Contract - October 2013 - (Page 18)

pHoto: Meg Walton editorial Are Beautiful Hospital Interiors a Primary Reason for Rising Healthcare Costs? I am pleased to present our annual issue focused on healthcare design, I asked Rebecca Kleinbaum Sanders, a healthcare architect which includes the winners of the Healthcare Environment Awards who is associate vice president at HGA in Minneapolis, for her reaction. (page 58), presented in conjunction with The Center for Health Design, “Hospitals are understanding the need to provide better patient as well as an exclusive feature on the impact of the Affordable Care Act experiences, not only to gain market share, but to treat people with (page 84). Even if your practice is not focused on healthcare design, respect and dignity. Many of these design decisions also stem from the I believe you will gain insight from the content of this issue. We are all new direction of healthcare focusing on wellness and keeping people seeking to learn from innovations in design, in general, as well as the healthy, not just treating the ill,” Sanders says. “Construction dollars are implications of the evolving model of healthcare delivery. carefully vetted throughout the design process. Design decisions are In our profession, we usually consider design to be a positive not being made at the expense of providing great care.” solution. But not everyone shares that sentiment, especially when costs Exceptional design of healthcare interiors, we now know, can aid seem high. In a provocative opinion piece in The New York Times on the healing process, improve staff efficiencies, and enable the overall September 21 titled “Is This a Hospital or a Hotel?,” staff reporter delivery of quality care. I asked Rosalyn Cama, FASID, for her thoughts Elizabeth Rosenthal equates the increasing cost of healthcare delivery on the Rosenthal article as well. Cama is the president of design firm in the United States with new acute care architecture and interiors CAMA, Inc., in New Haven, Connecticut, and is the current chair of the designed to be more akin to high-end hotels. While the rising cost of board of directors of The Center for Health Design. “Design that healthcare delivery is a significant issue that requires multi-pronged impacts improved human behavior is economically sound,” Cama says. solutions, I believe Rosenthal’s pointed focus on amenities, as well as “The data collected from countless peer-reviewed studies are building design and construction capital costs, is misdirected. the case that informed, proven design improves health outcomes. The Rosenthal writes frequently about healthcare, and is authoring payback for what appears to be pricey has, in a relatively short period a series about the cost of healthcare titled “Paying Till It Hurts.” But this of time, delivered the safe, timely, efficient, effective, equitable, article in particular, which garnered more than 100 comments on The patient-centered care needed.” New York Times website in the first 24 hours, has generated significant Of course, good design, even with the highest level of amenities, discussion among design and healthcare professionals alike. In the does not guarantee great care. The best care still requires excellent article, Rosenthal notes that amenities such as private rooms, once healthcare professionals working in concert. But evidence shows that considered VIP treatment, are now becoming a standard. She writes: design of the physical environment can, indeed, be a positive a factor. “Some health economists worry that the luxury surroundings are adding Dallas–based healthcare designer Mindy Graves of HOK had a unneeded costs to the nation’s $2.7 trillion healthcare bill. There are visceral reaction to the Rosenthal article. “When a person is hospitalized, some medical arguments for the trend—private rooms, for example, they are in their most vulnerable state,” Graves says. “If a designer can could lower infection rates and allow patients more rest as they heal. implement interior elements to help soothe a patient and create an But the main reason for the largess is marketing.” atmosphere that is conducive to healing, then why wouldn’t they?” While competitive hospital and healthcare system marketing is Why wouldn’t they, indeed. one factor in building newer, more patient-friendly facilities, to say that that is the main reason for the recent increase in quality of healthcare Sincerely, architecture and interiors is cynical and shortsighted. And it is an affront to the work of healthcare architects and designers who John Czarnecki, assoc. aia, Hon. iida thoughtfully utilize evidence-based design. editor in Chief 18 contractdesign.com october 2013 http://www.contractdesign.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract - October 2013

Contract - October 2013
Contents
Editorial
Industry News
Columnist: Winning Work at the Interview: It’s All About Chemistry—Part II
Product Focus: New Classics
Product Briefs: Health and Wellness
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Advanced Health Sciences Pavilion
Banaji Pediatric Dental Specialists
Seattle Kids Dentistry
Healthcare Environment Awards
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre at Austin Hospital
Seattle Children’s Building Hope: Cancer, Critical and Emergency Care Expansion
Dale & Frances Hughes Cancer Center
Kent Campus Expansion, Phase 2 Pavilion
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey
Camp Southern Ground
Poetic Living
FOUND: An Adolescent and Young Adult Cultural and Wellness Center
The Impact of the Affordable Care Act on Healthcare Design
Book Review: Sustainable Healthcare Architecture, Second Edition
Designers Select: Healthcare
Sources
Ad Index
Perspectives

Contract - October 2013