Facilities management has quite a bigger role to play in the hospital industry. Most of the activities in the hospital are concerned with the facilities management. The different varieties of management activities that are handled by facilities management are:
Maintenance Management
Maintenance management does not mean only budgeting and priority setting of different maintenance activities. According to the preferred maintenance policy, it also includes service life planning. To attain a right balance between minimizing the costs and maximization of performance, maintenance of facilities can be resolved using one of two alternatives – maintaining a limited budget for maximizing the performance level. Another issue that affects the efficiency and effectiveness of maintenance is the allocation of resources in-house versus outsourcing.
Performance Management
Performance management and monitoring must be carried out based on the enable characterization of the facility’s systems. This may also assist in the benchmarking process, by which the facility’s performance can be compared to that of other facilities, and thus enable to identify the points of strengths and weakness of each facility.
Risk Management
In hospitals, FM must have high performance levels on different components such as fire protection systems, electricity and medical gases. Any minor breakdown may cause both casualties and financial losses. Cutting maintenance budgets adversely affects the risk levels by increasing the related risks. Hence this forces facility managers spend an increasing proportion of their time solving risk management problems.
Development
Development includes strategic long-term planning, upgrading of existing facilities, renovation, remodelling, rehabilitation and reconstruction.
Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
FM should recognize different phenomena related to operations, management and maintenance problems. These are of great importance in the understanding of FM. Implementing ICT solve the complexities involved in the different facilities management themes and their interrelations for better understanding.
Greater effectiveness of facilities management will ensure smooth functioning of hospital industry.