As our firm has embarked on our Lean design initiative (See "Total Immersion in Lean Design" from the August 2012 issue of HEALTHCARE DESIGN), we have come to realize its importance.
In addition, we know the Lean design approach is applicable to our three primary market segments: healthcare, higher education, and research; but has its most promising reward in the healthcare industry.
The healthcare system exists to serve one person—the patient. There are hundreds of articles and speculation on the hospital of the future, patient-centered care, and the patient room of the future. I thought it would be fitting to talk about the patient for which we are planning and designing facilities of the future.
With the overlying goal of creating a friendly new welcoming entry point for visitors to the famous Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Perkins+Will teamed up with artist Spencer Finch to turn part of the massive 1.6-million-square-foot addition’s façade into an artist’s canvas.
One of my previous posts focused on the patient room as the epicenter of the patient experience and the cause and effect of the Patient Room Environment > Patient Experience > Patient Satisfaction > HCAHPS Scores.
Recently, a pediatric research team from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia reported that premature babies have a higher chance of survival when they are born in high-level, high-technology neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). That should come as no surprise as there have been tremendous leaps and bounds made in medical care for babies, but have those innovations in care and design kept pace with trends in adult healthcare design?
I, like many others, was a fan of the summer Olympic games. I was thrilled with each victory and was constantly amazed at the strength and endurance of each athlete.
I enjoyed the media coverage that would often provide the back story on how athletes started out and how they were encouraged by their parents and coaches.
When the cameras focused on the coaches, you could see all of the emotion and encouragement in their faces from the many hours devoted to training.
Project category: New construction (completed December 2010)
Chief administrator: Bobbie Gerhart, Chief Executive Officer, (937) 208-2475
Firm: NBBJ, (614) 232-3060
Design team: MEP Engineer (Korda/Nemeth Engineering, Inc.); Structural Engineer (Shell + Meyer Associates, Inc.); Civil Engineer (LJB Inc.); Lighting Designer (NBBJ); Construction Manager (Skanska Shook J.V.)
Photography: © Benjamin Benschneider; © Matthew Carbone; NBBJ
Total building area (sq. ft.): 440,000
Project category: New construction (completed May 2011)
Chief administrator: Jean Elrick, M.D., Senior Vice President, Administration, (617) 726-0430
Firms: NBBJ, (212) 924-9000; Chan Krieger Sieniewicz, (617) 218-4800
Are the traditional methods of sizing domestic hot water production equipment in hospitals obsolete? Are engineers installing more hot water production equipment than needed? Are we wasting energy by not “right sizing” the production equipment?
These are all good questions and the answers can impact hospital’s energy use and operating costs.
Project category: New construction (completed July 2011)
Chief Administrator: Mr. Jon Jackson, Senior Vice President, Chief Administrative Office, (913) 588-1289
Firm: Cannon Design, (410) 234-1155
Ask almost any nurse where they want patient care supplies and medications, and they will most likely say inside or just outside the patient room.
Considering the mounting research from the past several years on how much time a nurse spends away from the bedside to hunt and gather medications, supplies, and equipment, along with the intense focus on quality outcomes and Lean processes, it is no wonder that more patient room designs are including bedside medication storage.
When the Supreme Court handed down its landmark ruling on "Obamacare" on June 28, 2012, pundits around the globe rushed into action to analyze, dissect, and otherwise comment on the impact the decision would have on, well, everyone.
