Our facility and operations planning services enable clients to devise successful facility development, activation and optimization strategies. Space is a capital asset and should be managed with the same care and precision applied to other corporate resources. KSA’s services include multiple proprietary methods and software tools to ensure every project optimizes the use of space. We provide insight into major facility renovation or replacement projects—when to rebuild, why and, most importantly, how to ensure that new construction occurs within a balanced financial and strategically planned framework.
Strategic Master Planning
- Determination of major strategic objectives, trends and market opportunities
- Illumination of goals and determination of priorities; establishing clear guiding principles
- Definition of clinical program capacity requirements, current and projected
- Site assessment and development planning
- Facility condition evaluation
- Off-site (leased property) inventory and evaluation
- Highest and best use of existing buildings
- Clinical capacity analysis (throughput analysis, bed need assessment)
- Alternative facility scenarios, including projected space needs, cost opinions or order-of-magnitude cost evaluations and construction phasing
- Integrated capital planning and forecasting across facility, strategic and IT initiatives
- Planning for information technology requirements, including capital cost estimates
Functional and Space Programming
When a building project is identified, it is further defined through functional and space programming. KSA approaches this task through a well-defined methodology that involves medical and clinical staff. The process begins with clients and consultants jointly developing operational performance specifications, then creating the detailed space allocation requirements for each service or component to occupy the building. Operational modeling and process flow analysis, including simulation modeling and IT planning, are available services that can enhance and strengthen the functional and space program.
- Program vision development
- Program capacity requirements
- Detailed functional programming, including development of operational concepts
- Detailed space programming
- Transition to schematic design (gaming exercises)
- “Second opinion” analyses of proposed projects
To make sure you are spending only the capital required to get the outcome desired, schematic design oversight or peer review can be done to give you an objective third-party assessment. In light of the new economic realities facing health care organizations and to validate our recommendations, KSA has gone back to clients to test our own master plan conclusions.
Service Line Facility Planning
Today’s brand-conscious, market-driven health care environment places a premium on packaging an organization’s services as an identifiable service line or center of excellence. Organizing facilities to support and enhance a service line marketing strategy is another planning specialty of KSA. Whether it’s a heart hospital or an ambulatory care building, KSA has developed proven, credible methods and tools to test the service line strategy, identify the best mix of service components, build the operational model and plan the facility.
- Focused program vision development for specific ambulatory service lines
- Focused strategic services such as market modeling, location analysis and forecasting for specific service/product lines
- Focused detailed space and functional programming for specific service/product lines
- Concept diagrams detailing operations and process planning, operations concepts development, patient encounter redesign and process improvement: the Ideal Patient Encounter®
- Simulation and care modeling, flow diagramming
- Staffing analysis and projections
- Ambulatory care network development
- Planning for service/product line–specific information technology requirements, including capital cost estimates
Activation/Transition Planning
To ensure a hospital’s strategies, operations and IT systems are aligned with changes as their new buildings prepare to open, KSA offers activation/transition planning services. Called Symphonie™, the goals in every instance are to reduce the risks and costs inherent in opening a facility and, more importantly, to quickly optimize the potential of the new environment.
Hospitals need to decrease the risk for error, increase speed to full occupancy and asset revenue stream, improve operating models, understand cost and process impacts on people and capital and organize and energize the planning process. KSA has the right tools, approaches and insight for this undertaking.