Challenge seeks innovative solutions for hospital electrical distribution

Schneider Electric hosts challenge to find the best IoT solutions for electrical distribution in health care facilities.

Illustration credit: Schneider Electric

Schneider Electric, Andover, Mass., has launched the Healthcare Crowdsourcing Challenge to explore the potential impact of the Internet of Things (IoT) and smart edge devices on hospital electrical distribution.

U.S. professional engineers or teams with engineers are challenged to better define the needs and potential impact of IoT and smart edge devices on the design, monitoring, analytics and maintenance of health facility electrical distribution systems.

The challenge encourages the collaboration of multiple stakeholders across various disciplines to provide innovative solutions that drive better design with added business value for the same or reduced cost.

Those encouraged to participate include health care facility directors and their teams, health care electrical design engineers, chief technology officers and their teams, chief information officers, and energy or sustainability managers.

Examples of potential stakeholders’ needs include:

• Understanding the impact of smart power over Ethernet devices in the patient room (telemetry, televisions, monitors) on electrical distribution and intermediate distribution frame/main distribution frame designs.
• Understanding if electrical distribution changes to the patient room will impact patient satisfaction scores through supporting a "bring your own device" option and charging requirements.
• Understanding if smart edge devices implemented within an electrical distribution system through analytics can warn of the potential of failing or faulty equipment.

Winning teams will be presented at an American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) webinar and through ASHE publications. In addition to receiving recognition from both Schneider Electric’s North America Leadership and ASHE, a total prize pool of $20,000 will be available for up to three winning teams.

Participants are invited to submit their materials to Schneider Electric until Aug. 11. Judge commentary will be permitted through Aug. 11, at which time the submission period closes.

A panel of industry experts will evaluate ideas and select winners. Judging will close on Aug. 31 and winners will be announced on Sept. 20. Participants are encouraged to sign up to submit their ideas on the Schneider Electric Healthcare Crowdsourcing Challenge webpage.

“At Schneider Electric, we are continuously committed to developing solutions for our clients that drive innovation at every level. Technologies like IoT, big data and smart edge devices present unique challenges and opportunities for the health care sector,” says Aamir Paul, senior vice president of U.S. operations.

 “We’ve always been focused on using collaborative approaches to solve the issues facing the industry today and in the future. This challenge is yet another way Schneider Electric is bringing together stakeholders across multiple disciplines to come up with creative solutions for the health care industry,” Paul says.