STATEMENT OF CONDITIONS
The Statement of Conditions (SOC) poses challenges for even seasoned Facility Directors, particularly the cost of addressing Plans For Improvement (PFIs). And Many Facility Directors believe they have two many PFIs. We can help you do something about because we specialize in PFI Management, particularly the elimination of unnecessary PFIs.
Joint Commission Equivalencies have saved Hospitals Millions of Dollars
Maintaining a fire safe environment is a top priority for hospitals, medical centers and other environments of care. Each identified Life Safety Code (LSC) deficiency must have an electronic Plan for Improvement (ePFI) in the facility’s electronic Statement of Conditions (eSOC) compliance document, which enables administrators to monitor LSC deficiencies on an on-going basis to ensure that their buildings are kept up to code.
Correction of fire safety deficiencies in the hospital environment is costly not only in terms of capital expenditures but also through the loss of revenue caused by the disruption of hospital operations in patient care areas, to say nothing of infection control issues that often occur during construction. Cancelled operations represent significant lost financial opportunities and the risk that the consequences of interfering with the normal routine can lead to a law suit is always present.
Balon Process Management Corp. (BPMC) helps clients find legitimate ways to eliminate ePFIs from their capital budgets, freeing up funding for other projects that will positively impact their bottom line, without increasing risk to building occupants.
BPMC will:
- Only take cases in which we have determined that the potential exists for our consulting services to result in a significant cost savings for the client.
- Refund our already low fees if the Joint Commission does not accept our equivalency solution, as long as our recommendations have been followed, which completely eliminates risk to our clients.
BPMC has partnered with Ben Thurston whose expertise with the electronic Statement of Conditions (eSOC) compliance document and his long history of successful interactions with The Joint Commissionset him apart from the crowd. Ben’s Fire Safety Evaluation System (FSES) equivalency requests to The Joint Commission (TJC) to ensure compliance with TheLife Safety Code have a 100% record of success. Savings are often huge, generating astronomical ROIs.
In the following example case studies, the savings were achieved by finding acceptable equivalencies for costly ePFIs already in their Statements of Conditions:
- $4.2 million in 2007 and 2008 at a major university medical center in the San Francisco Bay Area
- $3 million in 2009 at a major medical center in Long Beach, CA
- $1 million in 2008 for a medical center in Orange County, CA
- $2.5 million in 2000 for a hospital in Anaheim, CA
Ben Thurston is an independent engineering consultant who has helped over 60 hospitals and medical centers in 15 states reduce their cost of compliance with government mandated fire safety standards. Thirteen years with the US Navy’s Civil Engineering Corps began Ben’s 45 year career. He then spent 29 years working primarily in the healthcare industry on regulatory compliance and accreditation issues, energy management including earning Department of Energy grants, engineering consulting services and technical support. Ben is a Certified Healthcare Facilities Manager and he is an active member in the National Fire Protection Association and the American Society for Healthcare Engineering.
BPMC and Ben Thurston have extensive experience with the entire range of mandated fire protection and occupancy features, including smoke barriers, egress points, sprinkler systems, emergency lighting, fire alarms and other special hazard protection features as well as with the now mandatory electronic SOC and PFI filing. We employ a combination of aggressive application of Life Safety Code (LSC) exceptions, careful application of the LSC itself to identify unnecessary ePFI items and rigorous pursuit of equivalencies, including the FSES. |
