Working Around The Challenges of Healthcare Construction Projects

02 December 2023

Statista forecasted that healthcare construction in the US would reach a valuation of $45,821 by 2023. With healthcare construction projects being so costly, relevant stakeholders need to be familiar with the challenges surrounding these projects.

Starting a healthcare construction project itself is overwhelming enough. As you move on to the subsequent steps, more challenges may arise. Therefore, you should know about these issues and their feasible solutions beforehand.

The guide below addresses some issues in healthcare construction and how our AR tools provide the solution teams need.

Challenges of Healthcare Construction Projects

While many of these challenges are specific to construction in general, here are some you may come across in healthcare construction projects:

Cost Control

Healthcare construction is undeniably expensive. You need to consider the cost of materials, labor, equipment, and other overhead expenses — not to mention the specialized equipment and systems required in healthcare facilities, such as operation theaters and biomedical equipment.

Plus, there's always a risk of hidden and unexpected costs. Some examples of these costs are changes in building codes or unforeseen site conditions. Besides raising the project costs, these expenses can also result in delays.

Establishing Limits

Healthcare construction projects are not like others; they have several standards and requirements to keep patients and staff safe. (As they should!) One of them is establishing limits. Depending on the expanse of the project, you must have several barriers or partitions to keep contamination and debris from spreading everywhere.

Similarly, certain areas must be cordoned off during construction to protect patients and staff from potential hazards. You'll also need sound barriers, whether as padding or insulation, to keep construction sounds away from areas with patients and staff.

Strict Protocols

When constructing a hospital or any other healthcare facility, builders must adhere to several protocols. These can range from fire safety and infection control to other health and safety guidelines.

Failing to comply with these could potentially result in delays or risk the entire project getting shut down. Even worse, it could compromise the health and safety of patients and the general public. If the word gets out, the healthcare institution's reputation also suffers.

Complex Stakeholder Management

Healthcare construction projects are not merely limited to contractors and clients. They include other stakeholders, such as medical staff and regulatory agencies. It can be complicated to keep everyone on the same page, especially if their priorities and goals differ. Miscommunication or conflicts result in rework, delays, and other additional costs.

Also, construction project managers have to meet all stakeholders' expectations. However, this should never lead to compromising on project quality or the budget.

Technological Advancements

The constant technological advancements in the healthcare industry also make it difficult for builders to keep up. Construction teams must stay up-to-date with the latest tech and equipment requirements to make sure new projects fit with regulations.

Installing these advanced systems can be complex, requiring specialized knowledge. For example, having to install a high-tech MRI machine or robotic surgery equipment can add layers of complexity to a construction project.

Prioritizing Regulatory Compliance

Finally, regulatory compliance is unavoidable. In the final stages of the project, third-party inspectors often come in to ensure that the facility complies with relevant industrial regulations and standards, meaning that healthcare construction requires extra steps in the planning stages.

These may be a pre-construction review or a design review process. Compliance checks may also occur during and post-construction phases.

How to Solve the Challenges of Healthcare Construction Projects

What’s a problem without a solution? With these challenges in mind, here are some potential solutions construction teams can implement into their healthcare construction projects.

Thorough Planning

With technological advancements, safety protocols and costs all being an issue, planning is an essential part of making sure projects stay on track and within the budget. Here are some helpful planning tips:

• Involve All Your Stakeholders: Make sure all your stakeholders are on board from day one. These could include architects, engineers, construction teams, healthcare professionals, etc. Doing this avoids miscommunications and unnecessary stress throughout the process.
• Account for Patient Comfort: The patients in healthcare facilities are usually in vulnerable states. So, don't forget to consider patient comfort your plan. For instance, you can create quiet areas in the hospital or use comfortable lighting and ergonomic building design.
• Address Compliance Issues: Don't wait till the end of the project for compliance issues to become visible. Instead, address them from the beginning. A review checklist could be helpful in this regard.

Use Multifaceted Construction Technology

If the healthcare industry has to keep up with new technology, what better way to stay current than to use modern tech in your construction process?

That’s where XYZ Reality comes in. Our Engineering Grade AR™ is a construction-grade hardhat and BIM viewer all in one. Built with performance and safety in mind, the headset overlays a hologram of your 3D design model over the construction site so you can detect issues and track the project progress in real-time.

With Intel i7 Quad Core processing power, 16GM RAM, and 1TB storage, you can bring even the most complicated federated models to life onsite. Since the headset is equipped with top-notch accuracy, it offers model positioning down to the millimeter.

The Atom™ headset allows the team at the office and at the job site to collaborate effectively and seamlessly.

In addition to better designs, the Atom headset gives users access to our project controls solution. With the help of AR, project managers can view advanced controls giving managers better control over their projects.

Project controls are essential to a successful build. With them teams can not only identify the exact locations for building components, but predict installation delays weeks ahead of time. This helps managers adjust resources and support to meet deadlines.

This unmatchable project-wide transparency streamlines the construction workflow and maximizes efficiency for quicker turnarounds and better builds.

Curious about how we can help you? Book a demo to see the headset in action on your site.

Manage Costs and Budget Effectively

Don't let budget constraints become a roadblock in your healthcare construction. Instead, create a detailed budget plan and stick to it. Review your project budget regularly and make adjustments if necessary.

Value engineering is also a good option here. It simply means analyzing all aspects of your project and then finding out areas where you can lower costs without compromising on quality. For instance, you might be able to adjust the design to reduce the project's cost.

Keep Healthcare Construction Challenges at Bay with XYZ.

With XYZ’s solutions, teams can tackle some of the most common challenges seen in healthcare construction. By integrating our AR solution into the planning stage, construction teams can have better insight into their project and catch clashes, delays, and other issues before they happen.

Our AR tools are designed to eliminate rework and make the entire process more efficient and cost-effective for everyone involved.

Book a demo to see how you can unlock the next level for your construction projects.