Few components of healthcare design, whether it is the design of physical space or of internal processes and procedures, are as difficult to achieve as noise control. Despite facility type or size, it's a daily challenge.
The inherent sounds that go along with delivering care are tough to tackle and can include everything from conversations between patients and staff, to the beeps and buzzes of machines, to the sounds of carts and equipment wheeling across corridors.
It’s 8 a.m. on a bright Monday morning in Kansas City, Kansas, and people are starting to arrive at the University of Kansas Physicians Medical Office Building for appointments.
Is it still possible to provide an efficiently designed healthcare facility that makes a meaningful impact? Between the ever-changing federal regulations, sustainable design ideas, a growing elderly patient population, and skyrocketing operational costs, the challenges are certainly daunting.
Maybe you’ve seen the commercial—the mom, with her hands full from work, kids, and everything that goes with her daily life, gets a cold. The problem? Not only does she not have time to get sick, but she really doesn’t have time to go to the doctor either.
Enter a local drugstore chain’s retail clinic. She’s in, she’s out, and ready to get back to the grind.
It seems like just yesterday we had winter’s end in sight, looking for the first signs of buds on trees and the promise of spring. Planning ahead for implementing a healing garden into a project is like preparing a garden in autumn for a bounty of beautiful blooms in the springtime. The vision prepares the way for the diligent planning, execution, and optimum utilization of a healing space for the whole person: body, mind, and spirit.
If you are about to embark on a new building project or maybe even just a small renovation project, during the development of the project guidelines, ask yourself how innovative you would like the project to be. If you are inclined to seek the excitement of discovering new solutions, then there is a systematic way to approach innovation in a relatively safe manner.
Here are a few thoughts to help discover the scope of your innovative spirit.
Time and time again we hear experts say not only do investments in energy programs see speedy paybacks, but oftentimes the actual investment itself can be diminished through the number of tax and utility incentives available.
This is the first in a series of articles to appear in Healthcare Design that provides practical advice for successfully implementing research in architectural practice
Integrated project delivery: It’s a term that 84% of American Institute of Architects (AIA) members are aware has a presence in the market. But how far has the actual adoption of IPD spread in the design and construction industry?
How aware are you of what it means for a team to implement IPD practices? Beyond awareness, are you actually using it in the field?
Not quite 20 years ago, I sat alone in a hospital bed, wide awake in the middle of the night. The nurse had just left the room in tears. Moments prior, she had quietly entered to administer medication. I woke up as she inserted a needle into my IV line with medication prescribed for the other patient in the room. Out of habit, I asked her what medication she was giving me.
Like many healthcare institutions today, Indiana University (IU) Health Bloomington has long desired a dedicated location outside of its main hospital to care for terminal patients and their families.
With diminishing reimbursements and unknowns surrounding healthcare reform, hospital systems are taking a look at the future of their facilities and making some very strategic decisions that by all means could offer a bit more of a financial guarantee.
