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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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EBD Journal Club

The Impact of Operating Room Layout on Circulating Nurse’s Work Patterns and Flow Disruptions: A Behavioral Mapping Study
September 2018 ∘ EBD Journal Club ∘
Bayramzadeh, S., Joseph, A., San, D., Khoshkenar, A., Jafarifiroozabadi, R., Neyens, D. M. (2018). Health Environments Research & Design Journal. DOI: 10.1177/1937586717751124.
Webinar

The Medical Behavioral Unit: Enhancing Patient Safety and Experience Through Design
June 2018 ∘ Webinar ∘
With no known precedent, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia pursued a vision to develop a new pediatric patient care unit: one that would meet the requirements and licensure of an acute care unit, but would provide a safe and supportive environment for patients with a comorbid developmental, behavioral, or psychiatric diagnosis. A multidisciplinary team worked together to envision, plan, and design an environment to support a new model of care for this unique population. Key elements of the project—a remodel of an existing unit—include patient, family, and staff health; circadian lighting; biophilic design; and safety.
Tool

Interactive Design Diagrams
June 2018 ∘ Tool ∘

Healthcare is provided in a variety of settings, from a person’s home to outpatient clinics, to the hospital. While the settings and specific design elements may differ across the continuum of care, the objectives of safety, efficiency, satisfaction, and high quality care remain constant. This set of interactive diagrams provides a link between the evidence base, design strategies, and desired outcomes – in a visually intuitive and actionable format.
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Webinar

Don’t Let Your Smart Building Forget the Patient
May 2018 ∘ Webinar ∘
The “smart” building, one that uses a building management system to monitor and adjust HVAC and other systems to make the building more energy-efficient, has become a well-recognized and expected part of new healthcare construction. But can the smart building become even smarter? Can it be integrated with other technologically driven systems to be not just a smart building but a clinically smart building? In this session, presenters will explore how the Internet of Things and clinical systems can work together to positively impact clinical operations and patient experiences.  
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Webinar

Microhospitals: Key Considerations for Planning and Design
April 2018 ∘ Webinar ∘
Microhospitals have become popular in many areas as a solution to help health systems grow market share and deliver greater value. Microhospitals require a clear strategy, a sound operational model, and a clinical support plan in order to be successful. The potential for a significant impact on a health system’s future in response to the changing economics and clinical delivery of healthcare is exciting. This session will share experiences in planning microhospitals, discuss key operational areas, and illustrate clinical innovations that would support this model.
Issue Brief

Design for Behavioral and Mental Health: More Than Just Safety
February 2018 ∘ Issue Brief ∘
As part of the Behavioral & Mental Health toolbox, in this issue brief you will learn about the prevalence of behavioral and mental health conditions as comorbidities; design strategies for promoting psychological wellness; and a systematic benefit analysis approach to meet the psychological needs of all.
Webinar

Safety Risk Assessment 2.0
January 2018 ∘ Webinar ∘
When we design healthcare facilities, we may not always have a complete understanding of how we can proactively design for safety and account for risk beyond fire and life safety. How can we more effectively consider safety issues like infections, falls, medication errors, injuries associated with patient handing or behavioral health, and security? This webinar introduces the new, easier to use, online interface for The Center’s Safety Risk Assessment (SRA) toolkit, a proactive and systematic approach to designing and renovating healthcare facilities for safety. Originally developed through research and consensus to support the requirements of the FGI Guidelines, The Center's research team will walk you through the why, what, and how of each part of the online SRA toolkit illustrating features with vignettes gathered from the testing process.  
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Interview

Exploring Emergency Department Trends and Best Practices to Improve Throughput, an interview with James Augustine, MD, FACEP
April 2017 ∘ Interview ∘
Learn about: how the aging of the population contributes to overcrowding in EDs today, why some hospitals are creating ED areas specifically for seniors, with enhanced lighting, non-slip flooring, and other safety features, the need for Clinical Decision Units to provide a place for emergency patients who require a longer stay in order to free up space in the ED, and the challenges that behavioral health and chemical dependency patients pose to EDs, and how best to address these issues.
Blog

Serving Up the Latest Technology with Patient Care
April 2016 ∘ Blog ∘

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.
Blog

Coming Clean on the Link Between Perception of Cleanliness and Patient Satisfaction

January 2016 ∘ Blog ∘
The healthcare community has recently come clean on an important fact: patient perception of your hospital’s cleanliness may impact their overall view of your facility much more than you’d think. The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey provides patients an important avenue through which to share their views of your hospital’s cleaning practices. Many patients will also use their impression of your physical environment’s look and cleanliness to judge the quality of care they receive.