Healthcare Design - December 2013 - 18

C THE CENTER | 12.13
The next five
As The Center for Health Design readies for its new five-year strategic plan,
three business opportunities for healthcare designers emerge
By Debra Levin
As 2014 approaches, The Center for Health Design
(CHD) is preparing to move into the last year of our
five-year strategic plan and start laying groundwork for
the next. Over the last few months, we've been engaging in conversations with industry experts, colleagues,
healthcare futurists, trusted advisers, and members
of various CHD programs, among others, to try and
understand what the industry might need from us five
years from now. The knowledge gathered through
this process will help us to create unique, new, and
innovative business opportunities for the healthcare
design profession.
The lens we looked through in 2008 was very different from the one we use today. The building boom was
beginning to slow down, the economy was just starting
its free fall, and the Affordable Care Act hadn't yet
been signed into law. Much of the conversation around
healthcare was geared toward innovative ways to manage volume rather than the current emphasis on value.
Even in light of the industry changes that have
taken place since the plan was created, we've made
significant progress in achieving our strategic goals,
which are to:
1. Leverage research to improve outcomes in
healthcare environments. We've added to the
body of research around evidence-based design
with numerous white papers, research reports,
and case studies.
2. Translate knowledge into tools and resources.
We've launched numerous new tools, including checklists and specialized micro-websites
(such as Clinic Design), and made research
more accessible with the launch last year of the
Knowledge Repository. All of these resources
are available free of charge on CHD's website
(www.healthdesign.org).
3. Foster innovation in the design of healthcare
settings. Multiple Pebble members opened new
hospitals, including Palomar Medical Center,
Lurie Children's Hospital, and Nemours Children's Hospital, in the last 24 months, and the
WellStar Paulding Hospital is planning to open
in the spring.
4. Engage, lead, and serve our community. All of
these things have been achieved through the
efforts and energy of scores of volunteers and
partnerships with numerous other associations,
organizations, and foundations.
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What's next? That's the million-dollar question for
any organization. We've found a few key ideas that will
shape our profession in the next decade and create
new opportunities.
New profit centers
Health systems will continue to look for and expand
profit centers outside of the traditional acute care
setting, identifying innovative new ways to reach into
the community and build loyalty. Health spas, nutrition
centers, and wellness centers will be among these solutions and offer the design community an opportunity
to create a new aesthetic to reflect this new dynamic.
Geriatric-focused spaces
In the same way that specialized pediatric environments became a norm to cater to the needs of infants
and children, geriatric-focused environments are
being designed with the special needs of seniors in
mind, taking into account issues around safety and
diagnoses most identified with an older and often
frailer population.
HCAHPS scores
Organizations are paying more attention than ever
to HCAHPS scores that not only measure patient
satisfaction with a hospital experience but now directly
impact reimbursement.
Scores on noise and cleanliness are influenced by
perceptions of the built environment, but less obvious
connections to the environment can be made, as well.
For example, one hospital we interviewed saw a direct
correlation between providing a chair for the physician
to sit down and talk with patients and families and a
significant increase in the doctor's compassion scores.
What do you think?
These are just a few of the many insights and opportunities uncovered that we'll use to develop goals
for CHD moving into the future. We welcome your
thoughts on what you anticipate being the hot topics
over the next six years and how you'd like to see us
support you in your work. HCD
Debra Levin is president and CEO of The Center for
Health Design. You can follow her on Twitter at
@CHD_DebraLevin or contact her directly at dlevin@
healthdesign.org.

Debra Levin

http://www.healthdesign.org http://www.HCDmagazine.com

Healthcare Design - December 2013

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