After almost fifteen years of incremental healthcare reform legislation, reimbursement practices are beginning to shift from volume-based, fee-for-service payments to payments based on the quality of care received by patients. During this presentation, Eileen and Lynn will provide an overview of the design team implications for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) three pay-for-performance programs, including the Hospital Readmissions Reduction , Hospital Value-based Purchasing, which includes Hospital Consumer Assessment of the Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey, and the Hospital-Acquired Conditions Reduction Program. The speakers will describe how architects, designers and facility managers have an important role in contributing to solutions that help owners achieve targeted outcomes.  

Participants will learn about how design features in the built environment shape healthcare outcomes tied to reimbursement. Implications for facility design, maintenance, material selection, based on research, standards and best practice evidence, will be shared including examples from published literature and The Center’s Pebble Partners. Participants will be oriented to The Center’s resources, such as  the Knowledge Repository, the Clinic Design website, the safety risk assessment toolkit, the interactive patient room design tool and tools to guide selections in specific areas such as furniture and flooring. A framework will be provided so that teams can incorporate this knowledge in their daily work and facility life-cycle decision making in order to reduce HACs like healthcare-associated infections, patient falls and medication errors. ACA enactment represents a singular opportunity for architects, designers facility managers and solution providers to demonstrate their value as trusted advisors in the role of the built environment to improve outcomes linked to reimbursement.