While most exam rooms feature basic components that have been standard for many years, their size, interior layout, aesthetics, and relationship to adjacent spaces are evolving.
This is primarily because the activities occurring within exam rooms have changed in the past decade—and will continue to change.
Exam rooms vary between clinics depending on location, care philosophy, patient population, specialization, and other factors.
D. Kirk Hamilton, FAIA, FACHA, EDAC
Professor of Architecture, Center for Health Systems and Design, Texas A&M University
D. Kirk Hamilton is a renowned thinker and innovator, a longtime leader in the healthcare design community who continues to restlessly investigate, analyze, and discuss forthcoming trends and best practices via the multiple roles he plays.
With all the prognosticating going on of late about the future of healthcare and therefore of healthcare design (my own predictions included, of course), perhaps we should all look back in the archives for other ideas whose time has come around again. After all, hindsight is 20-20.
As I've mentioned in other blog posts recently, the way the healthcare design community integrates the aging population moving forward is going to be of critical importance to the entire healthcare community. Facilities will need to adapt to be able to accomodate the Baby Boomers, a generation of educated consumers who have learned to expect better, faster, cheaper healthcare; the urban environment will have to adapt, too.
I recently delivered a presentation entitled "Healthcare Design: Where Are We Now and Where Are We Going?" at the monthly chapter meeting of the Columbus, Ohio branch of the American Institute of Architects. One significant challenge, of course, was to present a topic that large in scope in the allotted time while providing enough new info to be relevant to old pros and basic enough to appeal to those new to the healthcare design field.
Tama Duffy Day, FASID, FIIDA, LEED AP
Principal and Healthcare Global Interior Design Leader, Perkins+Will
The issue of infection control in the healthcare environment is fraught with complications. With regulations already in place, it is clear that there is no room for error for hospitals when it comes to hospital-acquired infections.
Jain Malkin, CID, AAHID, EDAC
President, Jain Malkin Inc.
Jain Malkin is a leader in the field of healthcare interior design and has always been on the cutting edge of the latest design trends. Not only designed for style but always stylish, her projects display a knowledge of evidence-based design to back up every choice she makes.
David Allison, FAIA, ACHA
Professor of Architecture and the Director of Graduate Studies in Architecture + Health, Clemson University
Robert N. Mayer, PhD
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) 2012 National Convention and Design Exposition kicked off today in Washington, D.C. It brings together leading experts, architects, and designers from various disciplines, as well as addressing the construction industry.
Our recently published list of the Most Influential People in Healthcare Design 2012 has undergone some changes since the last time you all read it — some behind the scenes and some in public.
