Medical Construction & Design

JAN-FEB 2016

Medical Construction & Design (MCD) is the industry's leading source for news and information and reaches all disciplines involved in the healthcare construction and design process.

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32 Medical Construction & Design | JA N UA RY/ F EBRUA RY 2016 | MCDM AG.COM For decades, healthcare has been able to innovate within itself. Leading provid- ers and systems could look to peers for new ideas to modify their services and facilities and these changes kept organiza- tions achieving fi nancial and care-delivery goals. That reality changed with the intro- duction of the healthcare law, landmark health reform that essentially asks provid- ers to do more with less. In the wake of this legislation, health providers now realize the need to fi nd dramatic opportunities for innovation to succeed moving forward. Typical hospital profi t margins are around 2 percent right now, but leading advisers suggest those could drop to negative 20 over the next decade without signifi cant change. The organizations at the forefront of responding to this new reality are fi nding fresh ways to improve care, lower costs and maximize ef ciency by looking to other industries for innovation. Embedded within the worlds of retail and corporate workplace design are ideas that can be applied to healthcare delivery. The follow- ing are three examples health providers should learn from and consider, while seeking to be more successful today and into the future. Retail: eliminate everything that doesn't add value One of the keys to maximizing ef ciency is eliminating everything that doesn't add value. Unfortunately, the historical precedents that have driven health facility design over time weren't calibrated to achieve ef ciency. So much of the patient journey — checking in, completing forms on paper, waiting in the lobby, waiting in the exam room, waiting to cash out — sim- ply doesn't add value to the experience. The University of Minnesota Health is looking to eliminate all of this waste in its new Clinics and Surgery Center by modeling itself after best practices from the world of retail. The UMN Health center has no waiting rooms and check-in desks that patients are akin to seeing in such environments. Instead, the facility takes inspiration from Apple Stores. When patients arrive at the center, they'll be greeted by a staf member who can check them in, fi nd their exam room and notify the corresponding medical staf of arrival all via handheld mobile technology. This mobile technology also helps staf check patients out, schedule follow-up appointments, send prescriptions to the in-house pharmacy and call for the patient's car. LOOKING TO OTHER INDUSTRIES FOR INNOVATION BY MIKE PUKSZTA RETAIL, CORPORATE WORKPLACES, SCIENCE ISSUE FOCUS AFFORDABLE CARE AGE The UMN Health center leverages ideas and strategies from other industries to help it deliver strong patient experiences and improve operations. 19 The national average for healthcare wait times dropped to 19 minutes and 16 seconds, 1 minute shorter than the 2014 wait time average. Source: Vitals $361 The average price in 3Q15 for hospital real estate was $361 per square foot. Source: Revista

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