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Planning an Outpatient Pharmacy: Small, Medium, or Large?
 Most outpatient pharmacies that are located within a hospital or in an ambulatory care center fall into one of four categories: minimal, small, medium, or large. Assuming that outpatient demand has been established, the primary determinant of an outpatient pharmacy's size is the average number of daily prescriptions (scripts) that will be filled during the busiest eight-hour shift. Read about outpatient pharmacy space >> |
| In the News |
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Incorporating the Parking Garage Into Disaster Planning
 In what is believed to be the first training exercise in the country, a team of healthcare professionals at Stanford (California) Hospital and Clinics turned the first floor of a parking garage into a drive-through emergency room in hopes of creating a more efficient way to treat a large number of patients during an influenza pandemic or other emergency.
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| Trendline |
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Generic Administrative Office Suites Provide Efficient Space Utilization
 The traditional healthcare facility has many departments involved in the administration and management of the organization in accordance with policies established by the governing board. Most of these administrative services use a mix of private offices, open or partially-enclosed cubicles, and open workstations to accommodate different hierarchies of staff dictated by the organizational structure and peak-shift staffing. As many of these departments are being forced to resize their staff in response to cost containment pressures and changing skill requirements, space for administrative staff is increasingly being centralized into generic administrative office suites to improve space utilization and enhance future flexibility. Read about this concept >> |
| Technology |
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What is Body Plethysmography?
 Spirometry is the standard method for measuring most relative lung volumes as part of pulmonary function testing. However, it is not capable of providing information about absolute volumes of air in the lung. Thus a different approach is required to measure residual volume, functional residual capacity, and total lung capacity. Using body plethysmography, doctors can examine the lungs' resistance to airflow, distinguish between restrictive and obstructive lung diseases, determine the response to bronchodilators, and determine bronchial hyper reactivity. The plethysmography test is done by enclosing the patient in an airtight chamber often referred to as a body box.
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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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Estimating the Space Required for Outpatient Physical and Occupational Therapy |
The space required for outpatient physical and occupational therapy (PT/OT) services should be directly related to the patient workload. However, due to the variation in hours of operation and difficulties in recruiting PT/OT staff, preliminary space estimates are generally based on the expected number of therapists on the primary shift.
See rule-of-thumb >> |
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From the Editor |
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Like outpatient pharmacies and PT/OT services, space planning for many outpatient services can be simplified using the 80/20 rule. That is, 80% of the outpatient services being programmed require either a small, medium, or large template and the other 20% require a more customized analysis. By understanding those spaces that are fixed, variable, and optional, the programmer can avoid "reinventing the wheel" each time a new project is started.
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