Healthcare Design - October 2022 - 70

The Center
SPANNING THE DIVIDE
ADVERTISERS' INDEX
The patient experience of the future will require
the successful integration of digital and physical
interactions By Debra Levin
T
HERE'S A WORD we're
he ar i ng mor e la t e ly :
Phygital. A linguistic mashup
of the words " physical "
and " digital, " it's used to
describe experiences that
blend the physical environment
with the digital one.
This trend is happening in multiple industries
to varying degrees of success. Think Amazon Go
stores where you shop in a physical space but a
digital interface automatically tracks what you
select and charges you for your items as you
leave the store. Another example is using your
phone to scan a QR code at your favorite restaurant
to see the menu rather than being handed
one when you're seated.
These are just two ways that phygital solutions
are becoming a part of daily life. In many cases,
the COVID-19 pandemic gets the credit for this
shift; but in healthcare, we were starting to see
care moving in this direction before March 2020.
When mapping the patient journey at the
start of the design process, it's as essential to
consider the bricks and mortar environments
that patients and their families will need to
navigate as it is the digital experience, especially
when planning for the future.
Telemed visits, wearable devices that provide
real-time health indicators, apps for making or
changing appointments and emailing care providers,
patient portals to securely access health
data and lab/test results, kiosks for checking in,
and at-home monitoring devices are just a few of
the many healthcare experiences that bridge the
physical and digital.
The pace of technological advances is increasing,
too. We're seeing more opportunities
for care to be delivered in the home environment
through the use of digital monitoring and
mobile technology.
At The Center, the all-volunteer Environmental
Standards Council has spent the last year
70
OCTOBER 2022
creating a digital roadmap to chart the patient
journey and better identify where design professionals
can play a role in improving the patient
experience. From lifestyle interventions and
early detection and diagnostics (wearables) to
therapy choices and long-term care (sensors and
digital monitoring), technology that interacts
with the physical space will change how consumers
interact with the healthcare system and
expand where care can be accessed.
Members of the council have been exploring
the touch points for these interventions and
will present the session " Patient Experience in
the Digital Age " at the annual Healthcare Design
Conference + Expo, being held Oct. 8-11 in
San Antonio. (Visit hcdexpo.com for schedule
and registration details.) During the session,
they'll gather feedback from attendees and
then spend the next few months exploring what
tools and resources can be developed to support
the healthcare design community in addressing
how to design and integrate digital and
physical experiences into the patient journey.
In the future, phygital experiences will
transform how we manage our healthcare system
interactions and health. Successful phygital
experiences, such as telemetry sensors
that can be worn at home and send real-time
data to caregivers, will make life easier for the
consumer by optimizing the relationship between
the users and the healthcare activity to
make the experience seamless. Creating customer
interactions that account for the digital
and the physical experience will be critical to
success and should be considered a part of the
design process. 
Debra Levin is president and CEO of The Center
for Health Design. She can be reached at DLEVIN@
HEALTHDESIGN.ORG .
Accurate Lock & Hardware ....................................... 8
Architex ...............................................................C4
Armstrong Ceilings ................................................ 25
AVA by Novalis ..................................................... 34
Carolina ................................................................ 1
Center for Health Design......................................... 60
Champion............................................................ 24
Convergent Technologies ........................................ 50
DeepStream Designs .............................................. 14
EFA Conference + Expo.......................................... 67
Enduratex ............................................................. 67
Global Upholstery ........................................... 26, 27
HCD Conference + Expo ........................................ 66
HCD Buyers' Guide ............................................... 87
Hudson Aquatic Systems ......................................... 51
Interface Americas ................................................. 47
Kimball International ................................................. 5
Krug ..................................................................... 2
Kwalu .................................................................C2
Lamiflow Technologies ............................................ 42
La-Z-Boy Healthcare | Knú Comfort ........................... 21
Mayer Fabrics ...................................................... 64
Midmark ............................................................... 7
MillerKnoll ............................................................ 43
Moduform ............................................................ 39
Modular Services .................................................. 46
modularArts .......................................................... 15
Mohawk ............................................................. 23
Nassimi ............................................................... 41
Paladin Healthcare ................................................ 48
Pineapple Contracts ............................................... 57
Placzek Studios .....................................................C3
Plural Furniture ....................................................... 49
QuietRock by PABCO Gypsum ................................ 10
RFID .................................................................... 38
Shaw Contract ...................................................... 13
Sherwood Windows .............................................. 44
SitOnIt Seating ...................................................... 45
Vaask .................................................................. 63
The index to advertiser page numbers is published for
reader convenience. Every effort is made to list page
numbers correctly. The listing is not part of the advertising
contract and the publisher is not responsible for errors
or omissions.
HCDMAGAZINE.COM
http://www.hcdexpo.com http://www.HCDMAGAZINE.COM
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