April 19, 2018

The Scoop

Collaborate, Learn, Act  

We all learn differently - there's no one-size fits all when it comes to comprehending information. The four most common types of learners I've read about are: the visual learner who best comprehends information by visualizing relationships and ideas. Charts, diagrams and even essays work well for visual learners.

Auditory learners are all ears. They prefer listening to information rather than reading it or seeing it visually displayed. 

Kinesthetic learners are the most hands-on learning type. They do best when they can participate in activities or solve problems in a hands-on manner. 

Reading & writing learners are extremely comfortable with the written word. They prefer to consume information by reading and further absorb information by condensing and rephrasing it.

We at The Center have opportunities and resources to engage all these learning types. Not only are many of our tools and resources accessible anytime, but many are also interactive, from our Safety Risk Assessment Toolkit to our in-person workshops facilitated by today's leading experts.  Our regional and national events bring people together to share, learn, and advance best practices in healthcare design. We equip industry professionals with tools and training that enable them to effectively evaluate, test, prioritize, implement, and optimize facility investments. And we educate the industry with our internationally recognized Evidence-Based Design Accreditation and Certification (EDAC) program that awards certification to healthcare planners, architects, designers, contractors, students, manufacturers and management professionals demonstrating an understanding of applying evidence-based design to healthcare facilities. Projects that use an evidence-based design process in the pursuit of increasing value, improving outcomes, and engaging stakeholders can now be entered to be a recipient of the Evidence-Based Design Touchstone Awards. Awards are given to projects that show exemplary achievement across touchstones of the EBD process: collaboration, evaluation, and sharing. (You can see the 2017 recipients here.)

The annual event that  offers the latest strategies and ideas for creating functional and attractive living environments that meet the needs of our aging population - the Environments for Aging Expo & Conference, is rapidly coming up in Savannah, Georgia, April 21 - 24. It's three days filled with seeing old friends, enjoying keynote presentations, workshops, walking tours and making discoveries in an expo hall filled with the latest innovative products. If you're attending, make sure to come by our booth near the educational sessions and say hello.

April 26, join us for a webinar titled "Microhospitals: Key Considerations for Planning and Design", that will explore how the increasingly popular microhospital design requires a clear strategy, a sound operational model, and a clinical support plan in order to be successful. Come and interact with presenters, Phil DeBruzzi, FACHE, Director, Navigant and Rod Booze, Principal, Environments for Health. 

And, finally, April 30 is the last day to get early bird savings for the Design for Patient and Staff Safety: A Systems Approach Workshop in Chicago on June 25 - 26.  This is a day-and-a-half interactive, collaborative, problem-solving workshop where a faculty of design, facility and care professionals will offer lessons learned and new thinking in both design and organizational strategies that support improved patient and staff safety.  Check out the agenda here.

As we continue to celebrate our 25th anniversary, our pledge to you is to continue to offer you the needed tools, resources and insights to ensure all healthcare environments are healthy, safe and produce the best possible outcomes for patients, families, and staff. You can be a part of our celebration by donating to The Center for Health Design. Donations help us achieve the research, education, and advocacy goals that unleash design's healing power in the U.S. and abroad and help us to reach our financial goal of ensuring a strong future for decades yet to come. Click here to make a contribution to The Center and make a difference in the future of healthcare.  

Be well,

Debra Levin, EDAC
President and CEO

Industry News Briefs
 

Four Key Design Strategies - How Architecture Can Support a Health Care Organization's Growth

A growing body of research points to the unique edge offered by design in curbing operational costs and advancing positive patient and resident outcomes for health organizations. The combination of architectural design and clinical planning is a neutral, resourceful and mighty force that can propel advancements in health care delivery.

Through this, health care providers can overcome the social, economic and political barriers and arrive at a system that is financially alert, operationally efficient and socially responsive by design.

To create these environments to surmount the pressing challenges facing health care in the 21st century, however, long-held assumptions of what is important in health care facilities must be challenged.  Health Facilities Management, more . . .

Apple's Recent Hospital Deals May Signal Industry Shakeup

In a recent opinion piece published by the Harvard Business Review, David Blumenthal, MD, who served as the National Coordinator for Health IT from 2009 to April 2011, writes that Apple's recent pacts with big-name healthcare systems might indeed be poised to disrupt the healthcare industry.

Blumenthal co-authored the piece with former U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra, and both contend the pact has not gotten the attention it deserves.

Apple's healthcare move "could herald truly disruptive change in the U.S. healthcare system," Blumenthal and Chopra write. How? "It could liberate healthcare data for game-changing new uses, including empowering patients as never before."

The idea is to give patients easier access to their own data. HEATHCARE FINANCE,  more. . . 

Architectural design of health care facilities, including technology and equipment, and its effect on patient safety has become a focus for health care risk managers.

To deliver safe and trusted health care, many key areas have to be considered, such as changes in the health care delivery processes, the culture of the organization and the physical environment.

The physical environment needs to be aligned with the current care delivery models to support the staff and the resources they depend on to ensure the safe delivery of care.

Understanding the interrelationships between humans, the tools they use and the environment in which they work is fundamental to the study of health care facility design and its effect on nursing performance as well as that of other care providers who interface with the facility. Humans are more apt to make errors in areas that are poorly designed. Health Facilities Management, more . . .

Sixth Annual Internationally Acclaimed CODAawards Celebrate Commissioned Art Projects

The internationally acclaimed CODAawards, now in their sixth year, celebrate the design projects that most successfully integrate commissioned art into interior, architectural, or public spaces. The awards, selected from projects around the world, honor the individuals and the teams whose collective imaginations create the public and private spaces that inspire us every day. Submit projects for consideration by May 31, 2018. CODAworx, more. . .