Hospitals are a crucial part of most people's lives, whether we visit for a happy occasion like bringing new life into the world or a more stressful situation like an accident, healthcare facilities represent an important space for healing and care in our society. Leading healthcare facilities globally have recognized how technology can help optimize healthcare spaces, making them more streamlined to support care delivery. Yet, many facilities have struggled to harmonize all the many facets of hospital operations into a single coherent view of the care environment.
ThoughtWire and Schneider Electric have partnered to jointly deliver a holistic approach to healthcare facilities management. Together, the two organizations will bridge the gap between clinical operations and facilities management to harmonize the environment of care and support a more patient-centric experience.
ThoughtWire and Schneider Electric powered hospitals will benefit from a seamless digital hospital that leverages technology to improve patient satisfaction with the space, enhance patient safety, and gain greater visibility into the usage and performance of the total healthcare operation across facility and caregivers.
ThoughtWire’s Digital Twin enables Schneider Electric to improve patient outcomes with a data model of the hospital's entire operational value chain, from clinical and IT systems, IoT devices, building systems and people. This context-rich model breaks down data silos and enables smart workflows that increase visibility for clinical and facility teams, getting the right information to the right people to drive better outcomes for patients.
For patients, the joint solution offers the ability to control the space around them from a mobile device to improve their comfort and satisfaction during their stay. Control of the lighting, temperature, shades and other room systems creates a more seamless experience for patients as well as reduced non-clinical requests to caregivers.
Healthcare facilities looking to industries like hospitality and commercial real estate to enhance patient experience
The patient-centric digital hospital is inspired by best practices from the real estate industry. Both Schneider Electric and ThoughtWire have spent time with leaders and real estate to better understand the needs of their occupants - learning what amenities are popular, what services provide the most return and more. Occupants experience now rivals cost reduction as a primary driver for asset value in most real estate segments. However, for hospitals experience and cost reduction should never come at the expense of patient safety. It is imperative that decisions are not made in operational silos but rather with all stakeholders utilizing the same set of data to make informed choices.
“We’ve been working with our customers in healthcare for the past 10 years to orchestrate data from across critical clinical systems, OT systems, IoT devices, to build a real-time Digital Twin that makes it easier for clinicians to have full visibility into patient needs and the entire hospital workflow” said Mike Monteith, CEO, ThoughtWire “more recently we’ve seen a need to connect aspects of building infrastructure like energy, environmental data, to provide these insights about the care environment back to facilities teams”.
With this comprehensive set of data facilities teams are able to take energy-saving action without interfering with clinical operations or patient comfort. Clinicians are able to deliver care more effectively by responding to patient needs proactively and faster than ever before. Data from connected devices and assets like tagged stretchers, wheelchairs or building elevators is orchestrated to streamline workflows and move patients through the hospital more efficiently. This lowers wait times and improves scheduling to move patients through their hospital journey faster without sacrificing quality. Leaving patients feeling more satisfied and empowered with their experience.
Operationalizing data in real-time for better outcomes
This solution improves real-time operations, helping move hospitals from a reactive to a predictive model. Schneider Electric's advanced analytics improves infrastructure resilience and reliability of the building, while ThoughtWire's applications predict and prevent critical clinical events. Together, they ensure critical non-core alerts are provided to the right people, clinical and facilities, patients are kept safe and avoidable adverse events are mitigated.
Operational efficiency in the hospital can be achieved without interruption of critical clinical workflows. For example, energy and sustainability can be monitored and optimized through Schneider Electric's suite of energy-efficient solutions. Energy savings achieved through procurement and sustainability programs help operating budgets. By connecting ThoughtWire and Schneider Electric energy and sustainability solutions, the building can now model against real-time usage to help forecast and predict energy cost and performance. Knowing the flow of patients through a facility allows optimization of energy usage of HVAC and other building services.
As cost pressures continue to mount for healthcare facilities and the focus increasingly shifts to patient experience and value based care an integrated environment of care with digital agility will offer an unparalleled advantage.
ThoughtWire and Schneider Electric are on a mission to transform healthcare facilities from siloed operations into integrated, seamless, patient-centric digital hospitals of the future. A dynamic hospital digital twin is the key to bridging the gap.
To learn more about the ThoughtWire and Schneider Electric joint solution read the strategic partnership announcement here in full.
