Insights & Solutions

This session reviews the research and design implemented by HDR at Central Washington and how it integrated lean strategies and all 8 steps of the evidence-based design process to deliver a new patient bed tower. Learn how these strategies have impacted both work processes and employee satisfaction. The presenters will discuss their methodology and results from the research conducted, and how that research impacted the design of the hospital, its occupants, and the efficiency of the building.

In 2012, The Center for Health Design received a grant from the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) to develop a standard evidence-based tool for inpatient room design. In a three-phase process, this grant will result in design and evaluation tools for inpatient room design in Medical/Surgical Units, Adult Intensive Care Units (ICU) and Labor Delivery Recovery (LDR) and Maternity Units. The first phase of this project has been completed, resulting in a Beta-test, paper-based version of the Inpatient Room Design Checklist and POE tool for the Med/Surg Room which are shared in this presentation.

In 2011, The Center for Health Design published a glossary of healthcare environment terms and outcome measures commonly used in evidence-based design research for seven key healthcare topics, many of which are tied to CMS reimbursement formulas: health-care associated infections, medical errors, patient falls, patient satisfaction, patient waiting, staff efficiency and staff satisfaction. Learn about the methods used to create the EBD glossary, the work underway to expand the Glossary using the CHD Knowledge Repository, and how you might use this tool in your construction project, during your design education and with EBD research studies.

Learn about: how one hospital’s emergency room pilot project increased patient satisfaction, the standards developed post-pilot to decrease noise transfer to other areas of the hospital, and why having design changes on paper may not be enough.

Learn about: holistic, cultural solutions to the challenges of the mandated move in healthcare from volume to value, the key to successful cultural transformations and the ways a healthcare organization can understand the patient experience to be successful.

Learn about: the barriers to good patient and provider communication, the ways designers and architects can improve patient and provider communication and the importance of involving patients in the design process.