Healthcare Reform Toolbox

Introduction 

Healthcare reform is in full swing with the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), providing many opportunities for the built environment to be a driving force in better outcomes. Organizations are incentivized to improve the quality of the built environment, which can be accomplished by taking a comprehensive look at facility design, operational decisions, staff training, and care delivery, and how they relate to outcomes.

The Healthcare Reform Toolbox Contains:

Issue Brief and Executive Summary

• "Quality Care, Legislation, and Design," in this issue brief and executive summary, you will learn about the three quality-driven legislative programs that have a relationship to healthcare environments, associations between the design of the physical environment and reimbursement-related measures, and additional built environment strategies requiring additional research.

Five Video & Written Interviews 

•  "Synergy - the Advantages of a Comprehensive Health Campus," a video interview with Barry Rabner
• "Healthcare Reform Presents "Once in a Lifetime" Opportunity for Facilities Community," a written interview with Eileen Malone, RN, MSN, MS, EDAC, learn about the importance of articulating  investment decisions in the context of a return on investment, the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services' pay-for-performance targets and opportunities to improve facilities as a result of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
• "Evidence-Based Design Can Help Hospitals Achieve Best Outcomes," a written interview with Charles Hagood, learn about how patient rooms can flex to meet treatment requirements and increase capacity, why caregivers must work side by side with architects and designers and how a redesign of processes and staff work habits allows for an increase in efficiency.
• "Design of the Built Environment Can Avert Financial Consequences of Pay-for-Performance Affordable Care Act Programs," a written interview with Eileen Malone, RN, MSN, MS, EDAC, learn about the ways facilities can maximize reimbursements in light of healthcare reform mandates, the important work architects and designers can do to help with the implications of the Affordable Care Act and tools and resources that are available to help understand the connection between design and outcomes.
• "To Thrive, Healthcare Organizations Will Have To Act More Like Consumer Brands," a written interview with Jason Girzadas learn about the key issues facing healthcare administration as a result of healthcare reform, forward-thinking strategies to manage the challenges associated with healthcare reform and the ways healthcare architects and designers can help envision future healthcare enterprises.

Three Project Briefs 

• "Designing for the Future of Healthcare With a Focus on Five Key Elements," learn about why healthcare planners must look to the future, about five key elements that enabled support, flexibility, and patient-centered care, and about the importance of including end users early in the design planning process.
• "New Medical Center Takes a Comprehensive Approach to Healthcare," learn about how the Princeton HealthCare System created a comprehensive campus to meet an array of medical and wellness needs for multiple generations, evidence-based design principles that were incorporated into the built environment, and how the new facility is positioned to respond to the changing healthcare field. 
• "One of the First Hospital Facilities Built Using Evidence-Based Design, Ohio Health Puts Patients and Families First," learn about the design features implemented to create a patient- and family-centered space, the importance of working with like-minded partners who can maintain the vision of the project, and the importance of considering the culture of the organization in conjunction with the new space.

Design Tool

• "Healthcare Reform Primer Tool," outlines the relationships between design, measures, healthcare reform topics, and the legislation.

Three Webinars 

• "Healthcare Reform and Quality Care Improvement: Opportunities for Designers and Facility Managers"
• "Healthcare 2020: The Impact of the Built Environment"
• "Patient Safety: Considering Risk in the Built Environment" 

Three Blogs

• Prescribing a Patient-Centered Approach Can Boost Design Efforts
• Designing Staff: Your Best Resource May Be Closer Than You Think
• The Role of Design in Meeting Health Reform Goals

Related Resources 

• Healthcare Reform Resources, this list of resources is made of up of articles, books, policies, organizations, and more, related to healthcare reform. Use this list to learn more about this topic.

Lessons Learned 

• Lessons Learned About Healthcare Reform: the following are compiled from research literature, case studies, interviews, and other materials to provide an overview on the topic of healthcare reform.  

Design Strategies 

• Healthcare Reform Design Strategies, explore how facility design and healthcare reform often focuse on the patient experience of noise and cleanliness as measured by the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey, design is also a factor in reform-based outcome targets.  

Click here to view all Healthcare Reform Toolbox resources   

* Want to learn how to become an Affiliate+ member?  Contact Lynn Kenney, lkenney@healthdesign.org