Oregon Health and Sciences University Case Study

Goal

The Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) capital program needed a way to document projects across sites and keep meticulous financial records to demonstrate a net-zero outcome each year.

Challenge

OHSU’s multi-pronged program includes sustaining and capital projects on both the academic and healthcare sides of the organization, so they needed to bring together data from different sites and people.

Solution

Adoption of e-Builder in 2012 with buy-in from key stakeholders allowed OHSU to digitize and streamline processes such as contracts, change orders, invoice approvals, and RFIs.

Ongoing Benefits

Today, OHSU continues to bring on more e-Builder users to add depth to data collection, keep tasks moving, and inform key stakeholders.

Oregon’s only public academic health center, Oregon Health Science University (OHSU) operates a school of medicine along with hospitals and clinics at multiple sites throughout Oregon and southwestern Washington. OHSU’s capital program includes sustaining projects on both academic and research and healthcare sites, comprising a typical annual spend of $60–100 million. Other capital projects expend an additional $150 million annually.

“Our project development and approval process is part of our project initiation. We also have closeout processes to help run through checklists and make sure everything is buttoned up and completed on a project.”

—Tyler Harding, System/Application Analyst, Design and Construction | OHSU

Embracing e-Builder

OHSU chose e-Builder more than a decade ago and rolled it out in 2021. Prior to implementing a comprehensive digital project delivery solution, the organization relied on a combination of spreadsheets and limited software, often keeping data segmented and inaccessible.

Over the years, OHSU has utilized e-Builder to manage contract processes, budget change orders, invoice approvals, and RFIs. “Our project development and approval process is part of our project initiation, and that works well for us,” says Tyler Harding, System/Application Analyst, Design and Construction at OHSU. “We also have closeout processes to help run through checklists and make sure everything is buttoned up and completed on a project.” The capital program uses e-Builder’s forms module to manage submittals and campus IDs and access for contractors.

Reporting for capital and sustaining projects is subscription driven, helping management stay aware of idle processes and keep tasks moving along. Project managers use reporting to keep an eye on program level data, ensuring that they stay on budget and on schedule.

OHSU has developed a few templates within e-Builder’s schedule function based on phases, programming, launch, design, construction, occupancy, and project closeout dates. “Project leads are required to keep all the schedule information current and make sure those dates are lining up with the timeline originally outlined for the project,” says Harding.

OHSU also manages project costs in e-Builder, but maintains a separate system of record for financials. “Eventually, we’d like to integrate the two systems, but for now, a financial analyst on our team keeps them in sync.”

Buy-in from top management has proven vital to success with e-Builder. “Our management requires that data be entered every month for reviews and so forth, so there’s really good utilization in general,” says Harding. “If something needs to be done on a project, it’s done through e-Builder.”

Expanding Access and Data Collection

Recently, OHSU shifted from a limited e-Builder license to an unlimited license model. “We had people outside my department but still internal to OHSU who wanted access to our project data on e-Builder, but we couldn’t hand out access like candy, so that was one pain point.”

Another motivator was the desire to keep multiple stakeholders and external contractors in the loop on processes and approvals, rather than having one e-Builder point person at each firm. “Having that capability now is really nice, and helps us keep everyone on the same page.”

“Our management requires that data be entered every month for reviews and so forth, so there’s really good utilization in general. If something needs to be done on a project, it’s done through e-Builder.”

—Tyler Harding, System/Application Analyst, Design and Construction | OHSU

The Value of a Central Data Hub

As a self-funded group, OHSU’s capital program is expected to hit as close as possible to net zero every year in their financials. To achieve this goal, they need a comprehensive digital construction project management tool that provides both detailed data reporting and a wide view of project costs, timelines, and successes. “Without e-Builder, we would have absolutely no idea of the big picture of our projects,” says Harding. “Gathering all the data and putting it together would be completely impossible.”

About e-Builder

e-Builder has more than 25 years of experience supporting owners like you in managing capital improvement projects.

e-Builder Enterprise automates information handoffs between designers, contractors, consultants and owners through a best-in-class workflow engine that transforms old paper processes to digital.

The best way to understand how e-Builder Enterprise can transform your capital program management is to see it for yourself.