Insights & Solutions

How far do you go to involve your patients as a valued part of your organization? The answer may become increasingly important over the next few years. In the current healthcare climate, accrediting bodies and insurers are expecting providers to step up their efforts to design their care models in such a way as to encourage patients to take an active role in their own medical care.

Have you earned the designation of a Patient-Centered Medical Home (or PCMH) yet? If not, now is a good time to explore this up-and-coming model of excellence, which can be of benefit to both your patients and your organization, especially when you support the concept with your facility design so it all comes together seamlessly.

When you think of your organization’s setting, you probably focus on its visual and functional aesthetics. But do you also connect the design approach to the logistics of the communication that occurs in the space? If not, you could be missing some very real opportunities for improvement, since research reveals that the two can be closely linked.

As the focus in healthcare hones in more and more on that all-essential interaction between physicians and patients, you’ll want to be more aware of how your design choices facilitate such meaningful communication.

With technology serving up even more state-of-the art advances in patient care than ever before, many hospitals are incorporating these IT improvements into their operations to create a virtual feast of high-quality offerings.

Take the Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa, California, which just opened its doors in October of 2014. The organization spent $284 million to construct a brand new, high-tech facility that incorporates the latest and greatest IT tools and capacities and uses them to achieve the highest-quality standards of care and treatment.

As the Children’s Hospital at the Anschutz Medical Campus in Colorado has recently discovered, being a technologically advanced facility doesn’t mean you have to take a high-tech approach to your design elements. In fact, just the opposite is true at this pediatric hospital, where the most important goal is creating a nurturing environment that can help young patients to heal so they can go home faster.

How do you incorporate the latest technological advances into your design efforts? If you’re like most healthcare organizations today, the newest electronic tools and offerings are probably taking center stage in your modernization plans, helping to lead the way toward achieving better outcomes.

For many years, carpet was considered a no-no for use in most hospital settings beyond waiting areas. The most oft-cited reason was cleanability, as well as a perceived added difficulty for caregivers pushing carts and other wheeled equipment.

However, with the growing awareness of the noise issue in hospitals—including the potential financial repercussions, based on the HCAHPS system and the reimbursements tied to it—carpet is getting a second look in some facilities looking to decrease overall noise levels.

KASIAN ARCHITECTURE INTERIOR DESIGN & PLANNING LTD.  Firm's role on the project: Prime Consultant, Architect of Record, Interior Design     About the Project

A set of project drivers act as a tool to facilitate the design team’s comprehension of the main criteria for the project. The drivers for South Health Campus seek to:

The UW Hospital and Clinics Authority is a progressive client, especially in developing state of the art, community based cancer services as well as the latest cancer research and technology. Zimmerman Architectural Studios has completed a Radiotherapy Center, a full service, community based ambulatory care facility, a consolidation of the University Sports Medicine Center and is currently completing a large translational and interdisciplinary research facility for UW.

Believing that the healing professional’s vitality is paramount to creating the best patient experiences and outcomes, Kahler Slater successfully worked with San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington, New Mexico to leverage their major capital project into an opportunity to shift their culture and workplace. Kahler Slater assisted every step along the way, even their highly successful capital fundraising campaign which included countywide increase to the gross receipts tax.