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Insights & Solutions

Get the latest trends, tools, and resources for improving healthcare environments here. Browse our many free and members-only resources, including research reports and issue briefs, interviews, case studies, design strategies, lessons learned, key point summaries, and webinars.

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Project Brief

Innovative Design Consolidates Diverse Behavioral Health Programs into One Comprehensive Center
February 2018 ∘ Project Brief

Learn about how a county directive to relocate different behavioral health programs into one location led to a unique design for serving low to high-risk populations in an integrated facility, and how collaboration among the architect, interior designer, landscape architect, owner, staff, and clients played an integral role in shaping the programming and design.
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Project Brief

Maximize Space, Manage Volume, & Improve Communication in the Emergency Department

April 2017 ∘ Project Brief

Learn about: methods to minimize patient wait times and maximize use of hospital space, guiding principles implemented in a Seattle children’s hospital to improve patient and provider communication, and how architects, healthcare providers, and families can collaborate to design a patient-centered emergency department.
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Project Brief

Chair-Centric Waiting Area Addresses Emergency Department Throughput Challenges
April 2017 ∘ Project Brief

Learn about: evidence-based design solutions to address throughput challenges in today’s overcrowded emergency departments, the importance of aligning research design with organizational operations and processes for successful research, and the advantages of basing research methods on previous studies. 
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Project Brief

Urban Pediatric Hospital ED Takes a Unique Approach to Meet Patient Needs
April 2017 ∘ Project Brief

Learn about: unique ways that a pediatric replacement hospital leverages its small urban footprint to meet the high demand for ED services, why locating the emergency department on the second floor was the most efficient way to use limited space, and how a three-pod design enables the ED to flex at different times of day for varying levels of demand.
Project Brief

How the Physical Environment in a Special Care Unit Impacts Dementia Patients’ Quality of Life

February 2017 ∘ Project Brief

Learn about: how the physical setting of a special care unit for dementia patients can affect their behavior in both positive and negative ways, design features that may help engage residents and foster socialization, and strategic choices of flooring surfaces, flooring transitions, and wayfinding that can help create a safer environment.
Project Brief

State-of-the-Art Medical Center Provides Senior Services Designed to Accommodate an Aging Population
February 2017 ∘ Project Brief

Learn about: How UMCPP accommodates the unique needs of senior citizens through a special ED unit, design features that were included to help older patients and their families better navigate the space, and the hospital’s acute care for the elderly (ACE) unit, and why it is configured to transition senior ED patients for an inpatient stay in the most supportive environment.
Project Brief

Green House Design: A Natural Fit for Elder Environment
November 2016 ∘ Project Brief

Learn about: the homelike model for resident care Riverside Assisted Living Facility Administration wanted to apply, the full-scale mock-ups of the proposed living spaces that launched the project, and the ‘neighborhood’ concept that enables greater resident independence as well as safety.
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Project Brief

Collaboration Plays a Key Role in Creating a New Hybrid Operating Room
April 2016 ∘ Project Brief

Learn about: Geisinger Health System’s efforts to create a new Hybrid Operating Room that flexes to accommodate different surgical setups and storage needs, how vendors working closely together around common goals can improve efficiency and maximize results, and the need to maintain flexibility in the built environment to allow designs to meet changing circumstances and incorporate improved technologies. 
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Project Brief

High-Risk Obstetrics Unit Incorporates Homelike Features
August 2015 ∘ Project Brief

Learn about: design solutions for a new birthing unit, process mapping and mock-ups that enabled scenario tests of the new space, and input from staff, physicians, and families used to inform the project.
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Project Brief

Multi-Phase Approach Achieves Culture of Quiet
October 2014 ∘ Project Brief

Learn about: how St. Mary's Hospital targeted noise reduction goals for their cardiac care unit, about onsite sound measurements that informed material selection, and about design changes that resulted in reduced noise from the highest sources of sound.