TEAL HEATH – PRINCIPAL AND FOUNDER, EQUINOX HEALTHCARE IT INC, USA HEALTHCARE IT
Navigatingdigitisation in healthcare construction
Embracing the latest technological advancements will revolutionise the design, build, and operation of healthcare facilities – provided resistance to innovation is overcome, as Teal Heath, founder of Equinox Healthcare IT, explains.
In the 1840s, Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis made a groundbreaking discovery: handwashing could dramatically reduce mortality rates in maternity wards. Despite definite evidence of its effectiveness, Semmelweis’s findings were met with scepticism and resistance from the medical community.1
Advocating for
this change cost him his career, and at the age of 47, Semmelweis died alone and in a mental asylum.2
Although surgeons began
regularly scrubbing up in the 1870s, it took over a century for hand hygiene to become standard practice in healthcare. This historical anecdote illustrates a phenomenon still relevant in healthcare today: change is hard, even when the benefits are clear. Bonds drawing us back to what is familiar are regrettably prone to reversion. Just as Semmelweis’s colleagues struggled to adopt a simple yet life-saving practice, today’s healthcare industry often grapples with the implementation and adoption of new technologies. The story of Semmelweis serves as a reminder as we explore the current state of healthcare IT in construction. Like handwashing in the 19th century, modern healthcare technology faces challenges. However, the potential benefits of these technologies – improved patient care, increased efficiency, and enhanced safety – are not just significant; they are transformative and promising for the future of healthcare. As we delve into the evolution of
healthcare IT and its role in construction projects, keep in mind the lessons from Semmelweis’s era. The resistance to change may be strong, but the need for innovation and adaptation in healthcare is stronger. Today, we stand at a similar crossroads, where embracing technological
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advancements can revolutionise how we design, build, and operate healthcare facilities. This is not just a possibility – it is a call to action for all of us involved in healthcare construction.
Healthcare technology, then Let us rewind to the 1990s, when hospital technology was simpler. Walk into a hospital and you would see PCs and
Teal Heath Teal Heath, FACHE, RN, PMP, principal of
Equinox Healthcare IT, Inc., has over 25 years of experience at the forefront of healthcare construction's information and
communication technology. She drives
successful multi-million-dollar projects across the United States, seamlessly integrating healthcare, technology, and construction
expertise to innovate digital transformations with a focus on streamlining and effectiveness.
printers at unit secretary workstations and in business and administrative offices. And phones were everywhere. Wireless networks were rare. Medical equipment items seldom rode an IT/IS Department network. Legacy, dry connect nurse call systems triggered a light and alarm outside the patient room in the hallway and at the head end nurse call unit located in the nursing station. In the 90s, as a registered nurse, I
vividly remember the rhythmic back-and- forth of hurried footsteps down the hospital corridor, punctuated by the urgent calls from the station nurse: “Teal, Mr Brackman needs more pain meds!”; “Teal, Mrs Jackman needs something!” Each one guided me to the bedside of the next patient in need. We often joked that we may have been better off with a string and two tin cans. But that is what 1990s healthcare technology looked like. It was completely reasonable to assign a network resource and another resource
IFHE DIGEST 2025
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