Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management and automation, today introduced EcoStruxure Power, a digital architecture for power distribution and management in healthcare facilities. Through advancements in IoT, mobility, sensing, cloud and analytics, EcoStruxure Power helps hospitals, outpatient centers and assisted living facilities ensure reliable power, financial performance and safety.

Faced with rising operating costs and shrinking budgets, healthcare facilities are under mounting pressure to do more with less, while also complying with strict regulations and ever-changing technology, health and safety measures. EcoStruxure Power is designed to help healthcare facility managers, energy and sustainability professionals, contractors and engineers create and implement IoT-enabled solutions that drive energy, cost and operational efficiency from the emergency room to the executive suite.

“Power is crucial in a hospital environment. Without reliable power, patients’ lives are at risk,” said Mohamed Shishani, EcoStruxure Power deployment leader, Schneider Electric. “EcoStruxure Power is designed explicitly for the energy-intensive, always-on power environment in hospitals and clinical care settings. IoT-enabled power management solutions such as smart electrical panels, connected power metering devices and power monitoring software combine to prevent power quality issues, reduce energy use and costs, and create a modern power infrastructure for the future of healthcare.”  

EcoStruxure Power’s IoT-enabled solutions are comprised of three layers of technology innovation:

• Connected Products monitor and maintain critical power, ensure patient comfort, and improve patient satisfaction. For example, the PowerLogic PM8000 series power meters help ensure the reliability and efficiency of power-critical facilities by detecting and reporting power quality and compliance.
• Edge Control aggregates and displays data for staff bringing the right information to the right person to reduce maintenance costs and maximize system reliability. For example, EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert allows tracking of real-time power conditions to help improve efficiency and reliability.
• Apps, Analytics and Services take that data to the next level by providing intelligence such as predictive maintenance and asset management, energy and sustainability reporting and opportunities, workflow efficiency and more. EcoStruxure Asset Advisor services deliver predictive analytics to help facilities prevent system downtime and protect staff and patients.

IoT-enabled solutions address healthcare’s biggest challenges

Healthcare facilities are challenged by aging infrastructures, inefficient power distribution systems and thin operating margins. Given the critical nature of reliable power in delivering a safe, healthy clinical environment, healthcare facilities must embrace modern, connected technologies to improve energy efficiency and financial health without compromising patient care.

One Schneider Electric customer, a large academic medical center in New York, experienced a transformer failure leading to $1 million* in repairs and revenue losses. After implementing EcoStruxure Asset Advisor, Asset Services detected an issue on a second transformer allowing the hospital to avoid another costly failure. Through Asset Advisor, the facility has gained critical insights into the health of its infrastructure and is better able to ensure power reliability throughout its operations.

EcoStruxure Power was created to support a comprehensive, intelligent healthcare infrastructure. IoT-enabled technologies help hospitals, clinics and long-term care facilities ensure reliable electrical power to critical areas, identify potential issues before a power failure occurs, reduce operating theater downtime while preventing electrical shock, monitor electrical distribution to improve patient safety and reduce energy costs, and automatically test emergency power supply systems to ensure power is available when it’s needed most.

Please visit Schneider Electric’s site to learn more about EcoStruxure Power for healthcare.