector. Look at the maximum amount of square footage that the company has managed to ensure that they have the bandwidth to meet your needs. Also, think about the issues that surfaced in your internal audit of your facility. Find out if the company has dealt with those types of obstacles in the past and what the outcomes were.

Staff and Skill Levels. Based on your audit, you should know exactly what type of coverage your facility needs, whether it is a full-time staff person who is completely dedicated to your facility or someone who comes on-site only when there is a specific need.

Make sure the management firm is has the staff to support your specific needs. Find out how many employees the company has, if they are part-time or full-time and if they will be dedicated to your facility or to multiple facilities. Be wary if you are marketed a one-size-fits-all product. All companies have specific facility needs and a blanket approach will not suffice.

Personality. Meet with the staff that will be providing services to you in order to analyze the personality of the company. Make sure that their service levels match your expectations and that you find good customer service and a ‘can-do’ attitude throughout the company. Also check out the company’s values and mission and vision statements to ensure they are aligned with yours. Choosing a company that does not have the right personality may not be a deal breaker, but your daily working relationship will be much easier and stronger if the company is a good fit.

Also ask the organization if they are able to keep a staff member dedicated to your site to meet unexpected needs. It is not uncommon for something to break and you need to make sure that your facility manager can fix it right away, no matter what time of day it may be.
Flexibility. Since your company’s facility-management needs can vary not only by month and week, but also on a day-to-day basis, choose a firm with flexibility. Hiring someone directly to oversee your facility can be very expensive and may not make sense due to the variable work load.

Some facility management companies provide permanent assignment staffing programs, offering all the benefits of a dedicated, skilled, on-site technician at your facility without any staffing hassles or costs. Under this type of program, your facility manager can oversee the sick time, vacation scheduling, benefits and other human resources headaches, while giving you reliable, on-site maintenance support only when you need it.

Your facility management company may be able to provide a technician to your company for a specified amount of time, for as little as five hours and up to 40 hours per week, for any length of time. Utilizing a permanent assignment program will save you time and money, and is sure to increase your efficiencies.

John W. Herman is executive vice president of the healthcare division at Welsh Companies. Allen Bernard is vice president of Welsh facility services at FaciliTech. Welsh is a full-service commercial real estate company with regional offices throughout the Midwest. FaciliTech is a division of Welsh Companies that provides 24-hour facility maintenance solutions and operational support services.