Healthcare Design Is Adapting to New Technology

Like most asset classes, technology is the top trend in healthcare development. For designers of medical and healthcare facilities, keeping up with rapidly changing technology can be a major challenge. As a result, there is a trend toward creating flexible, multi-purposed spaces that can adapt to new technologies. In fact, Julie Frazier of Perkins and Will names it as the top trend in healthcare design next year.

“With technology ever changing, we will see an upswing in flexible multi-purposed spaces that can be readily adaptable,” Frazier, a senior medical planner and associate principal at Perkins and Will, tells GlobeSt.com. “Today’s healthcare apps make it possible to receive a diagnosis from the comfort of your own home. Many healthcare facilities are integrating walking paths, exercise, and active design into their spaces to create a destination to reach not just when you’re sick, but to prevent you from becoming sick by promoting healthy lifestyle habits.”

In addition to adapting spaces around technology, climate change is also beginning to have an impact on healthcare design, particularly in parts of the country that have seen increasing natural disasters. “We also have found the climate rapidly changing, including major weather events that are occurring more frequently and severely,” says Frazier. “With the nature of our building occupants, it has been increasingly more important to maintain continuous operation in the face of these storms with resilient design strategies not only to protect investments, but to protect patients.”

The overarching trend in healthcare is an increased focus on patient experience, and next year, Frazier expects to see that trend continue through 2020. “Many patients want a hospitality space with amenities and digital technology—wayfinding not only as a board in the lobby, but starting when they leave the house, via an app that will give parking count in potential lots and a map all the way to the physician’s office,” she says. “Busy people need a one-stop shop, so many cross-functional tenants will be found together on campuses—such as a family physician, gym, & retail pharmacy. In some cases, healthy restaurant options, salons, and dry cleaners are also incorporated to enhance the patient experience.”

Patient experience was among the top trend in 2019, and while it is thriving, other trends are on their way out. “We have spent quite a lot of time streamlining operational processes to maximize efficiency,” says Frazier. “For example, historically, the first person in an Emergency Department to greet you was a clerical receptionist. That evolved into a clinical receptionist who could start triaging faster, thereby creating a quicker throughput process. Now, self-admitting kiosks have been trending, eliminating the need for a human being to initially greet you and thereby maximizing efficiency even further. As these were implemented, though, there were a couple of side effects: some elderly patients had difficulty with the technology, and others felt depersonalized. I believe there is a need to get back to our roots in terms of caring for people, and to find a way that automation and true hospitality and bedside manner coincide without extinguishing either.”

Frazier is working closely with clients in anticipation of these trends and preparing clients to create spaces that will be relevant upon completion. “We keep the discussions of designing a space fluid, not only considering the current need, but what it may become in the future,” she says. “The spaces serve more than one purpose to be fully utilized. VR technology is now used as a standard during design sessions to truly envision what a space will be like. We also conduct workshops with all stakeholders to identify what risks there may be to a facility, what the likelihood and consequences of these risks are, and the strategies we may use to combat them.”