FAQ
The FAQ’s below have been prepared to help answer any questions you may have about MDFM and our services.
Though please don’t hesitate to contact us discuss your needs.
General Questions
MDFM specialises in facilities and asset management exclusively within the aged care and retirement living sector. We prioritise digital asset management to enhance asset performance, supporting clients in optimising asset management and maintenance. MDFM’s philosophy revolves around maximising quality and efficiency while minimising costs and risks through Facility Management (FM) technology, disciplined processes, and independence from specific software providers.
No. MDFM is not a software provider. We work with a range of different maintenance and asset management software programs that are suited to the aged care and retirement living environment. We are not affiliated with any particular software and can provide you with objective feedback on our experience with many different platforms to assist you with the decision on which software is the best fit for your organisation.
MDFM’s point of difference is our deep understanding of the aged care and retirement living industry. It is all we do. So we understand your assets, your suppliers and the unique constraints (and opportunities) that come from managing this type of property. Our experienced staff can assist you with every element of property services and can tailor a solution for your organization.
Our aim is to partner with our clients long term. Our focus is on long term savings through effective management of assets and property. The maintenance strategy will be informed by the organisation’s strategy for the site and the current condition of the building and its assets. Short term you may see an increase in reactive maintenance costs as MDFM gets things done. Compliance and safety are always a priority. Beyond that the focus is on maximising the life of your assets and optimising the performance of the service environment at your facility.
Please view our case studies to find out how MDFM helps clients save costs and disruptions over time.
Transparency is at the core of our service offering. Our management services are based on a fixed per bed or per unit rate so you have certainty in costs month by month. All contractor costs are fully substantiated and our auditable accounting platform can present costs in a format that best suits our client. We offer an exceptional service at a reasonable price and are proud to maintain absolute transparency in our pricing.
Outsourcing is the only way to access highly qualified and skilled staff without bearing the cost of employing them full time. Outsourcing to MDFM means you have access to a team of highly skilled personnel, while only paying for them when you need them.
Asset Capture and Asset Management
MDFM create, implement and manage Asset Management Plans specifically for aged care and retirement living operators. From the initial phase of workshopping, investigating and documenting your strategy, through to integrating the AMP into your operations.
We can also provide retirement village operators in NSW with a compliant and usable Asset Management Plan either in your software, or using excel.
We use a range of software providers depending on the needs and size of your facility, including MEX, FM Clarity, Urbanise, Asset Journey, FM Xpert, FMI Works and Asset Future.
Digitising asset management enhances efficiency by streamlining asset tracking, maintenance scheduling, and inventory management processes. Digital systems enable real-time monitoring and data analysis, facilitating proactive maintenance and reducing downtime. Find out more in this article on the benefits of digital asset management
Digital asset management also improves compliance with regulatory requirements. By maintaining accurate records and documentation digitally, aged care providers can easily demonstrate compliance during audits and inspections.
Furthermore, digitisation enhances transparency and accountability in asset management practices. Detailed records of asset history, maintenance activities, and associated costs are readily accessible, enabling better decision-making and resource allocation.
An Asset Register is a database that contains a comprehensive list of all the assets owned and maintained by an Aged Care provider or Retirement Village operator. The asset register includes the asset’s description, location, condition, purchase date, purchase price, and other relevant information. The asset register can then be set up in a computerised maintenance management system (CMMS) to allow maintenance works to be proactively scheduled for each asset, and reactive requests raised and resolved. Over time the data builds up in the system so that you have a complete history and can extract valuable data to improve asset management including life-cycling and replacement planning, track costs, improve budgeting and reduce breakdowns.
As asset is an item that falls into at least one of the following categories:
- Bolted down, fixed or connected to services: such as Switchboard, Bain-Marie, boiler, CCTV, Combi Oven, etc.
- Critical to safety: in terms of mental health and/or life safety, such as TVs, antennas, auto doors, roof access systems, etc.
- Maintenance: assets that require tracked maintenance, such as hot water systems, air conditioners, lifters, etc.
- Operational importance: operationally significant assets, such as lifts, kitchen equipment, laundry equipment, etc.
Our rule of thumb is to capture all assets that require maintenance or are operationally significant for the welfare of residents. In an aged care environment, this encapsulates a large volume of low value assets. To view our asset capture list and arrange a workshop on the right assets to capture for your organisation, contact us today.
For a 100 bed aged care facility, we generally allow 10 working days to complete the onsite asset capture for a new asset register. We then allow another 10 days to proof, edit, enhance and format the data. Of course the time taken depends on the asset capture list agreed with the client, as well as the layout of the facility.
Maintenance
MDFM specialises in project management within aged care. Effective scheduling is at the heart of everything we do. We understand how your facility operates and the best times to work in and around different areas of the facility to ensure minimal disruption to daily operations. This may involve after hours, liaising with operational staff to develop the schedule, or some creative thinking in how we schedule activities.
Yes. MDFM provides genuine 24/7 emergency support, Our phone line is operated by our internal staff who can assist to rectify the issue, make it safe or arrange the right contractor to attend.
Absolutely. If you have an emergency maintenance situation at your aged care facility or retirement village, please contact us on 02 9742 5001, or after hours on 0412596770. We are happy to help.
MDFM has the experience and skills to refurbish single rooms and bathrooms, all the way up to entire wings of medical-grade buildings, food service areas, outdoor spaces, car parks and everything in between, no matter the age or condition of the aged care property.
Yes. MDFM provides both temporary and permanent maintenance officers to aged care facilities and retirement living across Australia. However we are not a labour hire company. We offer permanent maintenance officers to our clients only where they are under our management and part of our facilities management solution.
Asset maintenance is the process of keeping physical assets in optimal working condition to optimise performance, safety, and longevity. Asset maintenance within a retirement village or aged care facility involves regular inspections, servicing, and repairs as well as studying performance data to identify trends and inform decision making.
We understand that getting started on your aged care building project can be the hardest part. If you have an older style building and need some guidance on the options for significant refurbishment, repurposing, extending life or planning for the end of life of a building, the first step is just to give us a call. We can offer a property condition report, facilitate a BCA inspection and create a budget order of costs for the options under consideration.
CMMS
Yes. MDFM are experienced with many different platforms and can assess how you are currently using yours. We can suggest improvements to the setup, workflow or data to help you get the most from what you have, without needing to look at another system.
MDFM can help you maximise the reporting information that you can access from your existing software. We can also extract information to produce reporting with no need for customization using Power BI. MDFM can also analyse your data to provide insights and comparisons to our extensive industry data and benchmarks.
While a fully functioning CMMS is the best way to manage maintenance and assets, if you aren’t ready to take that leap, there are smaller steps that you can take. For example, a digital maintenance request system is a great replacement for the book at the front desk. You can also manage your service contracts in a contractor portal. Some CMMS platforms can be used at a high level without going down to the asset level initially. If you want to take some steps towards digitising your maintenance process there are lots of ways to go about it.
We hope you were able to find the information you were looking for though please don’t hesitate to contact us discuss your needs.