Enactment of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is transforming just about every aspect of healthcare delivery in order to achieve the Triple Aim goals of better care, healthier people and communities and affordable care.  One of the law’s most striking and fundamental changes is the shift in reimbursement practices – moving volume to value. During this presentation, Eileen and Ellen will provide an overview of the design team implications of the ACA, such as the Hospital Consumer Assessment of the Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey, Hospital-Acquired Conditions Reduction Program and the Partnership for Patients program that has developed the Hospital Engagement Network as test beds for reducing hospital acquired conditions (HACs). The speakers will outline how architects, designers and facility managers have an important role in contributing to solutions that achieve these 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, including the Knowledge Repository, the Clinic Design website 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 and facility managers to demonstrate their value as trusted advisors in the role of the built environment to improve outcomes linked to reimbursement.