Gap Analysis on the Ability of Guidelines and Standards to Support the Performance of Healthcare Facilities

Abstract

The condition of the physical environment within healthcare facilities has a large impact on the quality of care, recovery time, and patient satisfaction. To maintain and ensure adequate operation of the physical environment, facility management must maintain a state of continuous compliance and constant readiness. This requires the facility management personnel to have a full understanding of the regulatory standards and guidelines that address the performance of a healthcare facility. This paper discusses an analysis of the major healthcare standards and guidelines that the American Society of Healthcare Engineers suggests facility management groups need to be familiar with. A gap analysis is performed to identify gaps between the design and construction guidelines and their ability to support healthcare facility operation and performance standards. Finally, a case example is used to discuss how the standards and regulations can be incorporated into a healthcare facility information framework to support facility operations and performance compliance.