Healthcare Design - May 2014 - 28

MONITOR
and the patient population, most construction teams take differential pressure readings
multiple times a day and record them in a log
book for historical data. The readings monitor
a construction area's negative pressure relative
to its adjacent areas in an occupied facility,
helping teams confirm dust does not leave the construction
site. An industrial hygienist also typically conducts weekly air
particulate checks to confirm that the size and quantity of air

Using the app, the construction team
can track the newborns' environment
in real time from mobile devices.

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On a recent project for Tampa General Hospital
(TGH; Tampa, Fla.), Skanska USA (New York) was
tapped to build a NICU around the hospital's existing
unit. While traditional monitoring protocols were in
place, the team decided to be even more proactive,
considering the sensitive patient population.
The solution was the creation of a mobile app
named inSite Monitor. The construction team can track
the newborns' environment in real time from mobile
devices, with the technology providing both a graphical and tabular view for data that shows sensor trends
over time.
The project team set levels of tolerance for pressure,
noise levels, and air particulates before the TGH project began. If values moved outside the normal range,
the team would receive automatic text and email alerts.
For example, loud noises have the potential to affect
babies' development, so sound monitoring devices
were installed throughout the NICU project to allow the
team to react in real time to rising noise levels.
Another benefit of the app was a reduction in work
interruptions. Traditionally, hospital staff and hospital
nurse managers call construction teams if they notice
something unusual. Using the app, the construction
team could instead proactively identify and resolve
issues.
The technology is now used on a number of
Skanska's healthcare projects across the U.S.
As the healthcare industry turns to technology to
deliver care and find cures, it's only natural that the
construction industry also looks for new ideas and
innovations to upgrade facilities in the safest manner
possible.-Brian Yarborough, senior project manager,
Skanska USA

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HCDmagazine.com 06.14

A screen shot of the app shows the layout of the
NICU, which was built around the hospital's active
department.

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Healthcare Design - May 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Design - May 2014