| Future Forum |
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Planning the Clinical Laboratory of the Future
 The clinical laboratory was historically organized by testing methodology or discipline and the space was subdivided into numerous small rooms reflecting this organization. With the advent of multidisciplinary pieces of equipment, automated technology, robotics, and the demand for rapid results by clinicians, clinical laboratories are being functionally reconfigured by turnaround time as well as testing methodology. Laboratory managers who seek to reorganize clinical testing along these lines often find that the physical facility is a barrier to more efficient operations. Instead of compartmentalized space, contemporary laboratories need open, flexible space that easily accommodates new technology, allows staff to freely work among various pieces of automated, multidisciplinary equipment, and can be eventually converted to a totally automated laboratory. |
| In the News |
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Healthcare Construction Is a High Stakes Game
Healthcare facilities across the U.S. are finding themselves in the midst of a high stakes game. Aging facilities, rapidly advancing technology, intense competition, and increased consumer demand are among the factors that are driving up the ante for new hospital construction or major renovation. Keeping up involves high risk and cost.
Healthcare facility construction costs are rising at a record pace, doubling since 2004, and some experts estimate the boom will exceed $60 billion a year by 2010. Moreover, the risk is substantial. When healthcare leaders decide to build or renovate their facilities today, they may not admit the first patient for six, seven, or even eight years. The technology to be used to treat patients at that time may not even exist today or at least not in the same form. The newly constructed facilities will need to meet the needs of patients for at least another 20 or 30 years. During that time, it is not clear whether there will be many more inpatients due the aging U.S. population or fewer inpatients as patient care continues to shift to the ambulatory care sector requiring many more new outpatient facilities. At the same time, physicians and for-profit companies are trying to beat hospitals to the punch.
Discoveries about healthcare construction trends and capital implications are revealed in the fourth report of the Financing the Future III series led by the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) in partnership with GE Healthcare Financial Services.
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| Trendline |
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Planning Flexible Healthcare Facilities is No Longer Optional
The term flexibility has become somewhat overused today. It is repeated as a mantra among healthcare planners and architects. By definition it means "adaptable" or "adjustable to change." In reality, achieving flexibility often requires that physicians and department managers relinquish absolute control over their space and equipment for the greater good of the organization. However, with fluctuating workloads, rapidly changing technology, staff shortages and high turnover, and limited access to capital in today's dynamic healthcare environment, planning flexible space is no longer optional. Healthcare facilities should be planned to optimize current utilization as well as provide flexible space that can be adapted over time.
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| Technology |
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More Hospitals Are Becoming Unplugged
 More hospitals are offering wireless networks than ever before according to a recent article in Healthcare IT News. The primary reason is that clinicians and patients expect anywhere, anytime access to the Internet.
Florida Hospital in Orlando has installed a wireless network in three of its seven hospitals and is in the process of assessing costs and timelines to deploy wireless networks at the rest of its hospitals. Florida Hospital's associate chief technology officer expects that hospitals everywhere will have to convert to wireless facilities. "It's not a matter of if, it's when," he said.
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SpaceMedGuide
A Space Planning Guide For Healthcare Facilities
SECOND EDITION
Current Trends.
State-of-art planning methodologies.
Industry benchmarks and rules-of-thumb.
Quick. Efficient. Effective.
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Rule-of-Thumb |
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Oncology Services Capacity and Preliminary Space Need |
Oncology services include physician office/clinic visits, chemotherapy and radiation therapy treatments, and a variety of patient support services. These facility components may be co-located or linked virtually via telecommunications. A dedicated inpatient nursing unit may also be planned.
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From the Editor |
Advancements in automation, information technology, and telecommunications continue to impact both the size and configuration of the space needed to provide clinical and support services in today's healthcare facility. Not only are traditional staffing patterns and job descriptions being revised, but historical perceptions about necessary physical proximities and functional relationships are being challenged as well. Uncertainty about the future can be somewhat mitigated by planning flexible healthcare facilities that can be adapted over time without major renovation.
The focus of this newsletter is to help planners, architects, and healthcare providers make prudent decisions regarding investments in healthcare facilities. I welcome your comments or ideas for future issues.
Cynthia Hayward Editor
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