The SACS System for The Analysis of Structural and Technological Elements in Healthcare

Abstract

This article shows an infornıative tool which nıanages CAD digital nıaps in order to feed a database that provides structural, technological and organizational infornıation of about 15,000 roonıs of Careggi Polyclinic - AOUC (one of the largest Italian hospital which stands on an area of 74 hectares). The systenı has been developed by the Monitoring Laboratory (MonLAB) of Florence University (an autononıous office nıade by personnel of Departnıent of Electronics and Teleconınıunications together with Departnıent of Architectural Technologies) within an extensive restructuring process of the hospital itself. This strategic progranınıe of transfornıation called "New Careggi" includes denıolition, rebuilding and renovation works. The systenı called SACS (Systenı for the Analysis of Hospital Equipnıent) is a custonı Visual Basic software that drives Autocad to nıanage and analyse digital plans of buildings coded on specific layers. The software nıaps Departnıents and relative Operative Units, Destinations of Use, healthcare technologies and environnıental conıforts grouping info by single roonı and honıogeneous areas, giving quantitative and qualitative results (such as surfaces, heights and volunıes, Key Perfornıance Indicators, ete.). The particularity of SACS is the "everything inside DWG" approach: all <lata is stored inside the digital nıaps allowing anytinıe to rebuild the whole infornıation having nothing but the DWG files. This allows a great flexibility of the systenı that offers the possibility to elaborate pre-existing and not specifically SACS-designed plans.