Energy IQ: Three trends that will change the future of health care infrastructure

What does the future of health care look like? An increasingly connected, less centralized and more resilient infrastructure lies ahead. 

As we continue to look at the changing infrastructure of health care, we expect changes in three specific areas over the next decade. 

Trend No. 1: A more connected health care infrastructure

Today - A combination of consumers accessing health care differently and the increased adoption of technology, ranging from Internet of Things (IoT) to artificial intelligence (AI), will lead to a more connected health care infrastructure.

Healthcare IoT
IoT is used in healthcare for varying purposes by different stakeholders. 

As consumers increasingly use virtual visits, the health care industry will need to build facilities that can host tele-doctors and tele-nurses; and these facilities will need to be equipped with reliable connectivity to operate efficiently. Additionally, as consumers and the industry adopt IoT devices for tasks ranging from patient monitoring to imaging devices, there will be an increasing need to build the infrastructure supporting the technology.  

Future - IoT devices will make more tasks dependent on electrical power while improving the facilities’ productivity. Facilities will seek a higher quality electricity supply for their sensitive IoT devices and be more critically dependent on reliable power sources to stay always on.   

Opportunity – Health care companies balancing reliability and efficiency as they consume power could lead others in customer satisfaction and physician productivity. A power outage at a health care facility is already catastrophic today and it will get more damaging as the health care infrastructure gets more connected. Increased use of IoT devices in more medical tasks and facilities will make more patients vulnerable to power outages. Increasing virtual visits mean more medical staff at risk of losing productivity if the power is out. 

Trend No. 2: A less centralized health care infrastructure

Today – Two factors are driving trends towards a less centralized health care infrastructure.

First is the advancement in clinical procedures. Thanks to less invasive procedures and technologies such as robotics, procedures once needing long inpatient stays can now be outpatient procedures that are conducted in hospitals, or they can be procedures conducted in other health care facilities1. This advancement fuels the growth in urgent care clinics, medical office buildings and ambulatory facilities2.

The second factor is the various mergers and acquisitions that occur within the health care eco-system. These mergers and acquisitions result in health care companies acquiring each other’s assets including various type of facilities. When a merger and acquisition is focused on vertical integration, the resulting company ends up with more diversified facilities.

Future - We expect the health care infrastructure to feature a more diverse range of facilities and be more geographically spread out; "hub and spoke" is the term commonly used for this future growth. 

Opportunity – Companies in the health care industry can generate a competitive advantage by perfecting their capabilities in managing their diversified and geographically spread facilities.

"Mastering the facilities management in the next decade will be a key enabler of 'better care at a lower price' objective," said Wissam Balshe, Director of Systems and Controls Segment at Cummins Power Systems. "To help our partners in the industry, we are investing in the advancement of our remote monitoring capabilities. This includes everything from remote diagnostics to advanced condition-based maintenance and prognostics." 

Trend No. 3: A more resilient health care infrastructure

We too often read about health care facilities losing power and the catastrophic outcomes. Severe weather continues to be the top cause of power outages, and as changing weather patterns put increasing strain on the electricity grid, we expect there will be more focus in incorporating reliable back-up power systems in health care facilities. We will take a closer look at how increasing frequency of power outages shape the future of health care infrastructure in our upcoming "How increasing instances of severe weather events impact health care infrastructure" article. 

In summary, the decade ahead will bring out a more connected health care infrastructure with the increasing use of IoT devices and virtual visits. The evolving health care infrastructure will also feature a more diversified range of facilities that are geographically more spread out. Health care companies that master facilities management and include not only reliable but also efficient power systems in their infrastructure will lead others in consumer satisfaction and financials. 

To learn more about trends in health care industry follow Cummins on Facebook and LinkedIn. To learn more about power solutions for health care industry, visit our web page. To learn more about how Cummins is powering a world that’s "Always On," visit our web page.

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References: 
1 2019 Global health care outlook, Deloitte [PDF file]. (2019). Retrieved from https://www2.deloitte.com 
2 Avis E. & Morgan J. (2019). 2019 Hospital Construction Survey [Web Post]. Retrieved from https://www.hfmmagazine.com/

 

Aytek Yuksel - Cummins Inc

Aytek Yuksel

Aytek Yuksel is the Content Marketing Leader for Cummins Inc., with a focus on Power Systems markets. Aytek joined the Company in 2008. Since then, he has worked in several marketing roles and now brings you the learnings from our key markets ranging from industrial to residential markets. Aytek lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with his wife and two kids.

Cummins Custompaks are being used for water management as Thailand struggles with its water crisis

CustomPak on site

Water crisis

Sixty Cummins Inc. CustomPaks are in service in Thailand as part of a critical water management plan aimed at easing the country’s water crisis – a crisis that has caused enormous economic and social damage and stirred conflict among communities.

Over the past several decades, Thailand has continually faced water problems caused by severe drought. Water reserves in dams and reservoirs are insufficient while water resources are often contaminated with toxins caused by urban communities and the industrial and agricultural sectors.

Severe flooding is a threat, too, at a time when the realities of climate change are hanging over the country.

As a result, the allocation of precious water resources, which must be shared among various stakeholders including new and existing industry, large and small agriculture, and cities and villages has become a flashpoint.

Kittithanapat Engineering Co. (KTP), has been involved in the water management system since 1996, working closely with authorities such as the Royal Irrigation Department, Department of Water Resources, Bangkok Metropolitan Authority and others.

CustomPaks on site

600 hp CustomPaks

To help KTP meet its often urgent requirements, Cummins DKSH (Thailand) has recently supplied 60 Australian-built CustomPaks – 45 powered by Cummins’ X15 engine rated at 600 hp, and 15 powered by the QSL9 rated at 325 hp. These fully self-contained powerpacks are emissions certified to Tier 3.

The CustomPaks are coupled to hydraulically-driven, large-volume submersible water pumps sourced by KTP from US company Moving Water Industries (MWI); KTP is the exclusive distributor in Thailand for these MWI Hydroflo pumps.

Prior to Cummins’ involvement, KTP was using another diesel engine brand but service support wasn’t up to the standard required.

Long-serving KTP engineer Kittisak Thanasoot says Cummins DKSH’s reputation for technical and aftersales support along with the reliability of the Cummins product were a key reason behind KTP’s decision to specify the CustomPaks for the Royal Irrigation Department.

The ability of Cummins DKSH to respond to short delivery times was also important.

“Supplying large quantities of high horsepower diesel engines for emergency situations such as flash flooding can be a challenge for KTP,” says Kittisak Thanasoot.

“Responding to the needs of the government agencies to manage such problems in a timely manner and with least impact on communities, KTP has found the answer in our partnership with Cummins DKSH.”

Power, pride and passion

Parked semi truck

The switch back to Cummins power has been beneficial for iconic New Zealand company Uhlenberg Haulage. It's all about whole-of-life costs.

Uhlenberg Haulage is closing in on 60 years in business, having been founded in 1966 by Mike and Carol Uhlenberg.

Based in Eltham, Taranaki, in New Zealand’s North Island, the operation is today owned and operated by their sons Chris, Daryl and Tony Uhlenberg.

Describing the Uhlenbergs as “old school family truckies”, Daryl talks about the company’s time-honored journey with a definite tone of pride, especially the work of his parents in laying the foundations for what is today an iconic fleet in its own right.

Cummins Inc. made its debut in the Uhlenberg fleet in 1971 with an NH250 powering a second-hand Kenworth K923 used in logging. A second Kenworth, a new W924 with a Cummins NTC335, followed soon after hauling an LPG tanker.

The Uhlenberg operation today comprises 40 prime movers and a variety of trailing gear to cater for the myriad of a jobs the fleet is involved in.

A number of Peterbilts feature in the fleet although Kenworth is now the brand of choice with six new units to be delivered over the next 12 months to cater for business growth.

Cummins’ X15 Euro 5 engine rated at 550 or 600 hp is the preferred power specification, with 18 red engines currently in the fleet.

Uhlenberg family in front of truck

Whole-of-life support

“The switch to Cummins has been a very good experience for us. We have nothing but praise for the Cummins organization,” says Daryl.

“The whole-of-life picture is the key thing for us and we’ve got that nailed with the support we get from Cummins – parts availability, scheduled maintenance, life expectancy and in-frame rebuilds.

“So the red engines turn up, we run them to life, which is 900,000 to 1.2 million kilometers, and then Cummins does an in-frame overhaul in a timely manner. If there’s an issue, parts and support are close by.

“The support we get from Cummins Palmerston North is fantastic, second to none.”

Daryl recently looked under a Kenworth that was in the workshop for a service and was surprised to see no oil leaking from the one-million-kilometer X15. “I remember when I was a fitter we had to wear a raincoat when working under a truck,” he jokes.

Fuel agnostic

Acknowledging that the push to decarbonize is now “very real”, Daryl likes the idea of Cummins’ fuel agnostic concept where one base internal combustion engine, optimized to run on diesel, can also be customized to run on ultra-low and zero-carbon fuels like renewable natural gas and hydrogen.

“My father was a pioneer of linehaul trucking in New Zealand and he always embraced new technology. He was never scared of it,” he says.

“I tend to be a little more cautious but I can see where a 500 hp natural gas or hydrogen engine would work for us in short haul applications,” he admits. “We’re certainly willing to look closely at these alternative fuel technologies when suitable infrastructure is in place.”

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