For innovative healthcare organizations, the paradigm of the patient experience is evolving.  Healthcare design must incorporate the operational, business, and efficiency goals of each institution, but the end-goal is to encourage healing for the patient.  The healthcare patient of 2018 expects to receive care in facilities that are new (or updated), comfortable, and inviting.  The design process is critically important in creating spaces that make the patient experience better and less stressful from first impressions to the follow-up survey.  In addition, healthcare facilities must address the growing number of security risks, including the unique challenges associated with vulnerable patient populations.                                       

 

In this session, we will highlight innovative and new approaches to designing spaces that encourage healing and promote comfort for patients.  Additionally, we will discuss approaches to understanding how to improve the patient experience – from facilitating worksessions to evidence-based design, to post-occupancy evaluations.  Learn how design can positively or negatively influence the patient’s healing, comfort, stress level, and experience.  Discussion will include approaches to facilitating patient-focused visioning worksessions to incorporate the patient’s needs into the design process.

 

Design must also include a comprehensive security plan that ensures a safe and secure environment for employees, patients, and visitors.   The potential for violent incidents, crime, cyber-attacks, terrorism, and other emergencies is increasing, and the response to and mitigation of such incidents are significant concerns for all healthcare organizations.  It is vital to address these concerns in the design of new or renovated facilities.  Designers must implement and integrate security elements that ensure the delivery of patient care services in a reasonably safe and secure environment.  Methods of meeting the challenge of providing cost-effective integration of security applications in architectural, engineering, and environmental design will be discussed.