Healthcare Design - December 2022 - 7

ED ITO RIAL
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Hank Adams HDR
CAUSE AND EFFECT
A new study reinforces how design can play a role in
clinical outcomes By Jennifer Kovacs Silvis
AS THE TEMPERATURES finally dip here in the Midwest
and we have our first dusting of snow on the
ground, I can't help but be grateful to stay inside and
enjoy some quiet moments-for a couple of good reasons.
It was a dizzying late summer/early fall, as our
Healthcare Design team produced both our HCD Forum
event in September and then just three weeks
later our Healthcare Design Conference + Expo in
October. In between the two, my family and I moved to
a new house. (I'd say thankfully it's just one mile from
our previous house, but we've come to realize moving
is a nightmare regardless of distance.)
And as we've settled into our new place and work to make it our own-and
are repeatedly exasperated by the laundry list of to-dos that come with loving
a century-old home-I'm reminded of why we ended up here in the fi rst place.
Your design minds will appreciate that although there may be 100 years of issues
to deal with in one way or another, I am a sucker for good space flow and
lots of light and views.
Somehow, even as we wait months for furniture and wrestle over paint colors,
it still feels good.
Achieving that same eff ect via design is something you all grapple with each
day in approaching healthcare projects, the benefit of which was recently
proven again.
Researchers at the University of Michigan decided to build on previous studies,
including Roger Ulrich's seminal work from 1984, to see how various design
features infl uence clinical outcomes in surgical patients. This analysis involved
a study of almost 4,000 patients who underwent high-risk surgical procedures at
the University of Michigan Hospital between 2016 and 2019. Features assessed
were window or no window, single versus double occupancy, distance to nurses'
station, and line of sight to clinicians.
Some of the key fi ndings, as shared in a press release by the American College
of Surgeons, show that clinical outcomes were infl uenced by those factors, with
mortality rates 20 percent higher (after being adjusted for comorbidities and
surgical complexity) if patients were in a windowless room.
Further, the team reports that the patterns that emerged so far indicate certain
rooms and features achieve better outcomes after surgery, meaning the
solution isn't necessarily just one of design but operations, too-for example,
identifying the sickest patients and prioritizing assignment to certain rooms to
optimize outcomes.
And while it's just one (more) study, the authors urge further research to see if
the results are generalizable and to identify ways to get a better return on what
is designed and built. As coauthor Mitchell J. Mead says in the release: " One of
the next big steps for healthcare design is to understand these pathways of causation
that can lead to diff erent clinical outcomes in patients staying in hospital
rooms with diff erent features. " 
Wayne Barger SMITHGROUP
Carolyn BaRoss PERKINS&WILL
Sam Burnette EARL SWENSSON ASSOCIATES
Sheila F. Cahnman JUMPGARDEN CONSULTING LLC
Thomas W. Chessum CO ARCHITECTS
James Crispino GENSLER
Christine Hester Devens AECOM
Mary Frazier EWINGCOLE
Jocelyn Lum Frederick HC TANGRAM DESIGN
Catherine L. Gow FRANCIS CAUFFMAN
Natalie Miovski Hagerty
THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA
Suzen L. Heeley
MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER
Scott Holmes BWBR
Walter Jones METROHEALTH SYSTEM
Randy Keiser TURNER CONSTRUCTION CO.
Julie Kent TRINITY HEALTH
Eric Koffl er NBBJ
Tiana Lemons ORCUTT/WINSLOW
Michael Lied GBBN ARCHITECTS
Mike McKay UW HEALTH
Victoria Navarro ADVOCATE AURORA HEALTH
Solvei Neiger ZGF
Kurt Neubek PAGE
Don Orndoff KAISER PERMANENTE
Diane R.K. Osan CANNONDESIGN
Chris Powers BURNS & MCDONNELL
Scott Rawlings HOK
William D. Repichowskyj E4H ARCHITECTURE
Kim Shinn TLC ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS
Janet H. Sisolak UT MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER
Kurt Spiering HGA
Steve Stokes GRESHAM SMITH
Jeff rey C. Stouff er HKS INC.
Jocelyn Stroupe CANNONDESIGN
Melanie Taylor BOLDT
Joshua A. Theodore LEO A DALY
Anthony Treu SKIDMORE, OWINGS & MERRILL
Travis Tyson CLEVELAND CLINIC
Gary L. Vance VANCE CONSULTING
Roderic Walton MOODY NOLAN
DECEMBER 2022
07
Healthcare Design - December 2022

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