Anne DiNardo

Warm climates have always appealed to medical tourists, and Health City Cayman Islands, a 130,000-square-foot facility that opened in early 2014, takes advantage of its tropical location by providing an abundance of natural light and views to nature.

Designed to attract Americans to the island for cardiovascular and orthopedic health services, the hospital is a partnership between Narayana Health, which oversees a network of 14 hospitals across India, and Ascension, a private not-for-profit health system in the U.S.

For decades, the term “medical tourism” conjured two distinctly different images: the affluent traveling to tropical destinations for nip/tucks or other elective surgeries and, in some parts of the world, individuals crossing borders to find care that wasn’t available close to home. While these markets still exist, the medical tourism industry of today is largely composed of patients traveling to receive tertiary care in specialties such as cardiovascular, orthopedics, weight loss, and more.

Located in Westerville, Ohio, Mount Carmel St. Ann’s Hospital recently underwent renovations to bring new and expanded services to the facility while updating the environment to reflect the local culture.

More than 1 million Americans are expected to travel outside the U.S. for medical care in 2014, according to Patients Beyond Borders, a resource and  publisher on medical tourism. Globally, approximately 11 million patients go abroad for medical treatment.

In this series, Healthcare Design asks leading healthcare design professionals, firms, and owners to tell us what’s got their attention and share some ideas on the subject.

As the importance of waiting rooms pushes design to new levels with better layouts and various social experiences, healthcare facilities are also placing greater emphasis on aesthetics to up the ante.

Christine Guzzo Vickery, vice president and senior interior healthcare designer HGA Architects and Engineers (Minneapolis), says one of the key elements she emphasizes to clients is good lighting.

The patient experience is taking on a whole new level of importance for providers, as the industry shifts to a value-based service model, where outcomes and satisfaction drive reimbursements.

“Most hospitals have been focused on the back-of-house operations, where everything was about volume and efficiency,” says Michael Lied, director of healthcare, principal, GBBN Architects (Cincinnati). “Now the value is shifting to the front of the house and the customer service aspect.”