Improving management of complex and congested facilities in hospital buildings is a potential point for both reducing money spent and enhancing quality level of the medical services provided in public hospitals of Iran. Although building information modeling (BIM) is identified as an effective tool for improving facility management (FM), use of advantages it offers to the FM processes of hospitals has been neglected thus far in the country. To address this issue, this research aims to investigate the BIM capabilities and the supporting organizational structure public hospitals in Iran can adopt to improve their FM processes. A comprehensive literature review was conducted on applicable capabilities of BIM to the FM processes. Hierarchical FM structure of public hospitals in the country was recognized through review of the related regulations. A public hospital case was chosen for an in-depth recognition of FM processes operations and validation of the proposed BIM-based improvements. It was argued the use of BIM capabilities can cause substantial improvements in the FM processes of the public hospitals. Reduced duration of FM activities, improved facility layouts, enhanced communication and coordination, facilitated training, and improved emergency management are some expected outcomes. Hospitals are complex organizations with various stakeholders, facilities and materials closely linked and working together to accomplish their vital missions, i.e., curing patients in need and improving public health. The complex combination of people with different organizational roles and various types of materials and facilities working together in a variety of sensitive medical procedures makes operating costs of hospitals among the highest in the public service organizations [1] [2]. As World Health Organization [3] reports, government expenditure on health exceeds 14% of total government's expenditure globally. Despite high cost spent on different hospital operations, a single slight flaw in any parts of this complex organization may cause dire consequences and create significant dissatisfaction. Efforts on improving different parts of hospital management resulting in quality enhancement and cost reduction are valuable to the society. Meanwhile, a variety of medical and non-medical equipment used in hospitals and diversity of utility demanding medical services make hospitals utility systems among the most congested and complex utilities in public buildings [4]. Furthermore, the high pace of advances in medical equipment technologies in recent decade compels hospitals to continually install new medical equipment to maintain their operability and competitiveness in this highly competitive market. Cost consuming modifications to the utility systems become necessary to support new medical equipment. Poor hospital facility management (FM), though, can add to the costs of these modifications. Prolonged activities, frequent disruption to regular hospital operations and short or excessive supply of utility services are some example...
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.