ASHE announces new member benefits

ASHE is continuously striving to provide more value to its members through publications, resources, educational programs, conferences, networking opportunities and other services.

“We take pride in being a reliable and trusted resource for our membership,” says Patrick J. Andrus, ASHE’s deputy executive director of operations. “As health care facility professionals continue to face new challenges and opportunities, we are keenly focused on providing the information, representation and resources that drive value to our members and their organizations.”

Consequently, this year-end column highlights a variety of new resources available to members and others involved in health care facility management.

• Topical and timely resources. ASHE strives to keep its members informed of the latest developments affecting health care facilities. ASHE has pulled together the Ebola preparedness resources to help ASHE members find useful Ebola information in one spot. This website is updated regularly with the latest information and guidance regarding Ebola. ASHE members can visit www.ashe.org/resources/member/ebola to access the page.

In addition, ASHE alerted members this fall when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a memo permitting categorical waivers for health care facilities that want to use power strips, or relocatable power taps, in patient areas in some instances. ASHE is providing members with additional guidance on this topic, and members will be alerted when new information and tools are available.

• ASHE Resource Library. ASHE has hundreds of documents, publications and resources available on its website, but the information is not always easy to find. That’s why ASHE created a new Resource Library that can be searched by keywords, and members can narrow their searches by selecting what type of resource they are looking for (e.g., checklist, article or monograph) or the subject matter they seek (e.g., life safety, NFPA 99 or security). Visit www.ashe.org/resources/library.dhtml to explore the resources ASHE has available. More resources will be added in the future, so be sure to bookmark this helpful new tool. The Resource Library is one part of the overall ASHE website improvements in the works.

• Free conference recordings. ASHE is making available dozens of recordings from previous ASHE conferences, including the ASHE Annual Conference and the International Summit & Technical Exhibition on Health Facility Planning, Design & Construction. These on-demand seminars allow members to learn about topics such as code compliance; facility management; finance; strategy; and planning, design, and construction. Visit www.ashe.org/resources/member/conference_sessions to browse sessions available.

• New monographs. ASHE recently published two new monographs. “Managing Hospital Emergency Power Systems” describes a comprehensive approach to managing hospital emergency power systems. “Quantifying Hospital Cord Connected Plug Loads in Inpatient Areas” explores plug loads in hospitals and describes a study comparing anticipated design load with energy-intensity data. Both monographs are free to members on the ASHE website at www.ashe.org/management_monographs.

If you aren’t already an ASHE member and want to learn more about the value of ASHE membership, visit www.ashe.org/membership. 

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Important monographs available

ASHE makes important resources available to members. Following are two recently released monographs that can be accessed by ASHE members as free PDFs at www.ashe.org/management_monographs.

• Life Safety Code Comparison. The 2012 edition of the National Fire Protection Association’s Life Safety Code offers new design and compliance options for health care facilities that didn’t exist in previous editions. This ASHE monograph provides an exhaustive list of the changes in the new edition and a detailed comparison with the 2000 and 2009 editions.

• Room Ventilation and Airborne Disease Transmission. This ASHE monograph examines research on how room ventilation affects airborne-disease transmission in health care facilities. Farhad Memarzadeh, Ph.D., PE, examines findings that consider the effects of air changes per hour on infection transmission.

Design guidelines available to industry through ASHE

The 2014 editions of the Facility Guidelines Institute’s Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospitals and Outpatient Facilities and the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Residential Health, Care, and Support Facilities can be purchased through ASHE at www.ASHEstore.com.