Motivation for the development of an information management framework for healthcare facility management

Facility information is created and continually developed over the life cycle of a project influencing the current and future conditions of some aspect of the facility. Typically, the information handed over to the owners is in the form of paper-based or digital documents that include the requirements as specified in the contract. Databases such as a Building Information Model (BIM), have enabled the easy accumulation and preservation of data from various phases and sources in the projects life cycle, which are delivered to the owner, sometimes as a single information model. In an ideal situation, it is expected that the availability of the digital data will enable the facility management (FM) team to retrieve any information they require at any moment, increasing their daily productivity. It is now possible to access real-time information from the model and the facilities database on hand-held devices. Although the aspect of reducing time to increase efficiency has been addressed in previous research, knowledge about the semantics and structure of the information required during the execution of a work order also is essential and needs to be addressed. To understand this information requirement, the authors began the process by studying the information networks of existing healthcare facilities. The literature review and subsequent discussions with healthcare facility owners, operators, and managers established the need and motivation for the development of an information management framework. This paper discusses the preliminary review of literature, development of a research method based on grounded theory (GT), and the design of a data collection tool.