Healthcare Management forms a critical component of the industry and billions of dollars continues to be invested in it annually. However, in the past, the impact of hospital facility design including its medical equipment and technology was not considered .Of late, the key focus area, is hospital architecture design and planning because it has a profound effect on patient safety and quality of care. There is a need to revamp the fundamental healthcare processes and align it properly with culture and physical surroundings for minimizing errors in health care and addressing serious safety issues. This paves way for an efficient hospital infrastructure planning so that nurses, caregivers and other supporting staff are provided with safe and improved physical environment for enabling safe patient-care.
Today, Healthcare Consulting Firms(HCFs) focus on Hospital Facility Planning (HFP) for not merely improving the patient experience but also increasing the efficiency and functionality through lean planning techniques and reducing the operational expenses through efficient buildings.
Traditionally, HCFs designed master plans in response to facility constraints that called for lump sum expenditures. So this resulted in investments for new buildings to respond to growth or obsolescence. In more recent years, the analysis of Return on Investment (ROI) has become more prevalent and cost of care is driven by value thereby creating enormous future expectations.
Need for HFP
- Currently, Healthcare Delivery Model calls for sustainability and ability to bridge the gap between cost and quality
- Healthcare now emphasizes on ‘service for value’ not ‘service for volumes’
- Performance evaluation in healthcare is done on multiple parameters – cost control, quality, patient safety and satisfaction
- Reimbursements may be assessed on multi-domains –clinical, service, outcomes and efficiency measures
- Value based purchasing replaces fee-for service model
- Regional Macroeconomics demands better planning
- Increased numbers of aging population calls for critical and ambulatory care services
- Increased healthcare resource costs
- Pervasive technology
- Necessity of huge capital investments for information technology and networking, program development and hospital staff recruitment
Hospital Facility Planning(HFP)
HFP is a unique and complex process as hospitals pose unique and challenging propositions for building planning and design due to characteristics of complex circulation patterns and constant usage. HFP addresses the long term views of modelling a hospital as a structure that is intensely people centred and caters to requirements of extended care on a 24/7 basis with flexibility to meet unknown future challenges .HFP also supports overlapping healthcare regulatory requirements and voluntary accreditation standards. HFPs may aid in designing following components of hospital spaces -
- In-Patient Care
- Ambulatory Care
- Diagnostic and Treatment Functions
- Support Services
- Public Utility Spaces
Key Focus Areas
- Improving Patient Experience and Outcomes and enhancing operational efficiencies by re-modelling patient flows appropriately
- Integration of Information Technology/ Networking to every possible patient contact point to promote faster and error-free transmission of digital information
- Providing interactive systems such as electronic kiosks, computerized direction systems and modular planning to improve patient accessibility
- Ability to deal with flexibility and change periodically and consistently
- Usage of systematic approach and interior design standards
- Capability of quicker response to new service requirements which is crucial for remaining competitive
- Scaling up facility to meet new technology developments and standards
- Need for Bold Master Plans for right sizing facilities and revamping healthcare delivery
- High productivity resource allocation for surgeries including pre-operative units for ambulatory patients, multi-speciality operation theatres and facilities for Minimal Invasive Techniques(MIT) and Telemedicine
- Catering to Emergency Medicine Volumes with new Patient-Care Delivery Models
Advantages
- Patient centric service
- Operational Efficiency and enhanced Patient Safety
- Flexibility for expansion
- Capability to handle technology advancements
- Sustainable design for meeting high occupancy needs and round the clock patient care
- Promotes patient- friendly healing environment with art and hospitality
Conclusion
HFP must certainly provide a healing and life –affirming environment in hospitals that aids patients to return to healthy lifestyle along with their care takers. The interior architecture and hospital layout provided by the HFP must enunciate a feeling of enriched hospitality and connect to nature and the world beyond. In summary, HFP in future must accommodate higher patient acuity, shorter duration of hospitalization and adequate infrastructure to handle aged patients and staff.
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