The “patient experience” is a vital quality metric for hospitals, and healthcare executives are quickly learning that it also affects an institution’s bottom line.
And what better way to ensure that care is patient-centered than to build healthcare facilities with “patient-centeredness” as a design component?
“Healing environments must be patient-centered,” said Kim Nelson Montague, director of design consultation services at Planetree, a Derby, Conn.-based nonprofit organization that promotes the use of “evidence-based design” in the construction of healthcare facilities.
Speaking recently at BOMA International’s 2010 Medical Office Buildings & Healthcare Facilities Conference in Chicago, Montague said patient-centeredness as a healthcare design concept takes community needs into consideration when creating new buildings.
The experience of some hospitals suggests that such an approach needn’t be too costly.
“When we had the ability to build a new hospital six years ago, we felt we had an obligation to raise the bar and create something that was different,” said Cindy Alloway, chief operating officer at Alegent Lakeside Health in Omaha, Neb.
Alegent spent $69 million on its new 77-bed hospital, incorporating a patient-centered perspective that led to simple yet innovative design concepts.
The Lakeside facility employs a patient way-finding system that includes themed signage, color-coded for emergency guidance. Gathering areas are filled with natural light, natural stone, live plants, and homelike furnishings, including fireplaces. Patients may also take advantage of complimentary valet parking, a business center, and in-room Internet service.
Aurora Health Care, a 15-hospital health system based in Milwaukee, has also adopted a patient-centered design approach to new construction.
Rebecca Flink, Aurora’s vice president of facilities development, said construction design is an important part of the health system’s branding strategy.
“We standardize all our medical office buildings – they are not designed for specific specialties,” Flink said. “For instance, red brick and teal windows have been synonymous with Aurora buildings since I first came on board in 1992.”
Creating patient-centered facilities is important to “symbolize competence” as well as accommodate the needs of patients, Flink said.
“We design around patient convenience and hospitality, but we also emphasize timelessness” she said. “Our newest group practice facility has open-glass elevators, brass handrails, and plants throughout the facility. The cost premium is really not that significant when you compare it to the statement that it makes. You need to put your dollars into areas where your most patient exposure is.”
According to Alloway, healthcare reform will place greater value on the patient experience, which means investing in patient-centered hospital design will ultimately yield returns.
“Creating an ideal healing environment is not more costly than the other aspects of hospital construction,” she said. “You just have to make your choices early in the process and resist making changes. Hire good designers and contractors and you can find efficiencies that help with the cost.”