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SPOTLIGHT PATIENT ENTERTAINMENT The adult patient room 18 Medical Construction & Design | January/February 2013 The mother-baby room In women's centers, such educational technologies are especially helpful for new mothers and fathers. Choosing from an onscreen menu with a variety of topics on birthing, nursing, baby care and what-to-expect subjects can bring up visuals that instruct and alleviate concerns. Convenient docking stations for keeping smartphones, cameras and tablets charged are becoming essential. Family areas with sleeping options, a table for working on a laptop, and flatscreens with on-demand Disney viewing help keep parents together and other children occupied while waiting for the newest family member to arrive. As hospitals enhance the patient experience and increase patient satisfaction by integrating education and entertainment into patient rooms, they enjoy improved ratings on Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems surveys. Better ratings on this national, standardized, publicly reported survey of patients' perspectives of hospital care can, in turn, lead to speedier reimbursement. It's a win-win for all. Christine Guzzo Vickery is senior interior designer in HGA Architects and Engineers' healthcare practice area. Dennis Vonasek, AIA, ACHA, CID, is healthcare principal of HGA Architects and Engineers. www.mcdmag.com ADULT: TODD MASON/HALKIN PHOTOGRAPH; FAMILY ZONE: STEVE HENKE TVs, docking stations and Wi-Fi are standard, so children can play games, listen to music, surf the Internet and watch ondemand movies. No more carts loaded with DVDs. Additional in-room features include overhead, interactive lighting that can be adjusted or synced to match a movie or music. Think family movie night watching "Avatar" inside a blue room. Parent focus groups have discussed how exciting it was to watch this film with their sick child in a totally engaging and immersive environment that helped the child momentarily forget their problems and injuries. Other technological innovations connect the patient with the outside world. Communications technology like Skype and GetWellNetwork allow children to connect with The family zone, with seating and a desk/ their classrooms, talk or do work area, in a private patient room at the homework with friends and Douglas County Hospital in Alexandria, Minn. visit with siblings at home. Another screen in the patient Top: An adult patient room at Virtua Voorhees in Voorhees, N.J. A liberal use room might broadcast a live of natural wood in bed headwalls and feed from animal exhibits at cabinetry reinforces the feeling of home, the local zoo, a courtyard or while an entire wall of glass in the family area provides the patient with opportunigarden outside the hospital, ties to connect with the outdoors. or the facility's lobby. Visitors might also tap messages into a lobby screen that delivers a greeting to the patient. Finally, the caregiver or staff zone includes the customdesigned patient-bed headwall concealing medical equipment, with easy access for staff. Near the bed is also a locked storage drawer for medications. The nurse simply scans, with a wand, the bar code on the prescription and the patient's wristband to instantly record and track medication use. Just as in the pediatric portion of a hospital, the adult patient room may be up to 360-square-feet to accommodate the three zones. A liberal use of natural wood in bed headwalls and cabinetry reinforces the feeling of home, while an entire wall of glass in the family area provides the patient with opportunities to connect with bird life and garden activities outdoors. Some hospitals have begun loaning iPads to incoming patients. With these tablets, patients can instantly download books or magazines; watch movies, a cooking show or catch up with a TV series; visit a museum using an app; play games, watch sports or shop; or connect with friends and family on Facebook, Twitter or other social media. With handheld tablet technology, patients can enjoy an immersive experience remotely, which can provide a temporary reprieve from the effects of an illness. Large flat-screen monitors, in addition to providing patients with entertainment options, are also being used for other purposes, such as knowledge sharing. Nurses can pull up educational videos on diet, exercise or rehabilitation. They can also share a patient's X-rays with them. Patients might also surf the Internet on the iPad or flatscreen for blogs, websites or other information about their condition, for further education or to connect with a community of individuals like themselves.