← Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
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- [00:00]
A
Hi, everyone, this is Lucas Voss with Becker's Healthcare. Thanks so much for tuning in to the Beckers Healthcare podcast series. Great to have you. Today we're talking about how health systems can approach retrofitting existing facilities to improve power, reliability, protect patient care, and manage cost and complexity in life clinical environments. And I'm so excited to have two great guests to talk about this important topic. Very, very cool to have. And Raheem Santos, US Segment leader, health care for Schneider Electric. And Ender Carino Escos, healthcare development manager, Brahim. And Andrew, thanks so much for being here today.
- [00:34]
B
It's great to have you, Lucas, thanks for having us. Yeah, really appreciate it. Glad to be back.
- [00:40]
A
Yeah, absolutely. I want to start us off with introductions really quickly for those who might not know you yet. They'll get to know you in a little bit. Andrew, let's start off with you. Can you just share a little bit about yourself and your work in. In healthcare?
- [00:52]
C
Sure. So again, Andrew Carino with Vasco's National Business Development Manager for Healthcare. I've been with asco for about 15 years now, working across a few different sales roles. In my current role, I'm focusing on ASCO, strengthening ASCO's healthcare relationships, ensuring our solutions align with the industry's evolving needs.
- [01:11]
A
It's great to have you, Brahim. Over to you.
- [01:14]
B
Yeah. So again, Brahim Santos, healthcare segment leader for the US For Schneider Electric. You know, basically it's. It's my job to understand, you know, the folks that are listening in on this podcast today to figure out how myself and our team can just understand their needs and figure out what types of parts and pieces that Schneider has to fit, the solution that best fits them. Right. So that's.
- [01:39]
A
Now we'll touch it. We'll touch on that here in a little bit. I do want to start off with something a little bit more basic here. Right. We talked about retrofitting existing facilities. We had it in the title of our episode here. Why are we talking about it? Why are we talking today about retrofitting existing healthcare facilities for him?
- [01:56]
C
What?
- [01:56]
A
Why is that so important?
- [01:58]
B
You know, it's funny, I came across a survey that stated 61% of health care executives reported increased investment in infrastructure upgrades, like signaling a strategic shift. Right. Towards retrofitting their existing facilities rather than just going full on green, you know, Greenfield. Right. So it's really a lot of focus that these executives are pointing to. Their brownfield, their existing infrastructure is figuring out what they can do with what they have. Right. With the limited resources.
- [02:30]
A
Yeah, absolutely. And again, the limited resources speaks to something else that's really important, Right. Avoiding downtime at all costs because there are limited resources. Operations need to keep going. Brahim, what are some of the most important factors to consider when we're talking about retrofitting, especially critical power, and what strategies also help control cost in that process?
- [02:56]
B
Well, I think it goes without saying, but I will say it anyway. Right. It comes patient and staff safety is number one. Right. So in anything that we do. Right. In a healthcare facility environment, patient and staff safety is number one, you know, and then as we kind of go a little bit further, right. I think what's also super, super important, especially as we fixate on this major electoral infrastructure, we have to understand what's happening downstream, Right. We can't just go in and kind of, you know, look at it in a siloed manner. We need to figure out what areas are being affected by the equipment that, you know, that's supporting it. So, you know, if you kind of look at some things, right, take an or, for instance, an OR can see six figures worth of revenue on a daily basis. So in the event that something were to happen unexpectedly, or even just from taking it down from a planned downtime standpoint, that's super impactful operationally and from a revenue generating standpoint to that health care facility. So we need to make sure that we overexamine what's happening, you know, in this complete environment so that we have minimal impact and minimal downtime. Right?
- [04:09]
C
Yeah.
- [04:10]
A
Andrew, you mentioned 15 years at ASCO. You've done this for a while now in this process, what practices, what practices distinguish successful retrofit partners? Right. In sort of these complex environments that Brahim just outlined.
- [04:28]
C
Absolutely. And to reiterate a lot of what Brahim just said, when we get involved in a healthcare project, our first step is really just to listen to the facility team and understand what their goals are and what they're working with, what the equipment powers, how critical those loads are and what risk comes with shutting them down. That context drives really every decision we make. From there, we help develop a detailed method of procedure and a backout plan to minimize any disruption to patient care. If temporary power is needed, we'll work with the electrical contractor and others to design a safe and efficient plan. It's a very collaborative approach, one that solves the technical issues at hand, but also brings the right people to the table to ensure the hospital stays operational and safe throughout the entire process.
- [05:11]
A
Absolutely. You touched on the importance of the different areas. Right. And Brahim mentioned It as well. There's a lot of specialized technology, a lot of specialized electrical systems all across the continuity of care. Really, when you're looking at the partnerships, et cetera, what planning considerations help ensure that there are minimal disruptions to patient care. Right. Which is key. Brahim said that it's really, really key. Again, during critical power distribution upgrades, nothing needs to interrupt patient care.
- [05:42]
C
Absolutely. And that's really where the conversation comes between us and the healthcare facility. Right. Understanding what their goals are, understanding the equipment that they're working with and being able to work out a detailed plan and a method to help minimize any disruption to their loads, their operations and strategize around how to best tackle those upgrades.
- [06:05]
B
Now you have to get those teams together, right. The facilities, individuals, the one who are there on a day to day basis working with certain department leads, figuring out how it's going to impact them, letting them know, let's say it's an imaging, you know, center. Right. They have to, they have to schedule their cases, change them and let them know and let the patients know it. There's so many different moving parts and pieces that need to be considered for, for this one piece of equipment, if you will. Right. Whatever, whatever you're addressing because again, from a downline standpoint, you have to make sure that everyone that is affected is notified and then also knows the associated risk if something were to happen, how long it could take to, you know, have plan B enacted or whatever the case may be. Right. So it's, it's important to have that facilities team hand in hand, work with you to devise a plan.
- [06:59]
A
Yeah. We talk so much about collaboration and eliminating silos and integration in health care. Right. So I think it's really key that you've mentioned the collaborative piece from a team's perspective here as well. Andrew, what's next here? What are some of the emerging trends that you're watching that are shaping conversations right now about power resilience and retrofit strategy? What are, what are you seeing?
- [07:21]
C
Absolutely, great question. I mean, one of the biggest shifts we're seeing is all is essentially around decarbonization. Hospitals are adopting drones while also electrifying heating, transportation and other systems that traditionally relied on fossil fuels. That's great progress and all, but it also increases the overall load on their electrical distribution systems. We're seeing more transfer switches, a need for larger emergency generator systems and a smarter distribution configuration simply to keep up with that demand. It's driving a new level of sophistication in emergency power design. And it Also highlights the need for smarter, more connected systems. And that's another, more broader trend that Brahim and I are both seeing. A shift to. A more intelligent building.
- [08:01]
B
Yeah, no, 100%, Lucas. And as Andrew mentioned, digitization for preemptive intervention is the name of the game now. Right. It's no longer a nicety, it's a must. The days of purely reactive maintenance, they're dwindling. There's so much risk mitigation and patient safety and operational costs when you have data and digital connections helping you along the way. Just to kind of. Not that anyone's doing it and of course, but you know, but to proverbially cross your fingers and kind of maybe hope that a certain vintage of equipment will last or get you through another year or whatever the case may be, or get you to a certain checkpoint. It's. You don't have to do that anymore because layering technology and intelligence on top of some of this physical infrastructure just allows you to kind of foresee what can happen and plan accordingly before you're left with just being reactive and not knowing how long you'll be down.
- [09:00]
A
I did make a note for a future episode on the future of the intelligent building. I feel like we should talk about.
- [09:06]
C
That at some point.
- [09:09]
B
Yeah.
- [09:09]
A
Well, Andrew Brahim, it's so great to have you. I want to open the floor to both of you. If there's anything else to add that, that our listeners might benefit from that we didn't touch on or that you'd like to mention. Brahim, I'll kick it off with you here.
- [09:20]
B
Sure. You know, budget constraints, the real tethers. But the need to update existing facilities is paramount. Right. Like all necessary to drive better patient care. Like systems needing to. To do more with less. I know that's the common trend, the common phrase. Now we understand it, we see it, you know, need to fit these existing infrastructures to become more dynamic. Right. They're not static. We have to. We have to change them. We have to bring them into current times. Right. And. And the way to do it. And like you said, you kind of made a teaser. Right. There is talk about the intelligent systems. Right. How to make these systems intelligent and kind of harness that data that's there. Right.
- [10:03]
A
Absolutely. Andrew, over to you. Anything else you'd like to add?
- [10:06]
C
No, I just want to highlight the amount of investment and expertise that's bringing people into your upgrade plans, your modernization plans, and the value that brings to the table, especially when you do it early. We can bring up ideas and thoughts and issues and pitfalls that could happen that you may, on your own, may have not thought about.
- [10:30]
A
Yeah. Coming back to the collaborative piece that we mentioned earlier. Partnership, collaboration, and talking to the right people. Certainly important. I'm talking to the right people. Brahim and Andrew, thanks so much for being here. It's great to have you.
- [10:42]
B
Lucas, always a pleasure. Thank you, sir.
- [10:44]
C
Thank you again, Lucas.
- [10:45]
A
Great to have you. And we also want to thank our podcast sponsor, Schneider Electric. You can tune into more podcasts from Becker's Healthcare by visiting our podcast page@beckershospitalreview.com.