Healthcare Design - March 2014 - 46

Future facilities must combine
efficient design with innovative
and emerging technologies.

to design development review. By
this time, changes for technology
and the supporting infrastructure
are tough and costly. A scenario
that often plays out is that space
must be reconfigured to increase the size of the
technology rooms and shifted so the rooms can be
stacked.

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What about the programming phase,
specifically? What issues are you seeing
arise on the technology front?
Functional programs aren't as prevalent
as they were a few years ago. Each of the
projects I've been involved in over the last
three or four years has lacked a functional
program. While most projects have a welldefined space program, the space program
seems to no longer have a complementary
functional program. I'm unsure why this is the
case, but I can say with 100 percent certainty
that a document outlining the intended use of
a space is extremely useful a year or two into
the project when the team is trying to remember/understand why a space was designed
a particular way, the details of how clinicians
are intended to use the space, and, ultimately,
what appropriate technology treatment should
be implemented to support both the space
and the users within.
Also, when planning spaces, I see designers determining that because a previous
client had self-rooming or another workflow
concept, that means that a current client
should do the same. There are likely multiple
technology solutions that must be integrated
to support a new proposed workflow-for
instance, a concierge arrival solution, scheduling, room tracking, clinician "on-time" status,
etc. You must consider what other accommodations/sacrifices were made on a previous
project and whether that's possible on the
current project.
Looking 10 years into the future, how do
you see IT integration and facility design
evolving, and coming together?
Facilities designed and built in the next
decade must combine efficient design with
innovative and emerging technologies, to
create an environment that enhances the way
patients experience and engage a new building while accelerating employee productivity,
increasing revenue, and providing a safe environment. The physical space and technology
within should come together to blur the lines
between phases along the care continuum.
HCD

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46

HCDmagazine.com 03.14

Jennifer Kovacs Silvis is managing editor of
Healthcare Design. She can be reached at
jsilvis@vendomegrp.com.

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Healthcare Design - March 2014

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