Healthcare Design - December 2016 - 16

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DESIGNING FOR A
NEW ERA OF HEALTH
TECHNOLOGY
DR. GURPREET DHALIWAL, professor

of medicine at University of
California San Francisco, studies how doctors think, providing a
unique perspective on what exactly takes place between the time a
patient presents with symptoms and a diagnosis is finally reached.
However, the practice of medical diagnostics is complex, and the
increasing reliance on technology in care delivery-specifically,
the electronic medical record-is only complicating matters.
The appetite for metrics in healthcare and requirement for
constant documentation are resulting in physicians and other
care professionals bogged down by the stressors that come with
them, all while breaking down the all-important doctor/patient
relationship.
Dhaliwal shared his thoughts on how technology in medical
practice is part of the problem but also opportunities for how it
can become part of the solution in his opening keynote presentation at the Healthcare Design Expo & Conference. From looking
at how data can be analyzed to predict a patient's likelihood for
readmission to scanning social media to determine whether a patient will provide a positive review of a hospital stay, a lot is already
in the works for the role of computers in medicine. But Dhaliwal
warned that computers aren't quite advanced enough to step to
the diagnostic plate because of one key characteristic they lack:
"the notion of common sense."
Humans want to be happy and out of pain, for example. But a
computer wouldn't know that. "The computer has to know way
more than medicine; it has to know about life itself," he said. That's
not to say we won't see a shift in basic care coming soon-perhaps
a kiosk that determines, based on available data, whether a patient
is presenting with a viral sore throat or strep throat. "I think that
would be great," Dhaliwal said.
In an industry that's evolving to provide better outcomes over volume, Dhaliwal said it's critical that physicians be given the space to
properly communicate with patients about what they're experiencing, and that that space is designed to include a computer as part of
the interaction.
With health reform pushing the need for more efficient care-
better outcomes with fewer procedures-and the need for data not
going anywhere, the imperative is to support both while not getting
away from what matters most. "We have to put the patient back at
the center of the experience," he said.- Jennifer Kovacs Silvis

DECEMBER 2016

RECIPIENTS FIND
COMMON GROUND IN
SUPPORT OF EBD

2017 HEALTHCARE DESIGN EXPO +
CONFERENCE
Nov. 11-14
Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center,
Orlando, Fla.
For more information, visit HCDEXPO.COM .

HCDMAGAZINE.COM

PWP STUDIO

OPENING KEYNOTE

FOR THE FIRST time, The Center for Health Design
presented its Changemaker award to two individuals:
D. Kirk Hamilton and Jaynelle Stichler. The duo, who've
spent the last 10 years working together as founding
co-editors of the Health Environments Research &
Design Journal (HERD), were honored at an awards
presentation during the HCD Expo. They sat down
with moderator Don McKahan, principal at McKahan
Planning Group, to discuss their careers, HERD's
evolution, and their hopes for the future of evidencebased design (EBD).
Stichler began her
career as a nurse and
served in varied roles
across industry sectors,
including as vice
president of women's
services at Sharp
HealthCare in San
Diego and as professor
of nursing at San
Diego State University.
Hamilton's 50-plus-year
career includes founding
healthcare architecture
2 0 1 6 C H A N G E M A K E R AWA R D
firm WHR Architects,
serving as president of
the American Institute of
Architects' Academy of
Architecture for Health,
and teaching as the Julie
& Craig Beale endowed
professor of health facility design in the department
of architecture at Texas A&M University.
Reflecting on HERD's seminal articles, Hamilton
recalled publishing some of the first research that
related to environments and outcomes, while
Stichler talked about an early supplement on
healthcare-associated infections. "What's exciting
is that we've seen a science emerge," Stichler said.
Looking ahead, the Changemaker winners said
a demonstrated knowledge of EBD will come to be
expected during the project bidding process and
that post-occupancy research will be a requirement
on all projects. "We have a social responsibility to
measure the outcomes," Stichler said. "Anything
worth doing is worth measuring."-ANNE DINARDO

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Healthcare Design - December 2016

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