Attachment 16 - SOCAMES 6 Design Alert 1 thru 4.pdf

HEFP/10NA5G/29APR20

SOCAMES 6 Design Alert 1

Problem

During a recent construction activity of cable upgrades to an existing telecommunication room (TR) at an Initial Operating Capability (IOC) site, it was discovered during cable testing procedures that some of the cables being upgraded were greater in length to the end user device than standards allows.

Background

ANSI/TIA-568.D, “Balanced Twisted-Pair Telecommunications Cabling and Components” (Sep 2018) version of industry standards for telecommunication room fixed cabling installation, limits the total length of a network Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) cable segment to 100 meters. The 100 meters is broken down as 10 meters for patch cables and 90 meters for total fixed cabling. Cable length requires a three-dimensional assessment to ensure that the fixed cables being installed do not exceed the specified UTP cable segment of 90 meters of fixed cable length.

There are several scenarios that require an assessment to occur to ensure that a telecommunication rooms UTP cable segments do not exceed 90 meters.

Scenario 1: The installation of a new telecommunication room to serve an area.

Scenario 2: The relocation of an existing telecommunication room to serve an area.

Scenario 3: The installation of new cabling upgrades in a telecommunication room that will remain in place to serve an area.

Scenario 4: An existing telecommunication room that will not receive any cabling upgrades.

Solution

To ensure that an assessment is performed for each of the four telecommunication room scenarios listed above, our office in conjunction with the SD-DCIE team is providing a recommended three-dimensional estimation approach that can be shared with your respective facility leads and design team to verify all telecommunication rooms do not exceed the specified UTP cable segment of 90 meters.

Step 1: Ensure you have an accurate floor plan that depicts the locations of the telecommunication rooms serving the facility.

Step 2: Utilizing AutoCAD or rule, center on the location of the telecommunication room being assessed.

From the center of the room project out lines, 80 meters in length from that point, in the plan north, south, east and west respectively.

Step 3: At the end each of the 80 meters lines created, connect a line 45 degrees from that point out to the next end point creating a diamond.

Step 4: Validate that all areas served by that telecommunication room fall within the parameters of the diamond overlay.

HEFP/10NA5G/29APR20

Step 5: If the area served by that telecommunication room is within the diamond overlay then the distance, as provided by the estimation tool, is adequate for that telecommunication room.

Step 6: If the area served by that telecommunication room is outside the diamond overlay then the distance, as provided by the estimation tool, is inadequate for that telecommunication room and further investigation is required by electronically testing the cable lengths to see if they pass or physical measurement. Any UTP cabling that does not pass testing protocols and is too long will need to have further design considerations to remedy the distance issue.

Notes

Since it is necessary to account for vertical cable distance, installation of slack for bypassing obstructions, cable management, bend radii and other in-situ obstacles 80 meters is utilized instead of the 90 meters acceptable length. This is to provide a realistic estimation of coverage of the representative telecommunication room.

This estimation tool is a recommended approach to validate fixed cable lengths meet the standards.

Designers and installers remain responsible for ensuring actual cable distances do not exceed the limits in the standards.

Below is a diagram of an example demonstrating the use of the estimation tool.

HEFP/10NA5G/16MAR21

VA OEHRM previously required an on-site or near campus Help Desk during Go-Live. To better serve facilities during Go-Live, the Help Desk will now be remote and supported out of Kansas City.

VHA HEFP SEP provided guidance in the Electronic Health Record Modernization Training and Support Space, HEFP SEP Space Planning Job Aid, 11/10/2020 revised 1/27/2021, that required 1,800 square feet of space for the Help Desk as part of the Command Center.

The Electronic Health Record Modernization Training and Support Space, HEFP SEP Space Planning Job Aid, has been updated to reflect the new requirements. The requirement for Help Desk space within the Go-Live Command Center was deleted, therefore, space is not needed for this activity.

Please use this link, Electronic Health Record Modernization Training and Support Space, HEFP SEP Space Planning Job Aid, 11/10/2020 revised 3/16/2021 to find the most up-to-date information.

HEFP SEP (SOCAMES 6) Design Alert 2

Problem

Background

Solution

Notes https://dvagov.sharepoint.com/sites/VHAOCAMESEHRM/VHA%20Site%20Assessment%20Resources/Forms/AllItems.aspx?viewid=d14511ba%2D8bd6%2D461a%2D9a61%2D472a9277303c&id=%2Fsites%2FVHAOCAMESEHRM%2FVHA%20Site%20Assessment%20Resources%2FGuides https://dvagov.sharepoint.com/sites/VHAOCAMESEHRM/VHA%20Site%20Assessment%20Resources/Forms/AllItems.aspx?viewid=d14511ba%2D8bd6%2D461a%2D9a61%2D472a9277303c&id=%2Fsites%2FVHAOCAMESEHRM%2FVHA%20Site%20Assessment%20Resources%2FGuides

HEFP/10NA5G/20APR21

VA OEHRM previously planned for 3.5 classes per end user and either 8 seats per class with social distancing or 15 seats per class without social distancing. However, during the recent VHA EHRM Strategic Review, it was determined that each end user shall have 5 classes and that there will be either 8 seats per class with social distancing or 12 seats per class without social distancing. The changes described result in a larger space need.

VHA HEFP SEP provided guidance in the Electronic Health Record Modernization Training and Support Space, HEFP SEP Space Planning Job Aid, 11/10/2020 revised 1/27/2021, that required

3.5 classes per end user and either 8 seats per class with social distancing or 15 seats per class without social distancing. VA OEHRM and VHA determined that more class time per end user and a decrease in the overall class size are needed.

The Electronic Health Record Modernization Training and Support Space, HEFP SEP Space Planning Job Aid, has been updated to reflect the new requirements. The following classroom calculations were revised.

Previous classroom calculations:

Standard Room Calculations

VAMC Total rooms = Number of end users x 3.5 classes per end user / 15 seats per class / 8 weeks of EUT / 5 days of training per week

CBOC Total rooms = Number of end users x 3.5 classes per end user / 15 seats per class / 8 weeks of EUT / 5 days of training per week.

Social Distanced Room Calculations

VAMC Total rooms = Number of end users x 3.5 classes per end user / 8 seats per class / 8 weeks of EUT / 5 days of training per week

HEFP SEP (SOCAMES 6) Design Alert 3

Problem

Background

Solution

HEFP/10NA5G/20APR21

CBOC Total rooms = Number of end users x 3.5 classes per end user / 8 seats per class / 8 weeks of EUT / 5 days of training per week.

New classroom calculations:

Standard Room Calculations

VAMC Total rooms = Number of end users x 5 classes per end user / 12 seats per class / 8 weeks of EUT / 5 days of training per week

CBOC Total rooms = Number of end users x 5 classes per end user / 12 seats per class / 5 weeks of EUT / 5 days of training per week.

Social Distanced Room Calculations

VAMC Total rooms = Number of end users x 5 classes per end user / 8 seats per class / 8 weeks of EUT / 5 days of training per week

CBOC Total rooms = Number of end users x 5 classes per end user / 8 seats per class / 5 weeks of EUT / 5 days of training per week.

Please use this link, Electronic Health Record Modernization Training and Support Space, HEFP SEP Space Planning Job Aid, 11/10/2020 revised 4/20/2021 to find the most up-to-date information.

Notes https://dvagov.sharepoint.com/sites/VHAOCAMESEHRM/VHA%20Site%20Assessment%20Resources/Forms/AllItems.aspx?viewid=d14511ba%2D8bd6%2D461a%2D9a61%2D472a9277303c&id=%2Fsites%2FVHAOCAMESEHRM%2FVHA%20Site%20Assessment%20Resources%2FGuides https://dvagov.sharepoint.com/sites/VHAOCAMESEHRM/VHA%20Site%20Assessment%20Resources/Forms/AllItems.aspx?viewid=d14511ba%2D8bd6%2D461a%2D9a61%2D472a9277303c&id=%2Fsites%2FVHAOCAMESEHRM%2FVHA%20Site%20Assessment%20Resources%2FGuides

HEFP/10NA5G/07JUN21

Clarification to the field is needed regarding the design of space for Telecommunications Rooms (TRs) in existing facilities for the Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) initiative. The design reference, Infrastructure Standards for Telecommunications Spaces – Version 3.0 requires 170 sq ft TRs for clinical spaces. However, due to existing space and structural constraints, HEFP SEP requires, at a minimum, only 100 sq ft TRs for clinical spaces in existing buildings.

The Infrastructure Standards for Telecommunications Spaces – Version 3.0 was developed by the Solution Delivery-Data Center and Infrastructure Engineering (OIT SD-DCIE) team and published to the TIL August 21, 2020. HEFP SEP identifies the following references as standards for all Information Technology (IT) physical infrastructure design and construction projects:

Infrastructure Standards for Telecommunications Spaces – Version 3.0 and VA OEHRM Site

Infrastructure and End User Device Requirements. These references are discussed and provided to each station during and after their scheduled scoping session to identify the work needed to modernize IT infrastructure across the enterprise.

During the site scoping sessions, HEFP SEP uses the Generic Floor Plan for TRs (Two Rack Requirement), detail 3, page 155 in Appendix B-7 of the Infrastructure Standards for

Telecommunications Spaces – Version 3.0 to communicate and coordinate space requirements for existing TRs to support EHRM. The baseline TR template is a 10 ft x 10 ft (100 sq ft) generic floor plan with two 2 ft x 4 ft racks to house the IT infrastructure.

Infrastructure Standards for Telecommunications Spaces – Version 3.0 specifies that a clinical TR should have a generic floor plan layout of 170 sq ft to support four 2 ft x 4 ft racks. This specification for clinical TRs has created a conflict with the standardized baseline TR of 100 sq ft that HEFP SEP works with the sites to achieve.

HEFP SEP discussed the conflict in TR size requirements with the OIT SD-DCIE team. HEFP SEP identified that due to VAMC/CBOC space deficits, existing building footprints, and the number of TRs, it is difficult to meet the 170 sq ft space requirement without a detrimental impact to healthcare operations. Furthermore, based on the average number of end users associated with each TR, most TRs only house 2 racks and require 100 sq ft of space. HEFP SEP and OIT SD- DCIE agreed that the 100 sq ft baseline standard was the practical approach in existing buildings.

HEFP SEP (SOCAMES 6) Design Alert 4

Problem

Background

HEFP/10NA5G/07JUN21

All EHRM projects that require TR work in existing spaces shall minimally use the Generic Floor

Plan for TRs (Two Rack Requirement), detail 3, page 155 in Appendix B-7 of the Infrastructure Standards for Telecommunications Spaces – Version 3.0 which requires a 10 ft x 10 ft space to support two 2 ft x 4 ft racks. Room dimensions shall be increased by 20 sq ft for any additional 2 ft x 4 ft racks.

All new construction of clinical spaces should adhere to the standards as written.

Please use this link, https://www.cfm.va.gov/til/dguide/OIT-InfrastrucStdTelecomSpaces.pdf to locate the current version of Infrastructure Standard for Telecommunication Spaces – Version

3.0 published August 21, 2020.

Solution

Notes https://www.cfm.va.gov/til/dguide/OIT-InfrastrucStdTelecomSpaces.pdf