Sustainable healthcare: why asset management is key to modern medical care

Hospitals are among the nation's most energy-intensive facilities, largely due to the nature of their operations and compliance regulations. From day-to-day maintenance to intensive surgeries that require powerful machines, U.S. hospitals cannot reduce their energy expenditure. Thus, the industry spends over $5 billion annually on energy and the typical hospital dedicates 1 to 3 percent of their operating budget to energy, according to the Department of Energy. And with growing attention from the government, patients and hospital boards, energy reduction and sustainable practices are a trend that hospitals and health systems cannot afford to ignore.

The (many) additional costs of inefficiencies

For a long time, healthcare providers have struggled with inefficiencies that have led to spiraling costs; they are now under more pressure than ever before to improve operational performance while reducing expenses.

On top of increasing costs from everything including daily operations to unexpected events, healthcare organizations continue to work with fragmented technologies that fail to provide real-time insight into what's happening within their facilities — impacting both patient outcomes and employee satisfaction.

To improve operational performance, patient satisfaction, and overall quality of care, the healthcare industry needs to consider a sustainable solution that can be implemented with minimal disruption to its existing IT ecosystem.

Health check: Sustainability that starts with smarter assets

Without full visibility, identifying energy-saving opportunities is difficult. Smart assets and energy management provide real-time data on everything from temperature and humidity levels in a room to medication inventory counts and patient flow rates. This data can deliver critical insights into how assets are used, their condition and the level of care they can provide.

Many healthcare and senior living communities have already implemented smart asset and energy management solutions to improve clinical workflow, supply chain management, and patient safety efforts. These organizations are reaping the benefits of reduced energy costs, improved operations, and more efficient use of resources.

Data — one cure for inefficient health systems

By adopting a smarter asset strategy, organizations can use data to improve patient outcomes and create better experiences for health systems and clinicians. The benefits are measurable and consistent, and the initial investment of time and effort can yield considerable long-term savings (even more considerable when you remember that energy costs account for $5 billion of hospital annual expenses!).

Energy management is not just about saving money; it's a tool for improving care, increasing operational efficiency and empowering healthcare facility administrators to act. An efficient facility benefits patients, staff and finances alike. With the proper tracking system in place, it's easy to locate wasted energy sources and prioritize efforts for reducing consumption.

Brightly helps the healthcare industry think (and act) sustainably

The healthcare industry is a natural fit for sustainable practices, but as with any new technology, there can be challenges to implementation.

Brightly understands the obstacles that accompany managing a large number of assets and resources, so we've developed asset management solutions to meet these challenges head-on.

Our team can help you operate more sustainably by

• Assessing current energy usage — compare energy usage across facilities or assets to identify waste. This will help you identify areas where you can save money and reduce your carbon footprint.
• Making prioritized decisions backed by data — we’ll help you identify opportunities to reduce costs and boost revenue, increase sustainability and reduce risk through a comprehensive assessment of your operations.
• Communicating benchmarks to stakeholders — track progress against those goals and report on progress made toward sustainability initiatives throughout your organization.

We're committed to making healthcare more sustainable, cost-effective and patient-friendly — and we're doing it in a way that's anything but conventional.

Brightly is a leading provider of asset management solutions that enable organizations to work smarter, faster and more sustainably. Schedule a demo today.