Healthcare facilities: Preventing infections with CO2 alarms and reducing operating costs
A safe and healthy environment for patients and staff is an absolute necessity during the corona crisis and beyond. Sufficient fresh air and a pleasant indoor climate ensure a lower risk of infection, faster recovery and a productive working environment.
At the same time, the complex building operation – with workplaces ranging from offices to operating theaters and complex technical infrastructure – is to be designed as efficiently as possible.
Measurement data, e.g. CO2/air quality, consumption or damage, are the basis for modern health management. But they are usually missing. LineMetrics makes it particularly easy to record sensor data by wirelessly retrofitting existing buildings. These insights form the basis for data-based decisions, efficient processes and cost savings.
Challenges
- Creating a safe environment for patients and staff
- Highly complex and therefore particularly costly building operation
- Lack of transparency in many areas despite BMS, building remains a “black box”
CO2, indoor climate & more: one platform for all data
Long-range wireless sensors record data for over 50 use cases. These are transmitted from radio gateways to the LineMetrics Cloud via mobile radio and can be analyzed there or transferred to other systems via API.
CO2 values and indoor climate from every hospital room
Protect patients and staff from the risk of infection thanks to CO2 alarms and actively support recovery with an optimized room climate.
50+ use cases with one platform
Enough of isolated solutions! The LineMetrics modular system enables a wide variety of use cases to be combined and can be easily expanded at any time.
Komplettsystem vom Sensor bis zur Auswertung
LineMetrics combines measurement technology, data transmission, evaluation, data storage and much more in one. You only ever have one contact person for all questions.
Wireless retrofitting without reception problems
Wireless sensors and gateways with SIM cards make cables and IT superfluous. Easy roll-out by own employees without IT support.
CO2 alarms protect patients and staff
CO2 values indicate whether the air exchange is sufficient or whether additional measures are required. This also significantly reduces the risk of viruses, such as COVID-19, spreading. The room climate is a feel-good factor for patients, but also influences the performance of staff and the risk of transmission of infections, as it affects mucous membranes and the survival time of viruses.
With LineMetrics, CO2, temperature and relative humidity can be seamlessly recorded and alerts triggered. Optimizations are possible and operator risks and liabilities are reduced.
Monitor cooling temperatures
Numerous cold rooms and refrigeration units are needed to keep medicines, blood reserves, laboratory samples or food in the canteen cool, and these are often spread across the entire site. Their temperatures must be regularly checked and documented in order to comply with internal QM guidelines and legal requirements (HACCP, GxP).
This can be easily automated with wireless sensors that are placed in the cooling zones. The LoRa radio penetrates well-insulated walls without any problems. An alarm is triggered immediately in the event of critical temperatures or if the cold room doors are open for too long. In this way, damage can be limited or even avoided and employees save valuable working time.
Measure/allocate resource consumption
Hospitals sometimes consume as much electricity, gas, water and heat as a small town. This makes it all the more important to know exactly how many resources are being used, at what times and by whom. This enables targeted cost-saving measures, precise invoicing to external parties and ongoing reporting, e.g. for sustainability reports.
LineMetrics makes the wireless recording of sub-consumers, such as the energy requirements of individual departments or technical systems, very easy. Existing electricity, gas or water meters can also be read automatically by radio via the pulse output. This saves working time and the consumption data is available without gaps (instead of monthly, for example).
Remote monitoring (predictive maintenance)
Hospitals have numerous technical systems, such as elevators, escalators, heating, cooling, ventilation, water pipes, door systems and barriers. Manual monitoring of the system status, consumption values, temperatures, operating times and leaks is hardly possible or only possible on a random basis. Problems are often only recognized when damage has already occurred.
LineMetrics enables the remote monitoring of existing systems with wireless sensors and a central analysis platform. With the help of noise and vibration patterns and artificial intelligence, it is even possible to predict future maintenance requirements (predictive maintenance).
Localize movable inventory with spatial accuracy
Beds, wheelchairs, ultrasound systems, dining trolleys and many other movable objects are moved around the premises every day. It’s easy to lose track of things. This results in high personnel costs for the search, reduced availability or even an (at least temporary) loss of expensive inventory.
With LineMetrics, asset tracking can be easily retrofitted for any object – IT-independent and wireless. Precise positioning throughout the entire building or site ensures more efficient use of hospital equipment and also enables data-based requirements planning based on the geodata obtained.
Demand-oriented cleaning
Building cleaning is the second largest cost factor in building operations. It is usually carried out at fixed intervals – without taking actual usage into account. This causes unnecessary costs, especially as the COVID-19 crisis is increasing cleaning costs anyway.
Anonymous monitoring of actual usage quickly reveals potential savings. While parts of the building are used intensively, other areas are hardly used at all. This data can now be incorporated into cleaning planning: All types of cleaning, from maintenance and basic cleaning to disinfection, can be planned individually – and thus reduced or adapted as required.
Better use of space
Many healthcare facilities extend over several buildings and tens or hundreds of thousands of square meters of floor space. Their utilization by employees, inpatients or outpatients, visitors or other external parties is often completely unknown.
Since every square meter – whether actually used or not – is heated, ventilated, guarded and maintained, there is great potential here to reduce operating costs and make better use of space (conversions or renting unused space to third parties).
LineMetrics enables the wireless and anonymous recording of actual building usage and thus creates the basis for better decisions.
Central evaluation and individual alerts
All recorded data can be analyzed clearly and in real time in the LineMetrics Cloud. Verbesserungspotenziale und Probleme (Alarmierung per Email oder SMS) werden damit sofort sichtbar.
PDF download: CO2 values, temperature and humidity from every hospital room!
Find out in our clear presentation how to
- Monitor CO2 levels and reduce the risk of infection
- Automate temperature controls
- Optimize resource consumption
- Retrofitting remote monitoring
- Locate inventory easily