It's hard to believe that we are already finishing up April and heading into May. The Center has many upcoming events including webinars, an Evidence-Based Design Journal Club, the Washington, D.C. Health Design Insights Networking Event, our seventh annual Emergency Department Workshop and the first-ever Content Collaborative on ambulatory care design. You can view all of our upcoming events on our website calendar.

In an effort to stay on top of industry trends, we continue to add tools and resouces to our current Topic Toolboxes. We just recently added Lessons Learned and Related Resources to our Impact of Aging Toolkit that is sponsored by J+J flooring Group.

In the Insights and Solutions section of our website, you will find resources and tools that will provide you with knowledge that's actionable, knowledge you can quickly incorporate into your projects, along with the latest industry news to see what others are doing. Here's just a few of our recent additions:

The resources and tools we provide are meant to be shared - make sure to pass them along to your team and as always, let me know what tools and resources have been helpful to you in the past, and we'll feature them in our future newsletters.

As the millennial generation enters the workforce and becomes increasingly responsible for buying and accessing health care, organizations are gearing up for a new “regime.” What will this generation — which grew up with technology and the internet at its fingertips — demand and need from a system with mature institutions and complex structures? I have personal experience with this question (as a mother of a 27-year-old working professional) and have watched for responses with great interest.

In 2014, Price Waterhouse Coopers’ Health Research Institute conducted its annual survey of 1,000 consumers and industry experts to identify the top health industry issues for the coming year. One of its key findings was that millennials define “benefits” more broadly — emphasizing work-life balance over simple health benefits — than do members of previous generations. This expectation means that insurers and health care organizations need to work more closely with millennials to support and enhance their well-being and need to look at new mobile technologies that can create personalized, real-time support and feedback.
H&HN more . . .

San Antonio ranks as the second largest city in Texas, and it’s still growing. In 2016, it was home to one of the largest population increases in the nation. Still, it was the only major city in Texas without a comprehensive children’s hospital. Instead, a host of smaller facilities served the region, including the 100-bed Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital, founded in 1959 by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word inside Santa Rosa Hospital’s downtown campus and operated by Christus Santa Rosa Health System. Over the years, the facility partnered with UT Health Science Center to deliver pediatric medicine, but as the region’s population increased and the need for more specialized care and equipment grew, Christus sought an opportunity to expand its children’s services.

In April 2012, the hospital board approved a $135 million, 800,000-square-foot project expansion and renovation of the current campus, turning the existing adult and pediatric hospital into a dedicated children’s hospital. Healthcare Design, more...

The Transformation Imperative

The need to contain costs and keep consumers happy will drive innovation. One year of healthcare spending can buy 15 iPhones. Or, it can buy over 3,000 gallons of milk.

Or, if you want to look at it in relative terms, U.S. healthcare spending, which in 2015 hit nearly $10,000 for every person in the country, was 29% higher than the next most expensive country, Luxembourg.

No matter how you size it up, what the U.S. spends each year on healthcare is a lot of money. That’s why there’s near-universal agreement that, no matter what happens in Washington over the next few years, the pressure on healthcare providers to transform the delivery system into one that achieves better outcomes at lower costs in a more patient- and consumer-friendly way will only grow more intense.

As that pressure builds, a whole new “innovation” industry within healthcare has come into existence. It includes startups looking to help existing providers improve the efficiency of their operations; the quality, safety and outcomes of their care; and their patient or customer relations. Modern Healthcare, more . . .

Designs that Heal

Beginning in my final year of college, I worked at an inpatient behavioral health clinic where kids who were diagnosed with mental illness, ranging from schizophrenia to bipolar disorder, lived. My job was to hang out with the kids, serve them meals, and keep them safe. Most days passed somewhat uneventfully. However, I noticed one thing that did seem to affect the mood of everyone there: the environment.

The rooms were barren and beige. Common spaces were stained and clogged with bulky, heavy furniture. Windows were located 15 feet up the wall so you couldn’t see outside, and the doors were always locked. The environment looked like it was created as an afterthought—just a space to hold some kids who were going through a difficult time. The space provided no distraction or happiness for them.

After working there for a few years during and after college, I wondered, “Could the environment better support their needs?”
Healthcare Design, more . .