Getting involved in today's health care environment–with mergers and acquisitions, federal mandates, and new modalities of health care delivery–it is easy to see others as determining your fate. But you can take control of your destiny by getting involved beyond your organization, leading proactively, creating patient-centered approaches, advocating for yourself, and avoiding reflexive, defensive actions. This session included tips on how to gain support from leadership on getting involved with efforts such as code development meetings or conferences. This session also covers how you can elevate your role in your organization govern your future on your terms.

Learning Objectives:

• Develop a plan to educate your leaders about the advocacy process and the return on investment of being involved in the process.
• Promote yourself and your team to elevate your role in the health care field.
• Develop productivity and efficiency projects with your team.
• Produce an annual report for your leaders to highlight the value you provide.

Heightened awareness of the risks of waterborne pathogens in health care building water systems has resulted in many health care professionals looking to better understand and mitigate these risks. This session provides an overview of infection risks associated with waterborne pathogens as well as conditions that support pathogen amplification in water systems. The session will give an overview of ASHRAE 188 and explore management and mitigation tools..

Learning Objectives:

• Identify at least two infectious pathogens associated with building water systems
• Describe conditions which can contribute to growth and amplification of pathogens in building water systems.
• Discuss ASHRAE 188 at a high level.
• Explain how the use of tools presented for assessing water risk may be used within the learner's facility or business.

In this session, attendees will review case studies and hear from health care interior designers to learn about current evidence-based design trends that support patient-centered design and patient satisfaction. The presenters will also review success strategies for working with the design team and how each of the elements in the case studies can support specific HCAHPS survey questions. A designer will share practical strategies to help make your next project a success.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the importance and impact of patient-centered design and the patient-centered medical home as it relates to patient satisfaction.
• Describe how designers can help provide information on new materials, products, and technologies and how to incorporate these to meet each facility's design goals.
• Discuss case studies and design elements that support patient-centered care and patient and staff satisfaction and identify how these relate to specific questions in the HCAHPS survey.
• Learn the five questions you should ask your designer.

After opening phase one of the 630,000-square-foot Hospital of the Future, Baystate Health faced a problem that health care providers with new construction projects are confronted with too often: non-compliant life safety conditions cited in a building that recently opened. This case study explores how the facilities, design, and construction team collaborated to implement processes that resulted in a significant reduction in the number of life safety issues and overall project costs and improved patient safety.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the importance of an integrated design team from the onset of a project.
• State cost benefits of integration of life safety processes early into the design.
• Identify the holes regarding life safety in the typical design and construction process, how these issues arise, and how to develop processes to prevent them from recurring.
• Assess lessons learned through a multiphase project and explore how future projects will be addressed.

The goal of this session is to help facility directors get the most mileage out of available capital by focusing on using engineering design standards and financial planning. This session will show the importance, and effect, of robust engineering design standards, particularly as they relate to total cost of ownership. It will also explain how financial planning for future infrastructure projects can provide significant benefits.

In this session, ASHE's codes and standards experts will discuss emerging codes and standards issues facing health care facilities and offer answers to your specific questions. Attendees are invited to ask questions about any of the codes and standards related to health care facilities before this session and turn them in to the Learning Lounge that will be located on-site near registration. NFPA 99: Health Care Facilities Code and NFPA 101: Life Safety Code® will be addressed.

Understanding regulatory codes is an integral factor in proper maintenance of a health care facility. Recent editions of the codes have introduced new requirements that can ease the difficulties of maintaining a facility, if used properly. Test your knowledge with a live code quiz on NFPA 101®, NFPA 25, NFPA 72, and NFPA 99, including an open discussion of questions with a lower percentage of correct responses.

Learning Objectives:

• Apply requirements of the 2012 Edition of NFPA 101 to existing facilities, as described in the 2013 CMS Waiver Memo.
• Describe updated requirements in the 2012 Edition of NFPA 101, 2011 Edition of NFPA 25, 2010 Edition of NFPA 72, and 2012 Edition of NFPA 99.
• Assess personal comprehension of regulatory codes based on correct responses to seminar questions.
• Identify top code misinterpretations of various NFPA codes, including recent editions of NFPA 101, NFPA 25, NFPA 72, and NFPA 99.

With the changing of the guard in health care facilities management, many individuals are new to their responsibilities. Compliance with the Joint Commission's Environment of Care (EOC) standards can be daunting without a basic understanding of the requirements and how they fit to form a cohesive program. This presentation will provide a framework on which to build an EOC program that results in both performance improvement and compliance.

Learning Objectives:

• List the six building blocks of the EOC program.
• Describe the function and content of the EOC management plans.
• Establish a functional EOC committee.
• Explain how the building blocks of the EOC fit together into a cohesive program.

Did you know that the average repair cost per parking space is $2,748? Parking garages play an important role at a health care facility. What impression is yours giving to visitors? Join us as we explore the ins and outs of parking garage management, and learn to recognize the early signs of distress that could be resolved with maintenance or minor repairs before they become major issues. Case studies will be discussed.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify ways to eliminate safety issues.
• Minimize emergency and costly repairs.
• Improve aesthetics of your parking garage.
• Access methods to protect your investment.

When designing for the bariatric patient, the architectural design must consider the clinical needs of the patient and the ergonomic design requirements of the caregiver. This presentation explores the process taken by a multi-disciplinary team including architects, clinical practitioners, and ergonomists in making recommendations for bariatric room design in acute care projects. The team simulated clinical care tasks in a reconfigurable mock up patient room with bariatric equipment to determine recommended clear space for bariatric room design.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe how use of a simulation lab facilitates generation of room design space recommendations.
• Explain how CDC bariatric prevalence data projections assist in determining future bariatric space needs and readiness.
• Examine the required patient room clear spaces necessary using overhead lifts and floor-based lifts while performing a bed-to-wheelchair transfer of a bariatric patient.
• Describe ergonomic strategies to mitigate risks from patient handling and mobility tasks when caring for bariatric patients